[Grants] [LACTTE] Grant Request: Funding for Code of Conduct Incident Response Training

[Jonathan Woithe]

Hi James

On Thu, May 24, 2018 at 03:15:03PM +1000, James Polley wrote:
> I'm writing this email with several hats; I'm on the council and had worked
> on getting this into the council's budget directly, but I'm also one of the
> people listed as likely to benefit from this grant should it go ahead.

Thanks for taking the time to address some of my points.

> On Fri, May 4, 2018 at 10:28 AM, Jonathan Woithe <jwoithe at just42.net> wrote:
> > > Note: this training is one of two training session offered. A ???Train the
> > > Trainers??? session is is a separate course, quote and additional grant
> > > request pending, which would allow attendees of both sessions to then have
> > > the knowledge to train their own Conduct teams. This would allow for a
> > > larger pool of trained persons to attend more events and be a part of more
> > > Conduct teams.
> >
> > I would definitely like to see a "Train the Trainer" session happen
> > since this will then put LA in a position to ensure that many more
> > people can receive the appropriate training.  In some ways this is more
> > valuable than a "team member" session that the present grant is about. 
> > However, when starting from nothing there is an obvious need to
> > bootstrap the process so I see no problem with both being done at this
> > early stage in the process.
> >
> 
> This is addressed at https://otter.technology/code-of-conduct-training/ -
> "The trainers must first attend a Code of Conduct incident response
> workshop (3 hours) and then attend a train-the-trainers session (2 hours)"
> 
> So I agree, having some people go through the train-the-trainer sessions
> would be very useful, but the training being looked at here is a
> prerequisite for that.

That makes sense - many courses which deal with subjects along these lines
have a similar progression.  For now my concern is simply that the
train-the-trainers options is on the radar screen for a future time.  Having
the ability for LA (and/or other organisations within our community) run
these training sessions is clearly more sustainable in the long run. 
Pleasingly it seems that this is the intent in the long run.

> > > The training is as follows:
> > >
> > > Name: Code of Conduct Incident Response
> > > Provider: Otter Technologies
> > > https://otter.technology/code-of-conduct-training/
> >
> > Otter Technologies is obviously based in the US.  With the nature of
> > potential Code of Conduct violations there are differences between
> > Australia and the US in connection with legal responsibilities and the
> > like (particularly surrounding minors).  Given that the grant is to
> > train people for events held in Australia, how will the training given
> > by Otter Technologies take this into account?
> 
> That's a good question.
> 
> My impression is that the course doesn't attempt to cover the legal
> responsibilities; as those are things that are relatively easy to research.
> My understanding is that the focus of the course is more about the
> interpersonal skills needed to respond to an incident, as these skills are
> something that usually require more practice to get comfortable with.
> 
> You can read a little more about the course at the link I provided above.

Thanks for this.  Based on the linked document I think your understanding of
the course is accurate.  That obviously leaves the question of legal
responsibilities open, but you went on to say:

> Regardless, I do think this is a good point, and it sounds like it would be
> useful if someone could work on some documentation or training about the
> Australian legal requirements here, if it isn't covered by the Otter
> Technologies training.

I think your suggestion to develop documentation describing the Australian
legal requirements is an excellent idea.  It will make it much easier for
members of future response teams to be completely clear about their legal
responsibilities.  While it's true that these things can be researched, it
is surprisingly tricky to track down some of the required information and to
determine when certain prescribed actions apply.

If this grant turned out to be the only training ever done in relation to
code-of-conduct incident response I would be concerned about the
effectiveness of LA's funds.  However, it seems like there is a realisation
that instead it constitutes the first step in a larger process which aims to
make this training accessible to any members of our community who require
it.  Among other things, having people appropriately trained provides
further reassurances to attendees and demonstrates that LA and its
affiliates are serious about enforcing event codes of conduct.

As a result, I believe that this grant application is consistent with the
mission and values of LA and would be happy to see the grant awarded.

Regards
  jonathan