The following summary is intended to help the community understand what kind of Code of Conduct (CoC) incidents we received reports about in the year since the previous conference, and how the CppCon CoC team and organizers responded.
Overview
Again at CppCon 2023, staff and volunteers participated in CoC training prior to the conference.
The Code of Conduct team for CppCon 2023 was Colleen Passard (chair), Gillian Faith, and Jacqueline McCauley. Colleen Passard additionally served as on-site Ombudsperson.
The code of conduct for CppCon 2023 was published here, inclusive of commits up to and including 8a19fad9f158007663317c3945de20c0d5ab1b64.
Summary of reports at CppCon
At CppCon 2023, two incidents were brought to the attention of the CoC team:
(1) An attendee reported a Code of Conduct (CoC) violation by a conference speaker. The reporter made a request through the onsite Ombudsperson, that the reported party not approach for the remainder of the conference or in the future, to which the reported party agreed and complied.
During the investigative process, the reported party took full responsibility for non-professional conduct and boundary-violating behaviors and offered an apology which was communicated to the reporter by the Ombudsperson. The reporter accepted the apology but expressed a lack of trust and reiterated the request for the reported party not to approach at the conference or in the future.
The CoC team has implemented a proactive measure: The team will be notified if the reported party is registered for a future CppCon conference or event. The reported party is required and has agreed not to approach the reporter at any CppCon conference or event ever again, as non-compliance will result in immediate consequences.
(2) A Code of Conduct complaint was received regarding a metaphor in a keynote that was perceived by an attendee as sexist. Upon review of the keynote and in concurrence with other audience members the CoC team has determined that the metaphor used was benign, and no further action is required.
Other reports regarding past/other conferences
Between CppCon 2022 and 2023, there were two other reports to the CoC team.
(3) A reporter who does not currently attend CppCon reported that another person had sexually harassed the reporter in the past elsewhere (not at CppCon), and was concerned whether the reported person should be excluded from CppCon under the CppCon safety policy.
- The CoC team replied that because the reported person had not attended CppCon for years, and would not be attending this year, this did not currently fall under their jurisdiction. The CoC team thanked the reporter and informed them that the information would be considered if the reported person attempted to attend CppCon in the future.
(4) A person reported that a CppCon 2022 speaker made comments on social media favoring one side in an active war. The comments were not made during CppCon and were not related to CppCon.
- The CoC team replied that because the report was about behavior unrelated to CppCon, this did not fall under their jurisdiction. They confirmed that the CoC applies also to speakers, and that speakers are reminded of that each year before the conference. The CoC team directed that a sentence be added to the CoC emphasizing that the CoC applies to speakers, and applies to electronic communications related to the conference. This was done here.
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