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Codes of Conduct at events
August 21st, 2013
There are various incidents being reported at tech conferences, such as harassment and distasteful comments. Attendees want to feel safer, so conferences publish Codes of Conduct. That's fine, but do jerks really read them?
A CoC (code of conduct) at a conference didn't prevent a sponsor from bashing on a competing programming language during a keynote, making some attendees feel unwelcome and insulted. An attendee at another conference eavesdropped on a private conversation between two people, felt offended and decided to publicly shame them, instead of following the incident-reporting procedure as stated in the CoC.
These documents are not inherently bad. They attempt to accomplish certain goals. Organizers want to make sure that attendees feel like they are walking into a safe environment with a way of reporting any problems. Organizers want to make sure that attendees respect each other's differences and maintain a pleasant atmosphere. However, some conferences that don't have a CoC actually run more smoothly than conferences that do have one.
As a seasoned organizer of a big conference and a frequent attendee of other events, here are my suggestions to help organizers better accomplish aforementioned goals.
- Jerks either don't read the CoC or simply ignore it. You can't entirely prevent problems, but you can contribute towards a better culture by accepting speakers who are friendlier and more open-minded.
- Conference officials must be easy to locate. Have many volunteers, in consistent locations and give them a flashy uniform.
- A brief statement on your website can reassure new attendees. Example: Be polite and respectful towards everyone, regardless of their differences. Any problems with other attendees can be reported to organizers wearing (insert color) t-shirts, located in each room as well as at the front desk. Our phone number is (insert number). Have fun!
Add more suggestions in the comments.
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