Code of Conduct

Our Global Code of Conduct: Doing Digital the Right Way

The Digital Marketers Organization Universal Code of Conduct (our “Code”) was issued effective October 14, 2019 and is amended annually, as needed, to address changing laws or procedures that impact our community & events. It is designed to provide digital marketers with specific guidance when attending one of our events or participating in our community. We hope you embrace the principles of our code and:

  • Act with integrity in the Digital Marketing Ecosystem
  • Foster good-will towards others with all your interactions
  • Lead with morality, compassion, and kindness towards others
  • Inject ethics in your communications, social posts, and comments

Our universal code of conduct policy is designed to stop malicious behavior that hurts others, causes rifts, or makes others feel uncomfortable at any industry event and/or any online community. Specifically, hateful or malicious behavior will prevent you from participating in our future events & our online community. It is our hope that all digital marketing events and communities adopt this stance towards hostile groups or individuals within the greater digital marketing ecosystem.

See Something, Say Something: If You Suspect a Possible Violation of our Code, We Encourage You to Speak Up and Report It

If you are being harassed at an event or within a community, please immediately contact a member of our staff at info@digitalmarketers.org. If the matter is especially urgent, please contact any of these individuals:
 
Jim Christian – Partner, Digital Marketers Organization
TJ Van Der Werf – Partner, Digital Marketers Organization

We are happy to assist with any & all forms of harassment. If you are attending one of our events, we’ll be happy to contact security, provide law enforcement, provide escorts, or otherwise assist those experiencing harassment to feel safe. If you are experiencing harassment online, please take screenshots of the offensive material so we can review the problem. Send all harassment complaints to info@digitalmarketers.org so we can review the offensive material and take direct follow-up actions.

Goals of This Code

Our goal is to promote inclusivity within a positive environment where marketers of all stripes can come together, learn, network, and share knowledge. We believe a universal code of conduct is a great way to help us stay aligned with this goal and our core values. We value the participation of each member of the digital marketing community and want everyone to have an enjoyable and fulfilling experience.

Who Should Follow Our Code?

We expect all of our staff members and partners to know and follow the Code. Failure to do so can result in disciplinary action, including termination. Moreover, while the Code is specifically written for the Digital Marketers Organization, our communities, and our events… we expect attendees, users, and others who participate in the greater digital marketing ecosystem to follow the Code as well.

Where Conduct Applies

As part of this universal policy, we will also consider feedback from other events and communities to ensure that groups and/or individuals act in the best interest of the digital marketing ecosystem. This includes events like, but not limited to:

  • SMX
  • Pubcon
  • MozCon
  • SEMPDX
  • Ungagged
  • State of Search
  • Advanced Search Summit
  • SEOktoberfest G50 Summit

We will also consider feedback from online communities like:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Moz Blog
  • Traffic Think Tank
  • Search Engine Journal

To be clear, we will not be policing websites or accounts. It’s come to our attention that behavioral issues with groups or individuals don’t always happen at the event or in the community in question, but rather on 3rd party platforms where a traditional code of conduct policy would be ineffective and unenforceable.

Our Core Values

It’s our belief that each of us is responsible for how we interact with others in the digital marketing ecosystem. You can choose to be a guiding light, helping others be successful, or you can choose to be mean-spirited, belittle others, or act aggressively. We are optimistic that the overwhelming majority of people within the ecosystem will choose to help others openly and:
 

  1. Act With Integrity
    Integrity is the hallmark of a person who demonstrates sound moral and ethical principles in all facets of their lives. Integrity is the foundation on which people build relationships, trust, and effective interpersonal relationships.
     
  2. Foster Good-Will
    Everyone needs someone to help lift them up from time to time. It could be something as simple as answering a question or lending a few hours to help someone out of a problem. We encourage everyone to foster some good-will and help out your fellow digital marketers from time to time. You never know when an act of kindness will pay off!
     
  3. Lead With Morality
    Your internal moral compass guides you daily to make the right or wrong decisions. Show kindness and compassion for people whenever possible.
     
  4. Inject Ethics
    Ethics is a system of moral principles that affects how people make decisions and lead their lives. Described as moral philosophy, ethics is concerned with what is good for individuals and the greater community.

Zero-Tolerance Conduct

Sometimes there are situations that call for immediate action. If we discover that malicious behavior is happening within our community or events, we will take immediate action to remove the offending party while we review their actions. Furthermore, we will also consider malicious behavior from outside events and communities as part of our zero-tolerance conduct.
 

  1. Harassment in Any Form
    We are dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, or religion. We will not tolerate harassment of anyone in the greater digital marketing community in any form. All communication should be appropriate for a professional audience including people of many different backgrounds. As we serve a tech savvy audience, communication includes social media postings by anyone on any platform.
     
  2. Disrespectful Behavior
    Be kind to others. Do not insult or put down anyone in the greater digital marketing ecosystem. Behave professionally. Trolling, posting mean-spirited messages, and personally attacking someone maliciously will be considered harassment.
     
  3. Violence in Any Form
    Violence and abusive behavior include any attempted, threatened, or actual conduct that endangers or is likely to endanger the health or safety of community members or attendees. Additionally, any threatening statement, harassment, or behavior that gives community members or attendees reasonable cause to believe that his or her health or safety is at risk is forbidden.”) Accidents are not considered violence or abusive behavior even though safety or property may be at risk or harmed.
     
  4. Unethical Behavior
    Unethical Conduct includes any serious act or omission intentional or not, which is contrary to the Digital Marketers Organization’s policies, operating procedures, or the Code, that is illegal, unethical, immoral with serious or negative implications for the public interest and the integrity of the organization.

Considerations & Appealing

Some things we’ll consider when dealing with Code of Conduct offenders:

  • Warning the harasser to cease their behavior and providing a reminder that any further harassment will result in sanctions.
  • Requiring that the harasser avoid any interaction with, and physical proximity to, their victim.
  • Not allowing a speaker/attendee/member who violated the policy to give (further) talks at events now or in the future.
  • Not allowing a speaker/attendee/member who violated the policy to participate in our community now or in the future.
  • Immediately terminating all event responsibilities and privileges the harasser holds.
  • Immediately terminating all volunteer work for future events your organization runs, either indefinitely or for a certain time period.
  • Requiring the harasser to immediately leave the event and not return.
  • Banning the harasser from future events, either indefinitely or for a certain time period.
  • Removing a harasser’s membership of relevant organizations, including Digital Marketers Organization’s websites and online communities

We’ll give any & all accused harassers a forum to appeal to if there is a need to do so, but in the meantime, a report will stand based off our interpretation of the evidence collected. The manner in which we handle the situation publicly is of utmost importance. Our policy is to make sure that everyone involved in the initial incident is completely aware of the violation to our universal code of conduct. With respect to the privacy of individuals involved, we need everyone to know that official action has been taken.)

Depending on the incident, the Digital Marketers Organization may decide to make one or more public announcements. If necessary, this will be done with a short announcement either during the event and/or through other channels. Only our designated staff will make announcements, if necessary.

Working Together to Stop Misconduct

Each of us has the capability to stand up to harassment, violence, trolling, victimizing, and bullying. By taking a stance against this behavior, you are taking the first steps in eliminating misconduct from the digital marketing ecosystem that we all love and take part in. We hope that this document serves as a guiding light to all communities and organizations within the ecosystem. We encourage everyone to come together, adopt this policy, and enjoy the digital marketing ecosystem in a positive way.