Explicitly mentioned good behaviour

• 2011:
  • "value and respect all people"
  • "avoid playing dumb"
  • "make effort to ensure a pleasent conference experience"

• PyCon:

  • "show respect and courtesy to other attendees"
  • communication "appropriate for a professional audience"
  • "be kind"
  • "behave professionally"

• DrupalCon (Meg):

  • "We are considerate. We are welcoming. We are respectful. We are collaborative. When we disagree, we consult others. When we need it, we ask for help."
  • "People are encouraged to take responsibility for their words and actions and listen to constructively-presented criticism with an open mind, courtesy, and respect."

  • OpenHatch (Meg):

    • "Be patient and kind. Help make this a welcoming and beginner friendly place."

Explicitly mentioned/banned misbehaviour

• 2014/15:
• 2016:
• 2011
  • vilification, abuse
  • "harassment" (see Terms)

• PyCon

  • "sexist, racist, or exlcusionary jokes" (repeated twice)
  • "Sexual language and imagery"
  • "put down other attendees"
  • exhibitors: nothing "sexualised"

• DrupalCon (Meg):

  • "Sponsors, volunteers, speakers, attendees, and other participants should strive to treat all people with dignity and respect, regardless of their culture, religion, physical appearance, disability, race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation."
  • "We do not tolerate harassment of conference participants in any form."

• Abstraction & Policies: Almost everything

Mentioned discriminatory items

In general, see also term definition for "harassment". Only add entries that are explicitly mentioned outside the context of "harassment" (which is likely to belong into the definition)

• 2011:
  • regardless of gender, orientation, race, ability, shape, size or preferred desktop environment

Terms used (and definitions of these)

• 2011 (note: the CoC ):
  • "harassment": "Harassment includes offensive verbal comments related to gender, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, religion, sexual images in public spaces, deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, unauthorized or inappropriate photography or recording, sustained disruption of talks or other events, inappropriate physical contact, and unwelcome sexual attention."
  • "sexual" (imagery): not further explained, only in "harassment" definition

• PyCon:

  • "harassment": "Harassment includes offensive communication related to gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, or religion; sexual images in public spaces; deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, harassing photography or recording; sustained disruption of talks or other events; inappropriate physical contact; and unwelcome sexual attention."
    • Includes itself the term "harassing"
  • "professional": not further explained
  • "sexual" (language and imagery): not further explained
  • "sexualized": not further explained

• OpenHatch

  • "Harassment includes offensive comments related to skill level, gender, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, or religion. Other forms of harassment include display of sexual images in workshop spaces, deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, harassing photography or recording, disruptive behavior, inappropriate physical contact, violence, and unwelcome sexual attention or innuendo."

Cultural sensitivity

• Libre Graphics Meeting (Nuritzi)
  • We accept that people have differences of opinion, that they communicate those in various ways, and that social norms may vary across cultures." - acknowledge cultural differences
  • "To achieve the goals of the Code of Conduct, the organizers of the Libre Graphics Meeting: Will check before the selection of a location is made, if local laws are compatible with the CoC."
• GUADEC 2016
  • "Keep all communication appropriate for the audience, including people of different ages and different cultural backgrounds. GUADEC attendees come from all over the world, so something that you consider appropriate may not be appropriate to someone else." Although someone may not know what is culturally sensitive or not for all cultures, so the wording here may need some slight editing.
• Desktop Summit
  • "We appreciate that cultural differences may cause misunderstandings, so we will try to clarify these and smooth misunderstandings as they arise. But we also expect people to avoid playing dumb, and to make an effort to ensure a pleasant conference experience for everyone."

Help offered

• 2011:
  • clarify/smooth misunderstandings caused by cultural differences
  • "… contact venue security or local law enforcement, provide escorts, or otherwise assist those experiencing harassment …"

• PyCon

• DrupalCon (Meg):

  • "If necessary, conference staff are empowered to take appropriate actions that may include, but are not limited to, warnings, expulsion from the conference without refund, and referrals to venue security or local law enforcement."

  • Provide an incident report form: https://www.drupal.org/governance/community-working-group/incident-report

• Geek Feminism (Nuritzi)
  • I like the fact that they include many ways that people can report incidents, including an anonymous online way to submit.

• OpenHatch

  • Resources for attendees and staff regarding handling reports http://wiki.openhatch.org/OpenHatch_event_code_of_conduct/Attendee_procedures http://wiki.openhatch.org/OpenHatch_event_code_of_conduct/Staff_Procedures_for_Handling_Incidents

  • Warning the harasser to cease their behavior and that any further reports will result in sanctions
  • Requiring that the harasser avoid any interaction with, and physical proximity to, the reporter for the remainder of the event
  • Immediately ending any event volunteer responsibilities and privileges the harasser holds
  • Requiring that the harasser not volunteer for future events your organization runs (either indefinitely or for a certain time period)
  • Requiring that the harasser immediately leave the event and not return
  • Banning the harasser from future events (either indefinitely or for a certain time period)
  • Publishing an account of the harassment and calling for the resignation of the harasser from their responsibilities (usually pursued by people without formal authority: may be called for if the harasser is the event leader, or refuses to stand aside from the conflict of interest, or similar, typically event staff have sufficient governing rights over their space that this isn't as useful)

Structure

• 2011:
  • Single document
  • 2-paragraphs setting out rules (122)
  • 2-paragraphs of same rules centering around "harssment" (121)
  • Rest: Offer of help ("harassment" specific), contacts, expectiation to follow rules

• PyCon:

  • Introduction (101 words)
  • Short Version (89 words)
  • Long Version (154 words)
  • Reporting Incidents (52 words)
  • Extra: Handling guidlines (736 words)
  • I like that the reporting and handling guidelines are separate - it helps to keep the document focused (Allan)

• DrupalCon (Meg):

  • 565 words
• GUADEC 2015 (Nuritzi)
  • It's nice to have the internal notes separate (which is basically what the enforcement policy is).
• GUADEC 2014 (Nuritzi)
  • I like that it is short and to the point, not drawn out. I'm not sure we need a lot of introduction. I like the short v long version, it makes it easier to scan.
• Abstractions and Policy Procedures (Nuritzi)
  • Nice that they included examples, but they're hard to look through and can therefore seem intimidating.

• OpenHatch

  • 330 words
  • also includes attendee guide for making report and staff guide for handling reports

Contacts

• 2011:
  • Organisation team (phone + mail + desk)

• DrupalCon (Meg):

  • Conference Staff Members
• Geek Feminism (Nuritzi)
  • Includes ways to submit reports online anonymously, as well as in-person.

Document titles

• 2011: "Conference Attendee Policy"
• 2014/15:
  • "Code Of Conduct"
  • "Handling reports of harassment"

• DrupalCon (Meg):

  • Code of Conduct

Tone and Clarity

• PyCon UK

  • I like the opening line - it has a positive emphasis on the experience: "We value the participation of each member of the Python community and want all attendees to have an enjoyable and fulfilling experience." (Allan)

  • I really like how clear and straightforward the PyCon CoC is. It's really easy to read and the meaning is obvious. For example: "To make clear what is expected, all attendees, speakers, exhibitors, organisers and volunteers at any PyCon UK event are required to conform to the following Code of Conduct." (Allan)

• SXSW

  • Interesting opening statement - "SXSW helps creative people achieve their goals. One way we do this is by serving as a platform for engaging, thought-provoking conversations and discussions. However, SXSW is not a place for conversations, discussions, and behavior that are intentionally inappropriate, off-topic, disruptive, or abusive." While I don't agree with every word, there might be something to be said for having a simple aspirational opening statement.

• "We welcome you" - sentiment expressed by both the DebConf and Mozilla codes. It's an interesting approach which will obviously particularly speak to new attendees.

  • DebConf: "The Debian Project welcomes and encourages participation by everyone. No matter how you identify yourself or how others perceive you: we welcome you. We welcome contributions from everyone as long as they interact constructively with our community."

  • Mozilla: "The Mozilla Project welcomes and encourages participation by everyone. It doesn’t matter how you identify yourself or how others perceive you: we welcome you. We welcome contributions from everyone as long as they interact constructively with our community, including, but not limited to people of varied age, culture, ethnicity, gender, gender-identity, language, race, sexual orientation, geographical location and religious views."

• Abstractions Policy & Procedures - takeaway: try to avoid vague, subjective rules that could be interpreted in many ways

General Notes

2011

• The CoC repeats itself twice basically, there are two paragraphs each
  • first going on about "vilification, abuse or harassment" then
  • later the same content but only specific to "harassment" including a rather long definition.

• PyCon:

  • The short and long version are almost the same length and have a large amount of overlap content wise.

• DrupalCon (Meg):

  • Standard CoC used in many countries in Europe, Australia, US, etc.