FESTIVAL OF THE LIVING ROOMS

Preface

1. Be kind.
2. Be courteous.
3. Be respectful.

Agreement and Change Process:

Anyone participating in the Festival of the Living Rooms, in Zoom, on Facebook, or on Discord, agrees to abide by this Code of Conduct.

Please submit change requests by email to blindlemmingchiffon@earthlink.net. Clearly state what you’d like to change, what you’d like to change it to, and state why, briefly. Please be patient as the committee considers your request.

Section 1: Permitted Conduct:

1. Songs. We have no wish to regulate content of songs. They are our community’s art. Please keep the audience in mind, and, again, be kind, courteous, and respectful.
2. Recording via zoom will only be available to performers on request. It is OK to record concerts for personal use, unless the performer requests no recording. Do not post any recording (other than your own concert) on the internet, or anywhere else, without prior permission of performer. Please don’t record in circles without prior permission.

Section 2: General Guidelines (THESE ARE SUGGESTIONS, NOT RULES!):

1. Please stay muted when others are singing or speaking.
2. If you think a song you want to sing might be hurtful or offensive to some of the audience, and you choose to sing it anyway, a content warning is suggested.
   
   Please remember the festival is international. Midnight in the US is between 5 and 9 AM in the UK and Europe, and earlier in the evening in Australia.
   
   Please be considerate. In the past, people have been hurt — not offended, but hurt — by things some of us may take for granted.
   
   Here are some examples, not intended to cover all situations, but to give a general idea of such things.
   
   A humorous song about dead pets can go very wrong when someone in the audience has just lost a pet. They are family members.
   
   People are struggling with trauma. They may be hurt and upset by songs about such things as suicide, abuse, eating disorders, and so on, if they are dealing with these things in their own life.
   
   Some of us write and sing songs about politics. That’s fine. These songs need to be sung. But please, all we ask is that you be considerate of those who are overwhelmed by the current level of negative rhetoric.
3. When on and singing, please silence cell phones and other devices.
4. If you wish to speak during a Q&A, please raise your hand and wait to be called upon.
5. Always try to encourage others who haven’t had a turn yet.
6. Negative criticism of another’s voice, musical ability, or songwriting is not helpful. The performers are not all professionals, and they are respected members of our community.
7. Positive feedback is great. Be careful about comparing an artist or song to another artist or song. Not everyone takes this well. Also, please don’t publish negative reviews of performers anywhere on the internet.
8. In conversation, please be friendly, avoid provocation and incitement, and when baited, think about not responding.
9. It is preferable not to block group admins in the Facebook group. This may prevent you from seeing festival announcements and schedules, which are the primary purpose of the group.
10. Please be courteous about calling people by names and pronouns they have specified.

Section 3: Unpermitted Conduct:

1. Hateful behavior of any kind directed at anyone in the group, including hateful behavior directed at any ethnic group, religious view, gender, or sexual orientation. Ageism, ableism, size and body shaming, appearance shaming. Hostile or bigoted comments directed at anyone in the group.
2. Sexual harassment or harassment of any kind directed at another festival attendee or group member, including private chat notes in Facebook Messenger, Zoom chat, or anywhere else. Also, please do not engage in any unwanted sexual advances, and ask permission before sending a Facebook Messenger message to a non-friend. It is OK to send a messenger message to an admin or moderator to bring a possible violation to our attention.
3. Bullying and personal attacks.
4. Name calling or insults directed at others in the community.
5. Zoom bombers are to be ejected immediately.

Section 4: When Rules are Violated:

1. We generally do not support zero tolerance policies.
2. Please report problems directly, by private message or email, to admins, moderators, Zoom hosts, and Zoom cohosts, as appropriate, for conflict resolution. Any host, cohost, admin, or moderator may take immediate action as warranted.
   
   Systemic issues not requiring immediate attention will be discussed by the code of conduct committee.
   
   Anyone may point out minor transgressions person-to-person as they happen. Please be very careful and kind when doing this.
3. If bad things happen, please gather any evidence you can, such as screen shots.
4. Items in section 2 are suggestions, not rules. Admins, moderators, hosts, and cohosts are here to assist if there are any questions or issues.
   
   Initial problem will result in a discussion and possibly asking a person not to do what they did any more.
   
   A pattern of repeated problems may be treated as harassment.
5. Major transgressions, such as those in section 3, may be subject to inquiry, and more severe penalties, ranging from comment screening to removal from group and/or Zoom, may be necessary.
6. Any punitive action may be appealed. There are no hard and fast rules for this, and appeals, if any, will be handled on a case by case basis.