I look forward to "hug me" / "don't touch me" stickers being issued next year Q(^_^Q)
Indeed we do "don't photograph me" stickers already so "personal space needed" stickers sound like a natural extension. Deryck (multicultural / "hug me") On 27 July 2018 at 15:31, Sam Oyeyele <samo...@hotmail.com> wrote: > I believe the best way to avoid this kind of situation in the future, is > to have tags specifically to indicate a need for personal space or > something. > > From what I have read so far, Romaine has done nothing "out of the > ordinary" (based on my cultural perspective); and he doesn't deserve this > kind of treatment/sanction/punishment/etc. > > I should also state that I have met Romaine a couple of times, and he is > indeed a very nice man, who always means the best. > > Sam. > > On 25 Jul 2018 16:41, Deryck Chan <deryckc...@gmail.com> wrote: > > This is the second time I remember that the Friendly Space Policy was > invoked to remove a Wikimania attendee from a situation, presumably because > of in-person misconduct on their part, where the removal was made public > but the reason of removal was kept secret. > > The problem with such secretive invocations of Friendly Space is that it > is very difficult, as Reem and others have pointed out, to not see this as > a punishment. > > I understand that it is very difficult to balance the specific, personal > sensitivities and cultural preferences of several hundred people from > different cultures. But as this discussion has shown, it is > counter-productive to use Friendly Space this way, because other > Wikimaniacs are left worrying what the appropriate behaviour is supposed to > be. > > I don't know the details of this incident because it wasn't public. But > from what I know of Romaine from previous Wikimanias, I'm disappointed that > this incident couldn't have been handled behind the scenes with T&S and the > people involved. The fact that Romaine felt the need to go public about his > removal as an organiser showed mis-handling of process. > > Well, actually the previous time was 6 years ago, so maybe we're doing > well. We did try reforming the friendly space policy around 2013-14 but > couldn't agree on something better at the time... The doors of improvement > always stay open for the Wikimedia movement. > > --Deryck > > On 20 July 2018 at 11:28, James Alexander <jalexan...@wikimedia.org> > wrote: > > Hey all, > > I am, as always, sorry, that this has spilled out into the public sphere > more I do not think that is ever a good thing as discussion of specific > situations like this only serves to increase discomfort, make people feel > even less safe and make victims of everyone. > > Event Safety and Friendly Spaces is a top priority of any conference > whether big or small as well as one of the issues that can be most > difficult to deal with since it is always a balance of situations, feelings > and people who are frequently acting in good faith. I can confirm that > Trust & Safety was involved here and, like most people who are working on > Friendly Spaces, we never aim to take serious actions if we are able to > avoid it. Most issues are dealt with by local attendees or organizing > volunteers with only short reminders or chats and escalate from there only > as things become more serious or repetitive. The same is true for T&S who > generally doesn't even become involved until it is a larger situation. I > will admit that whenever a local organizer or volunteer is involved the > seriousness is increased some because they are, rightly or wrongly, seen as > in a position of influence and power which amplifies any and all issues > that arise. It does not, however, change the focus of trying to take the > least amount of actions possible. > > I will be the first to admit (and did when talking to Romaine yesterday) > that he has done an enormous amount of great work for events and nothing we > did was meant to demean that even if it felt that way to Romaine. Like any > Friendly Spaces actions nothing we did was meant as a punishment (even > though, again, I understand it can feel that way) but was done because we > felt they were the best thing to do for event safety. I can certainly > guarantee that the decision was not taken lightly. > > As many have noted the entire story is not out in the open and, honestly, > won't be. I know that won't make everyone happy but unfortunately is almost > always going to be the case for specific cases. If you want to speak about > process questions and the like, the team (including myself) is certainly > willing to do so. We have a table on the 2nd floor or you can grab one of > us around the conference. > > James > > *James Alexander* > Manager, Trust & Safety (Operations) > Wikimedia Foundation > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimania-l mailing list > Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l > >
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