Code of Conduct

Purpose

DDD Sydney is dedicated to providing a harassment-free conference experience for everyone, regardless of but not limited to: gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age or religion. We do not tolerate harassment of conference participants in any form. Sexual language and imagery is not appropriate anywhere. This applies to conference talks also.

Conference participants or anyone interacting with the event 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 or written 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
• Unwelcome sexual attention
• Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behaviour

Need Help?

If someone makes you or anyone else feel unsafe or unwelcome, please report it as soon as possible. Conference staff can be identified by black event branded t-shirts and organiser name tags. 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.

Personal report

You can make a personal report by:

• Contacting a staff member, identified by black event branded t-shirts and organiser name tags
• Sending a direct message to our Twitter account: dddsydney
• Emailing us: team@dddsydney.com.au

Emails and Twitter direct messages will be monitored by our media officer as well as select subset of the organising team.

When taking a personal report, our staff 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.

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.

Important contact numbers

• Police:
• Centre Against Sexual Assault 24 hour line: 1800 806 292
• Emergency Medical:
• Non Emergency Medical: Broadway General Practice, Broadway Shopping Centre, M105, Level 1, Bay Street, Broadway NSW 2007

Enforcement

Participants asked to stop any harassing behaviour are expected to:

• Listen to the complaint with an open mind and consider the effect rather than intent of the behaviour in question
• Not be dismissive of the complainant
• Understand any advice given on how to act in the future
• Comply with the directions of the DDD Sydney organisers

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 redress 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, event-related social activities as well as social media.

Inclusivity

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 intend to communicate.

To find out more about ableism and replacement terms please read this guide.

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.

For more information please familiarise yourself with Geek Feminism wiki guide.

In case of any doubt, please ask before taking photographs of attendees, speakers or staff.

Attribution

This Code of Conduct was based on The Geek Feminism wiki, the work of Valerie Aurora, the JSConf AU Code of Conduct, the Levels Conference Code of Conduct, and the Conference Code of Conduct

Last update: 30 Apr 2018