Code of Conduct and Supporting Diversity

Diversity and Codes of Conduct are both topics that are regularly discussed within the conference organising blogosphere and to a lesser extent within community groups. We've tried a few things to encourage more diversity both within our meetup attendees and the speakers but we're definitely not claiming any victories yet. It's a work in progress. At different times of the year and with all the organising done in spare time, it's not always easy to find any speakers for our gatherings. Trying to be selective enough to create any kind of diversity balance is currently only an ambition.

Agile Yorkshire supporting the Diversity Charter It's an ambition we will keep pursuing but the least we could do to demonstrate our desire for change is to sign up to the recently published Diversity Charter. You can read all the details and sign up yourself on the Diversity Charter website and hopefully lots of people will and should.

Reading the Diversity Charter also prompted the admission that Agile Yorkshire still had no code of conduct and for that fix was in order. An evening of internet research turns of lots of useful resources for conference organisers though a fewer aimed specifically at community groups.

Here's a small collection of excellent resources on the subject:

• The Diversity Charter - Resources page.
• Lena Reinhard - Should my tech conference / community have a Code of Conduct?
• Model View Culture - The New Normal: Codes of Conduct in 2015 and Beyond
• Model View Culture - Beyond Codes of Conduct: What Tech Events Need to Do Better
• The Ada Initiative
• Ashe Dryden - A Year+ in: Codes of Conduct at Tech Confs.

In the end the Agile Yorkshire Code of Conduct for now is based on the Geek Feminism Wiki: Conference Anti-harassment Policy and ConfCodeOfConduct.com.

Comments or feedback welcome?