IETF Guides Program - Expectations

The purpose of this document is to set out the expectations (1-5 below), including standard of behavior (6-8 below), of IETF participants involved in the IETF Guides Program either as IETF Guides or New Participants supported by IETF Guides.

General expectations:

1. A Guide’s role is to help New Participants understand the functioning of the IETF, our meetings and our procedures without bias toward any particular viewpoint.
2. Guides and New Participants can choose how best to communicate and collaborate. Guides and New Participants should try to respect each other’s availability, time and other responsibilities.
3. Guides are expected to provide advice on topics in which they have knowledge and are not to  provide advice that goes beyond the bounds of their capability, experience, and expertise.  Guides can use their experience and connections to point the New Participant to other IETF participants for more information.  Guides can always refer the New Participant to the Guide leads or the IETF Secretariat for assistance.
4. Guides are uncompensated volunteers and we thank them for their service. 
5. If either the Guide or the New Participant believe they need a new match, they should  contact the Guide Leads to be reassigned.

Standards of behavior:

As a reminder, like all IETF participants, Guides and New Participants must comply with the IETF Anti-Harassment Policy and IETF Guidelines for Conduct.  Without limiting those requirements:

1. Guides nor New Participant shall not
   • (1) use offensive language.  Offensive language includes, but is not limited to,
     • (a) profanity or verbal abuse directed towards the Guide or New Participant, 
     • (b) sexually suggestive comments directed towards the Guide or New Participant, and 
     • (c) derogatory remarks directed towards any individual or group of individuals based on religion, race, color, ethnicity, country of origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, or sexual identity. 

or 

• (2) transmit offensive images.  Offensive images include, but are not limited to, 
  • (a) images that are sexually suggestive, lewd, or pornographic and
  • (b) images that include offensive language, as described above.   

1. Guides and New Participants will not discriminate against or treat participants in the Guides Program unequally because of race, gender, gender identity and expressions, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, age, marital status, religion, ethnicity, national origin, ancestry or any other status protected by applicable laws.
2. Guides and New Participants are expected to converse about topics related to the IETF, and neither should be expected to discuss other topics. Both the Guide and the New Participant shall respect each other’s boundaries of conversation.  If at any time either party is uncomfortable with a particular topic, please make the other party aware.

Please Report any issues or concerns.  If you experience any behavior that concerns you, please promptly report this to the Guides Leads at leads@guides.ietf.org.  In addition or instead, you can report issues of harassment or inappropriate behavior to the Ombudsteam at ombudsteam@ietf.org, and issues of safety or legal concern to the IETF Executive Director at exec-director@ietf.org.