Our Commitment

PIHRA is committed to providing a safe, productive, and welcoming environment for all meeting participants and PIHRA staff. All participants, including, but not limited to, attendees, speakers, volunteers, exhibitors, PIHRA staff members, service providers, and all others are expected to abide by this Programs Code of Conduct. This Policy applies to all PIHRA meeting-related events, including those sponsored by organizations other than PIHRA but held in conjunction with PIHRA events, on public or private platforms.

PIHRA has zero-tolerance for any form of discrimination or harassment, including but not limited to sexual harassment by participants or our staff at our meetings. If you experience harassment or hear of any incidents of unacceptable behavior, PIHRA asks that you inform Rafael Rivera, SPHR, CEO, rafael@pihra.org so that we can take the appropriate action.

Unacceptable Behavior is defined as:

• Harassment, intimidation, or discrimination in any form.
• Verbal abuse of any attendee, speaker, volunteer, exhibitor, PIHRA staff member, service provider, or other meeting guest.
• Examples of verbal abuse include, but are not limited to, verbal comments related to gender, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, religion, national origin, inappropriate use of nudity and/or sexual images in public spaces or in presentations, or threatening or stalking any attendee, speaker, volunteer, exhibitor, PIHRA staff member, service provider, or other meeting guest.

In addition, participants agree to adhere to the following rules upon registering for or participating in any PIHRA events:

• The recording or transmissions of any education sessions, presentations, demos, videos, or content in any format is strictly prohibited.
• Disruption of presentations during sessions, in the exhibit hall, or at other events organized by PIHRA throughout the virtual meeting. All participants must comply with the instructions of the moderator and any PIHRA virtual event staff.
• Presentations, postings, and messages should not contain promotional materials, special offers, job offers, product announcements, or solicitation for services. PIHRA reserves the right to remove such messages and potentially ban sources of those solicitations.
• Participants should not copy or take screen shots of Q&A or any chat room activity that takes place in the virtual space.
• Be excellent to each other. We want the event to be an excellent experience for everyone regardless of gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disabilities, neurodiversity, physical appearance, body size, ethnicity, nationality, race, age, religion, or other protected category. Treat everyone with respect. Participate while acknowledging that everyone deserves to be here — and each of us has the right to enjoy our experience without fear of harassment, discrimination, or condescension, whether blatant or via micro-aggressions. Jokes shouldn’t demean others. Consider what you are saying and how it would feel if it were said to or about you.
• Practice saying “Yes and” to each other. It’s a theater improvisation technique to build on each other’s ideas. We believe that building the future together begins with inclusive “yes and” type of language usage. We all benefit when we create together. This policy extends to all in-person and online events, talks, forums, workshops, social media, socials, hallway conversations, all attendees, partners, sponsors, volunteers, event staff, etc.
• Practice Constructive Criticism. Saying no is an important skill in addition to yes. While we love alignment and agreement, constructive criticism and disagreement is healthy and important. Constructive criticism is the type of feedback that brings up both positive and negative aspects of something in a constructive and respectful way. Fostering an environment of feedback, discussion, and collaboration are crucial to well-functioning organizations. Listening, learning, and iterating are all part of this constructive process.
• Zero-Tolerance Policy. PIHRA staff and event moderators reserve the right to remove anyone from virtual events who violates the code of conduct or is malicious or disruptive. We never want to have to do this, but for expectation setting, we want to say it early and often.

PIHRA reserves the right to take any action deemed necessary and appropriate, including immediate removal from the meeting without warning or refund, in response to any incident of unacceptable behavior, and PIHRA reserves the right to prohibit attendance at any future meeting, virtually or in person.