Photo credit: Leslie the Pony Lion and Amy. Photo © Sara Muskulus
Warning & Ban Policy
Members of the FirePony Creative Society community may receive a formal warning letter or a formal ban letter from the FirePony Creative Society Board of Directors. Individuals may be banned from attending some or all FirePony Creative Society events, or barred from volunteering in some or all roles with FirePony Creative Society.
The Board of Directors may issue an official warning or ban if a prospective participant:
- Has a pattern of violating the Code of Conduct or Festival policies, endangering the event or its participants’ safety
- Has any single well-substantiated report of a serious violation of Festival policies
- Continues engaging in harmful behavior after receiving a Warning from the Board of Directors about such behavior
The Board may also choose to issue a ban for reasons not covered in this policy.
Informing banned individuals of their status
The Board of Directors will send an official letter notifying the recipient of a ban specifying terms and duration.
When are people unbanned?
- Bans are instituted for one year or indefinitely, as specified in the notification letter.
- One-year bans end automatically at the end of the calendar year as specified in the notification letter; there will be no notification letter to signify the end of a ban.
- The Board of Directors can choose to renew a one year ban, which will result in a new notification letter.
Appeal Process
Individuals can appeal to have their ban lifted:
- Banned individuals can appeal their ban directly with the Board via email.
- Appeals will be handled at the next scheduled Board meeting.
- Only one appeal request per individual will be heard per year.
Publishing bans
In cases where the Conduct Committee feels publishing a ban would benefit the FirePony Creative Society community or other communities, it will recommend to the Board of Directors that such an announcement be made.
The Board will determine if and how to make any announcement. In the future a policy may be developed that specifically outlines this process.
Inquiries about banned individuals
Unless a ban has been published by the Board, FirePony Creative Society does not provide information about whether a participant has been banned. Registered event attendees may inquire if any particular individual has registered or been ticketed for that event. FirePony Creative Society reserves the right to keep the information confidential and these requests will be handled on a case by case basis. Email such requests to board (at) firepony (dot) org.
Barring people from positions of responsibility
FirePony Creative Society reserves the right to prevent someone from volunteering in particular capacities or any capacity.