Code of Conduct

PURPOSE

We want to provide a harassment-free conference experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, religion or lack thereof. We do not tolerate harassment of conference participants in any form. Sexual language and imagery is not appropriate for any conference venue, including talks. Conference participants violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from the conference without a refund at the discretion of the conference organisers.

ANTI-HARASSMENT

Harassment includes, but is not limited to:

  • Verbal comments that reinforce social structures of domination related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, religion
  • Sexual images in public spaces
  • Deliberate intimidation, stalking, or following
  • Harassing photography or recording
  • Sustained disruption of talks or other events
  • Inappropriate physical contact
  • Invasion of personal space
  • Unwelcome sexual attention
  • Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behaviour

ENFORCEMENT

Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately.

If a participant engages in harassing behaviour, event organisers retain the right to take any actions to keep the event a welcoming environment for all participants. This includes warning the offender or expulsion from the conference with no refund.

Event organisers may take action to address anything designed to, or with the clear impact of, disrupting the event or making the environment hostile for any participants. We expect participants to follow these rules at all event venues and event-related social activities. We think people should follow these rules outside event activities too!

REPORTING

If someone makes you or anyone else feel unsafe or unwelcome, please report it as soon as possible. The conference team can be identified by t-shirts. Harassment and other Code of Conduct violations reduce the value of our event for everyone. We want you to be happy at our event. People like you make our event a better place. You can make a report either personally or anonymously.

Anonymous report

You can make an anonymous report here. We can’t follow up an anonymous report with you directly, but we will fully investigate it and take whatever action is necessary to prevent a recurrence.

Personal report

You can make a personal report by:

Contacting a TEAM member, identified by TEAM t-shirt.
Emailing us: coc@ng-de.org
Calling us: We’ll publish a phone number that is staffed during main conference hours.
When taking a personal report, our team will ensure you are safe and cannot be overheard. They may involve other event staff to ensure your report is managed properly. Once safe, we’ll ask you to tell us about what happened. This can be upsetting, but we’ll handle it as respectfully as possible, and you can bring someone to support you. You won’t be asked to confront anyone and we won’t tell anyone who you are.

Our team will be happy to help you contact hotel/venue security, local law enforcement, local support services, provide escorts, or otherwise assist you to feel safe for the duration of the event. We value your attendance.

Important contact numbers
Police: Alt-Moabit 145, 10557 Berlin, phone: 110
Medical Emergency: Call 112.

PHOTO POLICY

We will have colored lanyards for attendees to indicate their comfort level with being photographed:

Black: fine to photograph
Red: do not photograph
In case of any doubt, please ask before taking photographs of attendees, speakers or team members.

INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE

In our commitment to a harassment-free and inclusive environment we strongly believe it’s important to pay attention to harmful language patterns.

Ableism

Words like “crazy”, “dumb”, “insane” or “lame” are examples of ableist language, devaluating people who have physical or mental disabilities. Its appearance often stems not from any intentional desire to offend, but from our innate sense of what it means to be normal. These words can be avoided by using more fitting, clearer descriptions of what we want to communicate.

Sexism

Using gendered terms like “dude” or “guys” to address a mixed-gendered group of people contributes to furthering exclusion of underrepresented individuals. We strongly advise avoiding gendered pronouns as well as gendered terms.

ATTRIBUTION

This Code of Conduct is based on JSConf EU, The Geek Feminism Wiki and related sources.

Last update: 14 Dec 2018