A code of conduct isn't just something you can add and then say you’re done. A code of conduct is just one part of creating an inclusive environment for everyone.
As a potential attendee or speaker, it can be hard to know how inclusive a conference/event might be. I was thinking maybe we need something like a Joel test for conferences? (If you are unfamiliar with the Joel test, you can read about it here).
I’ve devised a set of qualities for conferences/events that I think make them awesome and inclusive. The qualities are purely my opinion, I would love to hear what qualities are important to other people. With the Joel test, each quality is simply a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’, but the list of qualities I’ve come up with for conferences are probably best rated on a scale of 1 to 5. 1 being bad, 5 being super-awesome.
Here we go.
Inclusive qualities for conferences (in no particular order)
IS THERE A DIVERSE SPEAKER LINEUP?
This is one that gets talked about a lot—speaker diversity. Diversity is not just about gender but also age, background, job type, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, etc. If the speakers are all white men, then this would get rated a 1. If there’s loads of diversity, give it a 5.
IS THERE A DIVERSE AUDIENCE?
I feel like this one isn’t worked on as much as speaker diversity. It’s incredibly difficult to be the only ______ in the room, especially when the room is ~200 people. This can be a difficult one to judge, but you could look on twitter/laynrd/meet-up/etc. who’s attending, you could look at who attended previous years. It’s also worth reaching out to the organisers about what kind of mix of people they’re expecting. Again, 1 if it looks like no diversity, 5 if it looks incredibly diverse.
ARE SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE?
Scholarships are very important, they help people who may be new to the community and anyone who wouldn’t be able to attend for financial reasons. This totally helps increase diversity. I would rate a conference a 1 if there were no scholarships offered, a 3 if the scholarships are only for students, and a 5 if there are scholarships for students and financial-hardship. Maybe they get a 6 if they help out with travel or expense too. On the subject of financials—why don't conferences offer payment plans? If your ticket vendor doesn't offer it, then maybe ask for it.
DO THEY OFFER CHILDCARE?
This one is incredibly complicated but definitely needs to be talked about more. Some people have children and this can make it seriously difficult to attend events, especially events that last days and might be far from their homes. Offering childcare to attendees again helps increase diversity. Ultimately, this one can be tricky to judge, the need for childcare differs greatly depending on the family, duration, location and time of the year. To me, I think it’s essential that the organisers help out in some way. Whether that’s talking to and providing information about local nurseries, offering childcare for a cost, covering childcare completely, providing a separate room where attendees can watch the talks (link) or even planning events specifically for children. As a side note, I would love for conferences that have been successful in making sure people with families are included to write up what they’ve done to make it work.
ARE THERE EVENTS THAT AREN’T CENTRED AROUND CONSUMING ALCOHOL?
There are all sorts of problems around having alcohol at events. It excludes younger attendees/speakers. It might be against someones religion. People might not feel comfortable around drunk people. It’s also just not healthy to think the only way people at the conference can enjoy themselves is if they have a drink. If it’s all drinking, especially at a bar/pub shared with the public—this gets a 1. If it’s in a private venue where drinks will be served but there’s non-alcoholic options and under 21’s can attend, then maybe rate it a 3. If they have events with no alcohol and have put some creativity behind it, give them a 5.
DO THEY OFFER FOOD FOR PEOPLE WITH VARIOUS ALLERGIES/INTOLERANCES?
This one is pretty self-explanatory. Not everyone can eat everything. The conference should ask about any needs around this. If the conference/event doesn’t provide food, they should give attendees/speakers a list of local restaurants and what kind of food options they have. If there is only pizza served, give it a 1. Vegetarian options, maybe a 3. If all the drinks/snacks/meals cater for any sort of intolerance or dietary restriction, give them a 5. I heard UIKonf had vegan ice cream sandwiches—they totally get bonus points for that.
DO THEY HAVE A CODE OF CONDUCT?
Things to factor into the score: Is the code of conduct on the website? Does it have strong visibility on the website? Do you have to agree to the code of conduct to purchase a ticket? Will it be posted at the conference/event? Will it be easy to contact someone if you feel like the code of conduct has violated?
ARE THERE VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE?
Volunteer opportunities are great, some people might really want to attend a conference but maybe the conference doesn’t offer scholarships or maybe they feel like they’re a bit too new to the community to want to fully-attend the conference/event. 1 for no volunteers, 3 for some volunteers, 5 for an open call for volunteers. Bonus points if they compensate volunteers.
IS THE EVENT ACCESSIBLE?
Can anyone with any sort of impairment access the venue? If an attendee is deaf, would the conference provide a sign-laungage interpreter? Is there a quiet room where people can go if they need some time alone? Do they add subtitles to the videos they release?
ARE THERE ADEQUATE BREAKS DURING THE EVENT TO NETWORK WITH SPEAKERS AND ATTENDEES?
Interacting with other people is why people go to conferences. Talks are important, but if you don’t get a chance to engage with other attendees/speakers then why wouldn’t you just stay home and watch the videos? 1 for no breaks, 5 for lots of breaks and ample time to ask the speakers questions.
DO THEY HAVE A CALL FOR PAPERS?
There are lots of great conferences where speakers are hand-picked and this is fine but they should also offer the opportunity for attendees to submit a lightning talk. If a conference/event offers no way for attendees to submit a talk, I would give them a 1. If they provide attendees the chance to submit proposals for lightning or full-length talks, then give them somewhere between a 3-5. I know for some conferences this isn’t viable, like WWDC, in these cases I’d give them a 3.
Add it up
So that’s 11 qualities:
IS THERE A DIVERSE SPEAKER LINEUP?
IS THERE A DIVERSE AUDIENCE?
ARE SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE?
DO THEY OFFER CHILDCARE?
ARE THERE EVENTS THAT AREN’T CENTRED AROUND CONSUMING ALCOHOL?
DO THEY OFFER FOOD FOR PEOPLE WITH VARIOUS ALLERGIES/INTOLERANCES?
DO THEY HAVE A CODE OF CONDUCT?
ARE THERE VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE?
IS THE EVENT ACCESSIBLE?
ARE THERE ADEQUATE BREAKS DURING THE EVENT TO NETWORK WITH SPEAKERS AND ATTENDEES?
DO THEY HAVE A CALL FOR PAPERS?
If a conference scores between 11-30 then it sounds like the organisers have some work to do. Everyone has different thresholds for what they’re comfortable with, so I’m not going to say you should only go to a conference if it scores above a certain point, but I do think it’s something everyone should be aware of. I don't think I've attended a conference that would score "perfectly" against these qualities. That doesn't mean they were bad conferences or that they weren't inclusive, it just means there are some areas that can probably be improved. It's good to iterate.
As an exercise, think about the last conference/event you went to and rate it using the above qualities or qualities that matter to you. If you feel like a quality that’s important to you is lacking, then you should give the organisers some constructive feedback so they can improve. Equally, if the conference/event scored super-highly, then give them that feedback 😄