Code of conduct

Before anything else…

If you believe you have witnessed or have knowledge of a breach to this code of conduct by person(s) participating in NYC++ events or online spaces, please report it to nycpp-conduct@googlegroups.com at your earliest opportunity.

The rest of this document will more precisely define the conduct expected from participants in NYC++ online spaces and events, as well as our protocol for acting on such reports. Please reach out to an NYC++ Lead Organizer or Conduct Committee member if you have any questions or concerns.

Purpose

A primary goal of the NYC++ meetup is to be inclusive to the largest number of contributors, with the most varied and diverse backgrounds possible. As such, we are committed to providing a friendly, safe and welcoming environment for all, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, ability, race, ethnicity, age, physical appearance, body size, socioeconomic status, political affiliation, and religion (or lack thereof).

This document outlines our expectations for all who participate in the community, as well as the consequences for unacceptable behavior. We invite all those who participate in our events to help us create safe and positive experiences for everyone.

Expected behavior

The NYC++ community works to be welcoming and kind among itself and to others, with a deep commitment to psychological safety, and we want to ensure that does not change as we grow and evolve. To that end, we have a few ground rules that we ask all community members to adhere to:

be welcoming,
be friendly and patient,
be considerate,
be kind,
be careful in the words that we choose,

This list is not exhaustive. Rather, it is intended to be a guide to make it easier to communicate and participate in the community.

Unacceptable behavior

Unacceptable behaviors include, but are not limited to: intimidating, harassing, abusive, discriminatory, derogatory or demeaning speech or actions by any participant in our community. Community event venues may sometimes be shared with members of the public; all members of the community should be respectful to all patrons of such locations, and to any staff working therein.

Harassment and other exclusionary behaviors are never acceptable. These include, but are not limited to:

Harmful or prejudicial verbal or written comments related to gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), disability, physical appearance, body size, age, dietary restriction, or political affiliation.
Inappropriate use of nudity and/or sexual images (including presentation slides).
Inappropriate depictions of violence (including presentation slides).
Deliberate intimidation, stalking or following.
Harassing photography or recording.
Sustained disruption of talks or other events.
Unconsented sharing of personally identifying information (i.e., “doxing”).
Inappropriate physical contact, and unwelcome sexual attention.
Advocating for, encouraging, or threatening any of the above behaviors.

No weapons are allowed at NYC++ events. Weapons include, but are not limited to, explosives (including fireworks), guns, and large knives such as those used for hunting or display, as well as any other item used for the purpose of causing injury or harm to others.

Consequences of unacceptable behavior

Unacceptable behavior from any community member, including sponsors, invited speakers, venue and catering partners, and community organizers, will not be tolerated. Anyone asked to stop unacceptable behavior is expected to comply immediately.

If a community member engages in unacceptable behavior, the community organizers may take any action they deem appropriate, up to and including a temporary ban or permanent expulsion from the community without warning (and without refund in the case of a paid event).

If you witness or are subject to unacceptable behavior

The NYC++ Conduct Committee is responsible for reviewing, investigating, and responding to all reported incidents that breach this code of conduct. If you are subject to or witness unacceptable behavior, or have any other concerns pertaining to the conduct of individuals belonging to, partnered with, or otherwise affiliated with the community, please report the incident to the Conduct Committee at nycpp-conduct@googlegroups.com, as soon as possible.

If you would prefer to directly speak with a community organizer, please reach out to any of the individuals listed on the Governance page. Community organizers are furthermore expected to be available to help community members engage with local law enforcement or to otherwise help those experiencing unacceptable behavior to feel safe. In the context of in-person events, organizers will also provide escorts as desired by the person experiencing distress.

Procedure for incident handling

The NYC++ Conduct Committee is responsible for reviewing and investigating all reports of code of conduct violations, for determining appropriate followup actions, and for maintaining a private record of all reported incidents.

Reviewing incidents

You can expect to receive an acknowledgment from the Conduct Committee within two business days. The Conduct Committee will then review the incident and try to determine:

What happened and who was involved.
Whether this event constitutes a code of conduct violation.
Whether this is an ongoing situation, or if there is a threat to anyone’s physical safety.

If this is determined to be an ongoing incident or a threat to physical safety, the Conduct Committee’s immediate priority will be to protect everyone involved. This means an “official” response may be delayed until the Conduct Committee believes that the situation has ended and that everyone is physically safe.

The Conduct Committee will try to contact other parties involved or witnessing the event to gain clarity on what happened and understand any different perspectives.

Responding to incidents

Once the Conduct Committee has a complete account of the events they will make a decision as to how to respond. Responses may include:

Nothing, if no violation occurred or it has already been appropriately resolved.
A temporary or permanent ban from participation in the community, inclusive of both in-person and online spaces and events.
Involvement of relevant law enforcement if appropriate.

If the situation is not resolved within one week, the Conduct Committee will respond to the original reporter with an update and explanation.

Once a response has been determined, the Conduct Committee will separately contact the original reporter and other individuals to let them know what actions, if any, will be taken. Feedback from the individuals involved on the appropriateness of our response will be taken into account, but no additional action is promised.

After any incident, the Conduct Committee will make an anonymized report on the situation to the NYC++ Lead Organizers, after having removed all identifying attributes of individuals involved. In rare cases, the NYC++ Lead Organizers may choose to make a public statement about the incident; in such cases, the identities of anyone involved will remain confidential unless instructed otherwise by those individuals.

Special cases

If a complaint is raised against a member of the Conduct Committee or one of the other NYC++ organizers, they will be excluded from conduct discussion and decisions, including discussion of any appeals. They will only be included as needed for an involved party, such as to solicit their perspective or to notify them of decisions. Such complaints may lead to a member’s responsibilities being revoked.

Addressing grievances

If you feel you have been falsely or unfairly accused of violating this Code of Conduct, you should notify one of the NYC++ Lead Organizers with a concise description of your grievance. Your grievance will be handled in accordance with our existing governing policies.

In general, it is not appropriate to appeal a particular decision in spaces accessible to the public or the wider community of NYC++ attendees, including on platforms such as GitHub, Discord, or Meetup. Doing so would involve disclosure of information which should remain confidential. Disclosing this kind of information publicly may be considered a separate and, potentially, more serious violation of the code of conduct. This is not meant to limit discussion of the code of conduct, the conduct team itself, or the general appropriateness of responses, but please refrain from mentioning specific facts about incidents without the explicit permission of all parties involved.

Scope

All community participants (organizers, paid or otherwise; sponsors; invited speakers; and other attendees) are expected to abide by this code of conduct in all community venues - in-person and online - as well as in all one-on-one communications pertaining to community business.

In rare cases, violations of this code outside of these spaces may affect, and be detrimental to, a person’s ability to participate within these spaces. Important examples include, but are not limited to, sexual and gender-based violence and/or harassment, hate crimes, and hate speech. Although we do not conduct proactive research, we have an obligation to respond to reported and, to the extent possible, corroborated concerns.

Our motivations are not rooted in responding punitively, or holding people accountable. Instead, our response will be focused on how the continued participation of the person at issue could impact the community’s safety, well-being, and inclusivity. It is our priority to remain a welcoming community to those harmed by such actions, as well as groups subjected to systemic marginalization or underrepresentation.

License and attribution

This is version 1.0 of the NYC++ Code of Conduct. It is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) license. It is based on the Berlin Code of Conduct, the Carbon Language Code of Conduct, and the C++now Code of Conduct version 1.0.

Through the above projects, this document inherits work done for the pdx.rb Code of Conduct, the LLVM Code of Conduct, the Django Project Code of Conduct, the Speak Up! project, the Contributor Covenant version 2.0, the PyCon Code of Conduct, and the Geek Feminism wiki.

The NYC++ Meetup is thankful to all of these projects for their work in helping to build effective communities.