Code of Conduct

By joining a QCon event, you agree to comply with our Code of Conduct.

QCon is a friendly community where everyone should feel welcome, safe, and comfortable. It is really important to us that we provide an online and in-person harassment-free experience for everyone inclusive of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, nationality, political opinion, or religion. We do not tolerate harassment in any form, including but not limited to expressions that are spoken, written, communicated via body language, sign language, symbols, imagery, or that are posted on social media, on our websites, or on other platforms, apps and tools.

The content shared during peer-sharing sessions or in chats should remain private and should not be shared outside of the event unless mutually agreed to by all participants involved.

All QCon participants, including attendees, speakers, sponsors, and staff, are required to abide by our code of conduct.

Any violation will be taken seriously and acted upon promptly. Participants who are asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately. At the discretion of the event organizers, participants in violation of the Code of Conduct may be expelled and banned from our events and community temporarily or indefinitely without a refund. This is to protect the safety of our community.

Harassment includes but is not limited, to:

• Offensive comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, mental illness, neurotype, physical appearance, clothing, body size, race, age, nationality, political opinion, religion or belief, marital and civil partnership status, pregnancy or career or parental status, familial status, veteran status, citizenship, as they can be offensive and could constitute harassment
• Homophobic, biphobic, transphobic, racist, or misogynist slurs or comments
• Deliberate misgendering
• Threats or acts of violence or intimidation
• Unwelcome sexual attention
• Sharing/displaying sexual or sexualized images
• Deliberate “outing” of any aspect of a person’s identity without their consent
• Harassing photography or recording, including logging online activity for harassment purposes
• Sustained disruption of a discussion
• Advocating for or encouraging any of the above behaviors
• Repeated and/or excessive profanity

In addition, we strongly discourage statements and comments regarding:

• Politics, politicians, political affiliations, elections, wars, military conflicts, or similar
• A person’s lifestyle choices and practices, including those related to food, health, parenting, drugs, and employment

These types of comments can be offensive and could constitute harassment.

If you are being harassed, made to feel unsafe or unwelcome, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please report it as soon as possible to one of the QCon staff members at the Info Desk or send us an email to info@qconferences.com. The event leadership team will address the situation.

Whilst you may, of course, post your complaint on social media, we would prefer that you give QCon a chance to resolve this issue at a personal level first. Addressing sensitive issues like these in-person is generally faster and is also ultimately more effective.

The QCon staff would like to support participants to feel safe at the event. We value your attendance. We designed QCon events as a space where everyone feels safe to express themselves, learn, and succeed in adopting new technologies and practices that facilitate change and innovation.

This policy is a living document and subject to updates in the future.
Last updated in March 2024.