Inclusivity: Our True North

We're committed to an inclusive space for opinions, ideas, thoughts from many different parts of the human experience. And of course that means inclusivity for everyone, regardless of race, age, ethnicity, religion, appearance, national origin, disabilities (physical or mental), sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, parental status, political affiliation, socioeconomic status.

We seek to be inclusive not simply because it benefits us, in that we get a diversity of points of view, but because we want to support others in living their own lives to the fullest. We do this because it's better for all of us - even if it means yielding the floor and encouraging others to speak.

Actions

Specifically, the code of conduct applies to our actions in various areas of our shared professional lives, including at this event and following this event, shared online spaces (Discord, email, etc.) , social media and so on.

A code of conduct is an ongoing conversation. It's a set of actions where we look for ways to actively encourage diversity and novel points of view. Articulating our true north values and accountabilities to one another reinforces that respect and provides us with clear avenues to realign with our values when we wander off course. We commit to enforce and evolve this code as our team grows.

We actively to go out of our way to make people feel welcome. We want to do more than merely agree to provide a space - but try to imagine ourself from other peoples positions and try to imagine how they might see and perceive the spaces we are creating.

This means going out of our way and across cultures to include people in jokes or memes. Avoid slang or idioms that might not translate across cultures, or be deliberate in explaining them to share our diverse cultures and languages. Speak plainly and avoid acronyms and jargon that not everyone may understand.

Be collaborative. Is there an opportunity to ask somebody else for their thoughts? Recognize that in addition to asking for feedback, you may be similarily asked for your own thoughts.

Be respectful toward all time zones.

Be kind. Be polite and friendly in all forms of communication – especially remote communication, where opportunities for misunderstanding are greater. Avoid sarcasm. Tone is hard to decipher online; make liberal use of emoji, GIFs and Bitmoji to aid in communication. Face-to-face discussion benefits from all kinds of social cues that may go missing in other forms of communication.

Unacceptable behaviors

We are committed to providing a welcoming and safe environment for all. Discrimination and harassment are expressly prohibited. Furthermore, any behavior or language that is unwelcoming—whether or not it rises to the level of harassment—is also strongly discouraged.

Don't critique others for not knowing something. It’s always acceptable to say “I don’t know” or “I don’t understand.” All questions are great questions! So please don’t act surprised when people aren’t familiar with a tool, person, place or process. This applies to both technical things (“What?! I can’t believe you don’t know what quantum entanglement is!”) and non-technical things (“You don’t know who Satoshi is?!”).

Don't qualify; be charitable. One pattern is to say something like "well actually" - and to refine a point that largely is already understood - or to give a minor correction. We strive to let others save face as part of our values, and most well-actually’s aren’t crucial to the overall conversation. Think about if the point is critical or not.

Let's avoid exclusionary language: Be careful in the words that you choose, even if it’s as small as choosing “hey, everyone” over “hey, guys.” Sexist, racist, ableist. Exclusionary jokes specifically are not appropriate and will not be tolerated under any circumstance. Any language that is unwelcoming—whether or not it rises to the level of harassment—is also strongly discouraged.

Much exclusionary behavior that can be harder to be conscious of takes the form of subtle -isms, or microaggressions – small things that make others feel unwelcome. For example, saying “It’s so easy my grandmother could do it” is a subtle -ism with tones of both sexism and ageism.

Please don’t say, “Comment X wasn’t sexist!” or “That’s not what they meant. You’re being too sensitive.” Similarly, please don’t pile on someone who made a mistake. It’s not a big deal to mess up – just apologize and move on. We're all going to make mistakes, and these can be subjective; don't die on that hill.

Reporting a problem

These guidelines are ambitious, and we’re not always going to succeed in meeting them. When something goes wrong—whether it’s a microaggression or an instance of harassment—there are a number of things you can do to make sure the situation is addressed. Please raise concerns with either of the conference organizers or, if you feel like your concerns are not being heard then we can structure a third party to help make sure that your concerns are addressed. We absolutely will go out of our way to make sure that an issue raised does get addressed.

Also you should feel freel to address it directly. For smaller incidents that might be settled with a brief conversation, you can choose to DM the person in question or set up a video chat to discuss how it affected you. Please use this approach only if you feel comfortable; you do not have to carry the weight of addressing these issues yourself. If you’re interested in this option but unsure how to go about it, we can also provide feedback on this.

Taking care of each other. If you ever witness something that seems like it isn’t aligned with our values or these standards, err on the side of caring for your colleagues. Even if an incident seems minor, reach out to the person impacted by it to check in. Depending on the circumstances, you may also want to speak directly to the person who has violated our standards.

If you want to speak to a person impacted by an incident or to the person who has violated the code of conduct, but you’re unsure of how to navigate these interactions, reach out to the conference organizers as well - and we'll work through this with you.

Leaving Politics off the table

Because we're in a political season as a general policy let's leave politics off the table. We don't want to see people crowing about 'their side' and so on. This has to be a politically agnostic event. This also applies to blanket statements around say socialism, or libertarianism or any other kind of *ism.

Committing to self-improvement

None of us are perfect: all of us will from time to time fail to live up to our very high standards. What matters isn’t having a perfect track record, but owning up to your mistakes and committing to a clear and persistent effort to improve.

If you are approached as having (consciously or otherwise) acted in a way that might make your teammates feel unwelcome, listen with an open mind and avoid becoming defensive. Remember that if someone offers you feedback, it likely took a great deal of courage for them to do so. The best way to respect that courage is to acknowledge your mistake, apologize, and move on — with a renewed commitment to do better.

That said violations of this code can and will be addressed. We will boot people from the conference if need be. We're not super tolerant of egregious behavior.

You will be able to reach Amber and Anselm on the Discord Channel at any time. As well there is a Terms of Service for Nexus Events as well.