[OSGeo-Conf] Code of Conduct
Peter Baumann
p.baumann at jacobs-university.de
Wed Jan 14 02:24:47 PST 2015
hm...a little worrying how technology oriented people get ideologic.
Why do I say "ideologic"?
- belief structures. "One has to" and "obviously" lack a clear subject in charge
of giving the instructions (which effectively is happening).
As a consequence, someone not agreeing (read: not sharing this belief) is
subliminally put on the side of the assumed not-so-good-doers: "Are you afraid
of that commitment?"
- attacking non-believers and suppressing free discussion. Examples:
> "more than a little annoyed that we’re even having this conversation."
- obscured authority. No institution/person/etc is named which is responsible
for requirements and soliciting actions. Citing:
> How do you know what’s genuinely awful and what’s “kind of bad”?
Who is the authority answering this, and doing so for the whole planet and all
its cultures?
- lack of evidence. At "some" conferences "some" "incidents" are said to have
happened. Notice the 3-fold fuzziness which disallows others to gain their own
opinion and participate in discussion. "conferences ... do not fair [ie: fare]
so well" likewise excludes communication partners from discussion as the assumed
underlying evidence is not shared.
FWIW, I have attended all sorts of conferences all around this planet for
decades now and have not witnessed a single "incident" that would require
normative action.
- pseudo-evidence. Examples are listed to underpin that codes of conduct are a
rulle. A clean statistical argument would indicate a percentage of conferences.
Also note this pattern: 2 conferences have a CoC, so we must also have one, end
of discussion. Next conference: 3 conferences have a CoC, so we must also have
one, end of discussion.
So, ideologic it is along the definition of Steger & James: "Ideologies are
patterned clusters of normatively imbued ideas and concepts, including
particular representations of power relations. These conceptual maps help people
navigate the complexity of their political universe and carry claims to social
truth." [1]
Personally, I have an uneasy feeling going to a conference that assumes that I
(or my community, for that matter) needs tight behavioral control. Next step is
an obligatory "conduct police" that patrols conferences to spot non-conforming
behavior. Inverting the below sentence, "I would have had to seriously consider
if I wanted to keynote at a conference _with_ a code of conduct".
All that said, Darrell is raising the core questions indeed, I try to honestly
give my 2 cents:
> What if something genuinely awful happens? What will you do?
step in. done that earlier (in private situations, again: never necessary at any
conference)
> What about something kind of bad? How will you recognize that, and how will
you handle it? Who will do it?
> How do you know what’s genuinely awful and what’s “kind of bad”?
based on common sense and the good education my parents gave me. Which is
inherently risk prone and delicate when getting intercultural, so requires a
_lot_ of care and, if ever possible, seeking advice from members of the cultures
concretely involved.
-Peter
PS: sorry a scientist's response. Best just take Jachym: keep it simple and
friendly.
[1] James, Paul; Steger, Manfred (2010). /Globalization and Culture, Vol. 4:
Ideologies of Globalism/
<http://www.academia.edu/4510893/Globalization_and_Culture_Vol._4_Ideologies_of_Globalism_editor_with_Manfred_B._Steger_Sage_Publications_London_2010>.
London: Sage Publications.
On 01/14/2015 04:22 AM, Darrell Fuhriman wrote:
> I agree with Kate here, and want to emphasize this line:
>
> "Conferences where bad things happen and there is not a clear plan often do
> not fair so well.”
>
> It’s really great to say “can’t we just assume everyone will be nice.” The
> answer is “no”. We can assume that *nearly* everyone will be, but occasionally
> things happen, most of them minor, some of them genuinely awful.
>
>
> A CoC isn’t a feel good statement. It’s a public commitment to providing a
> safe and welcoming environment to all members of the community. Are you afraid
> of that commitment?
>
> To be honest, I’m a lot baffled, and a more than a little annoyed that we’re
> even having this conversation. That conferences need a CoC and a plan to
> enforce it should be taken for granted at this point. Really. I’m not going to
> have the discussion here. It’s been had in a thousand forums already. CoCs
> won. Accept it and plan for it.
>
> Examples:
>
> All O’Reilly Conferences: http://www.oreilly.com/conferences/code-of-conduct.html
> ApacheCon NA: http://gi106.gondor.co/code_of_conduct/
> PyCon: https://us.pycon.org/2013/about/code-of-conduct/
> State of the Map US: http://stateofthemap.us/2014/codeofconduct/
> EclipseCon: https://www.eclipsecon.org/na2014/news/code-conduct
> LinuxConf: http://linux.conf.au/cor/code_of_conduct
>
> Shall I go on?
>
> So my questions to the people who question whether a CoC is necessary:
>
> What if something genuinely awful happens? What will you do?
> What about something kind of bad? How will you recognize that, and how will
> you handle it? Who will do it?
> How do you know what’s genuinely awful and what’s “kind of bad”?
>
> These aren’t idle questions. these are exactly the kind of things that you
> have to plan for. Do you have answers for them?
>
> Darrell
>
>
>
> On Jan 11, 2015, at 19:41, Kate Chapman <kate at maploser.com
> <mailto:kate at maploser.com>> wrote:
>
>> Hi All,
>>
>> There are people that have pledged not to attend conferences without a code
>> of conduct. Honestly, I asked for one to be put in place for Nottingham. I
>> would have had to seriously consider if I wanted to keynote at a conference
>> without a code of conduct if the team hadn't understood the need and put one
>> in place.
>>
>> We say that things are common sense and people should just follow that, but
>> honestly that isn't enough. It is important to have clear guidelines spelled
>> out. I've been a conferences where there was a code of conduct where
>> incidents did happen, but there was a clear plan to manage them. Conferences
>> where bad things happen and there is not a clear plan often do not fair so well.
>>
>> The Ada Initiative has great resources for designing a code of conduct(1).
>> There are also many other open source foundations we could look up to such as
>> the Python Foundation that have codes for their events and have required such
>> since 2012(2). Recently the QGIS community adopted a code of conduct(3), a
>> move which I applaud.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> -Kate
>>
>> (1) https://adainitiative.org/2014/02/howto-design-a-code-of-conduct-for-your-community/
>> (2) http://pyfound.blogspot.co.nz/2012/12/psf-moves-to-require-code-of-conduct.html
>> (3) https://www.qgis.org/en/site/getinvolved/governance/codeofconduct/codeofconduct.html
>>
>> On Mon, Jan 12, 2015 at 10:00 AM, Jachym Cepicky <jachym.cepicky at gmail.com
>> <mailto:jachym.cepicky at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>
>> I agree with Cameron's points lower.
>>
>> I'm also not sure, that the lack of CoC will "lower gender diversity" (do
>> I assume correctly, number of female attendees will be somehow "lower",
>> right?) and that it's presence on the web site automatically means
>> welcoming conference.
>>
>> Sanghee is writing it perfectly: " No Discrimination, No Harassment are
>> the baseline morals of our general life to live". He also expresses my
>> feelings, about cultural context difference. We should try to understand
>> everybody's cultural context, that's also one of the reason, why FOSS4G
>> is moving around the globe and we can experience all the various cultural
>> aspects.
>>
>> From what Sanghee is writing, I have no doubt, LOC will try to make the
>> conference as open and as welcoming to *everybody* as possible.
>>
>> Anyway: this e-mail is not about "banning CoC for FOSS4Gs", but asking
>> question, whether CoC is really *the* thing, which will safe the
>> conference and guarantee, that everybody will feel great there. Do what
>> you think, is needed.
>>
>> Jachym
>>
>> Thu Jan 08 2015 at 21:12:52 odesílatel Cameron Shorter
>> <cameron.shorter at gmail.com <mailto:cameron.shorter at gmail.com>> napsal:
>>
>> David,
>> I'm in favour of a Code Of Conduct, but suggest there should be some
>> tweaking of the words (if using
>> https://2015.foss4g-na.org/code-conduct text)
>>
>> Reasons:
>> 1. At the moment, I think some wording is a bit loose, and open to
>> misinterpretation between cultures and geographic regions. What does
>> "Sexual images" mean? Is it nudity? Does a photo of a field trip with
>> naked natives constitute a "sexual image"? Is the clique
>> advertisement of a pretty sales girl standing next to a car
>> considered a "Sexual image"? Should we be using a Middle East
>> definition of "Sexual image" or "American" where the norm for
>> acceptable clothes are different? Is wearing a mini-skirt considered
>> acceptable? (I don't have good words to address this, but suspect
>> there would be template material somewhere which could be used).
>>
>> 2. We should be careful to try and avoid attendees feeling that they
>> are being lectured to, as if organisors expect attendees to be
>> guilty. Maybe start with, "In order to ensure a pleasant experience
>> for everyone, all attendees are *expected to* ... (instead of
>> *required to* ...)"
>>
>> David,
>> Once finalised, I suggest adding a section about "Code of Conduct"
>> into: http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/FOSS4G_Handbook
>>
>>
>> On 9/01/2015 4:28 am, Steven Feldman wrote:
>>> There was also a short CoC for 2013
>>> at http://2013.foss4g.org/code-of-conduct/ which corresponds to the
>>> short version of the 2015 NA CoC
>>>
>>> David, this is a great initiative. Can we consider mandating a
>>> standard (and evolving through experience) CoC for all FOSS4G
>>> branded events and any other vents that claim to be affiliated to OSGeo?
>>>
>>>
>>> ______
>>> Steven
>>>
>>>
>>>> On 8 Jan 2015, at 17:08, David William Bitner <bitner at dbspatial.com
>>>> <mailto:bitner at dbspatial.com>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Great! Thanks Sanghee!
>>>>
>>>> Has your team considered adding a code of conduct to your website?
>>>>
>>>> The past two FOSS4G global events have included CoC's on the
>>>> website as well as asking registrants to agree to the CoC by a
>>>> checkbox on the registration form.
>>>>
>>>> https://2014.foss4g.org/attending/code-of-conduct/ and https://2015.foss4g-na.org/code-conduct are
>>>> some examples that have been used.
>>>>
>>>> We have received a lot of positive response from attendees since
>>>> adding these to the conferences and have certainly seen an impact
>>>> in gender diversity since incorporating CoC's into our websites
>>>> along with other outreach and diversity initiatives. It is a very
>>>> easy step towards ensuring that everyone is assured of the
>>>> expectation of a welcoming conference! I am sure that other past
>>>> conference chairs on this list can speak up to their experiences as
>>>> well.
>>>>
>>>> I hope all is going well with planning for the event!
>>>>
>>>> Sincerely,
>>>>
>>>> David
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, Jan 8, 2015 at 10:52 AM, Sanghee Shin <endofcap at gmail.com
>>>> <mailto:endofcap at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Hi David,
>>>>
>>>> I’m on the list. You can talk to me directly.
>>>>
>>>> With regards,
>>>>
>>>> Sanghee
>>>> ---
>>>> Sanghee Shin, Chair of FOSS4G 2015 Seoul
>>>> "Toward Diversity! FOSS4G Bigbang from Seoul!"
>>>> http://2015.foss4g.org <http://2015.foss4g.org/>
>>>> Twitter: @foss4g
>>>> Facebook: FOSS4G2015
>>>> email: foss4gchair at osgeo.org <mailto:foss4gchair at osgeo.org>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> 2015. 1. 8., 오후 4:22, David William Bitner
>>>>> <bitner at dbspatial.com <mailto:bitner at dbspatial.com>> 작성:
>>>>>
>>>>> Dear Conference Committee,
>>>>>
>>>>> It has recently been brought to my attention by a member of
>>>>> our community that she noticed the absence of a Code of
>>>>> Conduct for the upcoming Seoul FOSS4G. I took this as a huge
>>>>> sign that the work that has been done by LOCs in recent
>>>>> FOSS4G, regional OSGeo events, and other technology and
>>>>> geography events towards encouraging diversity and a welcoming
>>>>> atmosphere to all is indeed being noticed. I have also been
>>>>> excited to see based simply on the measure of gender diversity
>>>>> that the numbers of female speakers has been steadily moving
>>>>> up over the past couple years.
>>>>>
>>>>> I would like to encourage the Conference Committee (and I am
>>>>> volunteering to do much of the leg work) to provide guidelines
>>>>> for implementing a Code of Conduct at events for all
>>>>> FOSS4G/OSGeo related events and to include diversity
>>>>> initiatives as part of future calls for proposals for the
>>>>> international event.
>>>>>
>>>>> While I believe it is too late for the conference committee to
>>>>> make any mandates to the Seoul team, is there anyone who knows
>>>>> the folks on the LOC that would be willing to help me reach
>>>>> out to explain the importance of these initiatives?
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks!
>>>>>
>>>>> David
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> ************************************
>>>>> David William Bitner
>>>>> dbSpatial LLC
>>>>> 612-424-9932 <tel:612-424-9932>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Conference_dev mailing list
>>>>> Conference_dev at lists.osgeo.org
>>>>> <mailto:Conference_dev at lists.osgeo.org>
>>>>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/conference_dev
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> ************************************
>>>> David William Bitner
>>>> dbSpatial LLC
>>>> 612-424-9932 <tel:612-424-9932>
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>>>
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>>
>> --
>> Cameron Shorter,
>> Software and Data Solutions Manager
>> LISAsoft
>> Suite 112, Jones Bay Wharf,
>> 26 - 32 Pirrama Rd, Pyrmont NSW 2009
>>
>> P +61 2 9009 5000 <tel:%2B61%202%209009%205000>, W www.lisasoft.com <http://www.lisasoft.com/>, F +61 2 9009 5099 <tel:%2B61%202%209009%205099>
>>
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--
Dr. Peter Baumann
- Professor of Computer Science, Jacobs University Bremen
www.faculty.jacobs-university.de/pbaumann
mail: p.baumann at jacobs-university.de
tel: +49-421-200-3178, fax: +49-421-200-493178
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