Code of Conduct

Code of Conduct (Version 2.1)

There are several explanatory sections found here, both before and after the Code of Conduct (a.k.a. “Code” or “CoC”) itself. If you like, you can jump directly to the code.

Purpose

LAcon V exists for the enjoyment and enrichment of the fannish community. This Code sets the community expectations for behavior of all persons and groups, as well as for all LAcon V events and activities.

We believe that codes of conduct and related policies enable, guide, and encourage safer and more secure relationships between all participants with fewer accidental misunderstandings.

Encourage your friends and family to read this document. Discuss it with as many people as possible!

Principles

In reading this Code of Conduct and applying it to yourself or the behavior of others, please remember the following:

• Ask first! Before engaging in behavior that you are unsure about, check-in with the person you’re engaging with first. It is always easier to ask first rather than inadvertently harming, offending, or hurting someone.
• Worldcon is World-wide! We are a multi-cultural event with people coming from all over the planet! Cross-cultural misunderstandings can and do occur, but can be minimized with a bit of forethought. Consider whether your joke or interaction could be misconstrued by someone who does not share your cultural context.

Everyone should feel welcome and comfortable at LAcon V and all related events, including any pre- or post-convention activities. We ask all our participants to work together to achieve this goal.

Listeners

If there are any potential Code violations (CoCV), the Listeners team exists to listen to the person reporting them, open an investigation into the allegations, speak with all identified relevant people, and forge a solution that is best for both the reporter and for LAcon V. Please remember that Listeners are not omniscient. If there is a problem and nobody reports it, the Listeners cannot do anything about it.

Additional Examples

The following types of activities and behaviors, whether active or passive, are considered to be harassment and are in violation of the Code, above.

Sex/Gender

• Unwelcome or unwanted sexual remarks
• Unwelcome or unwanted sexual behavior
• Deliberate misgendering / deadnaming of anyone or continued misgendering / deadnaming them after being corrected

Interpersonal

• Unwelcome or unwanted contact, whether physically or virtually, especially but not exclusively when sustained
• Violating personal space in any sustained manner
• Repeated questioning of any participant’s choice to mask, or refrain from masking, during any LAcon V event
  • Note that there may be cases of conflicting accessibility needs (e.g., someone who is immunocompromised must mask, but someone who lip reads needs them to unmask to understand them). Rather than arguing in these cases, we expect both parties to assume each other’s best intentions and look for collaborative solutions.
• Coercion or intimidation
• Stalking or following
• Assault and/or battery, or clear attempts at either
• Non-consensual behavior towards another member, volunteer, or participant
• Making unwanted recording(s) of any sort (e.g., still photo, video, audio) of any individual without their consent
  • Note that this does not apply to large-crowd recordings of 20+ people or to official convention staff photography.

Communication

• Comments that are intended to belittle or demean others
• Repeated comments that are intended to belittle or demean fiction/fandom preferences
• Making comments that are intended to reinforce social structures of domination
• Abuse, regardless of medium or language
• Microaggressions

Adaptations, Amendments, and Expansions

The Code you are reading now is current as of the time it was published. Please be aware, though, that specific interpretations of the Code may vary, since it was written by humans for humans, and humans have been known to do the darndest things!

• Broadly Applied: This Code of Conduct applies to all participants in all LAcon V activities. As such, we expect those working for any venue(s) where our activities are taking place to act, and to be treated, in line with the principles of this Code.
• Future Update(s): LAcon V reserves the right to amend these rules at any time without prior or posted notice and the right of interpretation.
• General not Specific: These rules and policies are not all-inclusive, and examples are included for illustrative purposes. Each potential infraction will be judged individually on its own merits.
• Adapting in the Moment: LAcon V is prepared to deal with any issues related to this code in as rapid and efficient a manner as possible while maintaining our priorities of:
  • listening to the reporting individual with respect and dignity; and
  • recognizing the emotional impact of the incident.

We welcome feedback and suggestions for improvement to make it more robust; please feel free to contact us at conduct@lacon.org so we can review your suggestions.

Reporting Potential Violations

If you feel that you have been the target of a CoCV in a LAcon V space before/during/after the convention, or if you see someone else behaving inappropriately in such spaces, please let us know. If you feel comfortable doing so, point out the inappropriate behavior as soon as possible to the nearest member of LAcon V staff; however, if you are unable to report immediately, that is okay, and a report can still be made.

Reporting Potential Violations: It’s About You

When discussing a potential CoCV with the reporter, LAcon V staff will interact with all reporting individuals in a respectful manner designed to center the experience of the individual making the report. Our goal is to listen to your experience and assist you to re-establish your well-being.

If you have specific suggestions or recommendations as to the preferred outcome of the report, please make those known, either at the time you make your initial report or as soon as you have had a chance to consider it. Note that anonymous reports cannot be amended later.

While the person(s) accused of violating the Code will be interviewed, Listeners will typically not share the reporters or witness information with them. That aside, the circumstances around the report may lead the accused to make educated guesses about who the reporter(s) or witness(es) might be. Because of this and similar factors, we cannot guarantee your anonymity, though we will do everything we can.

We will never move faster than what you are comfortable with. We will also tell you what our next steps will be and will follow-up with you, as appropriate, unless you request no additional contact. Please be aware that internal policies and/or local laws may not permit as complete a follow-up as you might prefer.

Depending on the nature of the CoCV, we may make suggestions of outside personnel whom you may wish to contact. These might include a friend or family member, local social services, medical assistance, or law enforcement.

Reporting Potential Violations: Next Steps

Once your report has been recorded, the Listeners will develop a report of the incident, including speaking privately with any/all involved persons (including witnesses) who can be located. Once a report has been developed, senior members of the Listeners team will decide upon an appropriate action, consulting with the LAcon V Committee and/or Chair as appropriate.

Reporting Potential Violations: Privacy

LAcon V will not idly disclose the identities of any persons involved; personally identifying information (PII) will be restricted solely to those parties whose lack of access to this information would hamper them in the performance of their duties. In many cases, PII will not be shared outside of the Listeners at all. In select other cases, specific LAcon V staff members will be notified.

Members of the Listeners team are not a part of your health care solution nor are we lawyers. We are volunteers, and many of us are in a country other than where we call home. As such, the privacy of what you say to us is not shielded under US law.

Reporting Potential Violations: Advance Notice

If you are planning to attend an LAcon V event, either a pre-convention event or the convention itself, and have concerns regarding another individual who may be present and their likelihood to violate the Code, you can contact Listeners at the address listed above. We will listen to your concerns and discuss options that the event may be able to provide to you.

Aggregated Data

After all identifying information has been completely redacted, aggregated information about the Listener team’s workload will be made available to several sources including to future Worldcons. This completely anonymized data will be kept for not less than two years.

Potential Consequences

Anyone found to have violated the LAcon V Code of Conduct will be subject to consequences. In some cases, interim actions may be taken as a precaution, with further actions possible in the future.

Actions taken may include, but are not limited to:

• Verbal warning
• Temporary or permanent ejection from the current LAcon V event
• Moderating or banning participation in LAcon V social media channels
• Revocation of LAcon V membership
• Banning from future LAcon events

LAcon V reserves the right to revoke membership and eject anyone at any time from any or all LAcon V events, including the convention, with no refund.

Reporting Methods

There are a number of ways of submitting a report to the Listeners team regarding a potential violation. While the report handling process does not change, there are a few details that might.

Regardless of the contacts listed below, you can always send an email to conduct@lacon.org and let us know you need us. See Reporting Methods NOT Recommended Do NOT report to: Email below for privacy warnings. If you send an email in addition to using one of the other methods, please let us know that you have done this so we can accurately link your reports.

Method: Anonymous

While we cannot follow up an anonymous initial report with you directly, we will make every attempt to fully investigate and take whatever actions are feasible to prevent a recurrence. You may specify that you would like to remain anonymous for any of the reporting methods listed below.

Method: LITRS Portal (coming soon)

Once it is available in summer 2026, the preferred way to report a potential CoCV will be through Listeners Incident Tracking and Reporting System (LITRS) .

Method: In Person [Before]

If Listeners are not present, in person, at the pre-convention Activity where the CoCV took place, you have the choice to report directly to the staff who are present, or directly to the Listeners team. These staff members will forward all information to the Listeners team for followup and resolution.

Method: Virtual/Social Media [Before]

In the event that an incident occurs while you are participating on LAcon V social media in an online forum that is sponsored by or branded as being an official online Activity space for LAcon V, you can reach out to a forum moderator, who will be able to either take your initial report or have a more appropriate person reach out to you to take a full report.

Method: In Person [During]

There will be two Listeners tables during LAcon V; one near the Information Desk on the Plaza Level of the ACC North, one near the Information Desk on the second floor in the Hilton. If their table is unoccupied, ask the Information Desk staff to contact someone on your behalf.

After hours, we recommend that you use the contact information found on the back of your badge.

Method: Virtual Convention [During]

If the potential violation occurs in the Online LAcon V spaces, please contact the Online Convention team to request help. They will involve the Listeners if the need arises.

Method: Phone [During]

During the convention, a phone number will be provided to all Members on the back of their badges; that number will be continuously monitored for texts and calls. If there is no answer, you can text a request for a call. If these are not suitable for you, you can message or call the Guides team, whose number is also printed on the back of all badges. Call or message them and they will be able to contact the Listener teams on your behalf.
Note: Because Listeners team members are located around the globe — and all have responsibilities having nothing to do with the convention — phone access will only be available during the convention itself. We cannot guarantee that the Listeners’ phone will be available for reporting before August 26 or after August 31.

After the convention weekend

Activities that take place within the CoC’s jurisdiction can and will be enforced to the best of our abilities, even though those abilities are severely curtailed in the first few days after the convention as Listeners team members close out their responsibilities and travel (in some cases internationally) back home.
We do understand that making a report can be very hard to do, so we want to give you as much time as you might need, but we also need to balance that need against the team members’ need to work on other commitments. Therefore initial reports will continue to be accepted until September 30. After that, the Listener team can be available only on a sporadic basis; please contact the convention and they will be able to reach out to us faster than standard methods.

Reporting Methods NOT Recommended

DO NOT report to: Email

As a routine communication tool, it is superb, but email is inherently insecure. If you choose to communicate with us via email, that is your decision. We recommend more secure methods if you are providing sensitive information about yourself or others.

DO NOT report to: Random Volunteers [During]

It takes hundreds of volunteers to make a Worldcon happen, but only a small fraction of these individuals have any experience with Listeners or CoC topics. In addition, most Volunteers do not have any means of getting additional help for you. Please only reach out to individuals with LAcon V Staff badges or, in the case of the Online Convention, to the moderator team there.

DO NOT report to: Social media

Please don’t make your initial (nor follow-up) reports on social media. Some of the reasons for this advice includes:

• Our CoC and Listener teams are not ordinarily able to actively monitor any social media channels.
• Communications via social media outlets do not comply with our privacy protection requirements, and we can not respond to you with any level of detail for this same reason.
• The CoC team has no access to any LAcon V social media channels, except as personal users, meaning we would not be able to respond in any official fashion.
• Because of the on-site team’s responsibilities, even public messages might not be seen by the CoC team until it was hours, days, or even weeks too late to help.

Definitions for Code & Policies

Common definitions for terms found in this Code and other LAcon V policies can be found on the Policy Definitions page.