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Linux Foundation Events Code of Conduct Transparency Report - 2022 Event Summary

Written by The Linux Foundation | Apr 12, 2023 8:38:59 PM

As part of our commitment to transparency and fostering a welcoming and inclusive community, we are publishing our annual Code of Conduct transparency report for all 2022 Linux Foundation events. We take our Event Code of Conduct seriously and want to ensure that all event participants, whether in-person or virtual, are treated with respect and professionalism. Our events are intended for open source professionals to network, collaborate, and exchange ideas in a safe and supportive environment.

We recognize the importance of diversity and inclusivity in the open source community and are committed to maintaining a positive path towards true inclusion. Events are a critical component in how open source communities interact and collaborate, making it essential that they remain free of harassment and discrimination.

While we apologize for the delay in sharing this report, we believe that this timing is appropriate as we kick off another event season. We are excited to welcome all of our attendees and look forward to seeing you soon, either virtually or in person.

As we continue to prioritize inclusivity and safety at our events, we encourage all attendees to abide by our Event Code of Conduct: be kind, be professional, and treat everyone with respect. Thank you for helping us create a positive and welcoming community for all.

We look forward to seeing you all soon, online or in person.  

The Linux Foundation Events Team
events@linuxfoundation.org

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2022 Code of Conduct Incidents By Event

KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe & Co-Located events

  • Multiple code of conduct reports were made around a virtual session that was pre-recorded and shown live at a co-located event at KubeCon Europe, beginning with venting on social media on lack of diversity in session.
    • Resolution: A warning was issued towards 1 person involved
  • Multiple code of conduct complaints were received about a community member’s online comments regarding a change in the onsite Health & Safety policy announced several weeks prior to the event.
  • A community member expressed concern, but did not launch a formal complaint, about another person participating in the event who they felt had a history of odd behavior. 
    • Resolution: Offers of onsite security were made available, and it was requested that this person contact the event team at any time if they felt unsafe while onsite. No incidents transpired.
  • Multiple reports were made during the event about those not adhering to the mask mandate.
    • Resolution: The event team reminded participants who were not following the mask mandate that not doing so was a violation of the Event Code of Conduct.

KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America & Co-Located events

  • Code of conduct report received about an incident that took place between an attendee and a non-attendee offsite, where the non-attendee was making racist remarks to the attendee. The attendee reported this to one of the vendor security staff at the convention center who did not follow proper protocol, understandably upsetting the attendee.
    • Resolution: Security conduct reported to security manager and a re-training of all building security was done on the same day. We also asked security and off-duty police officers to keep a close eye on the areas surrounding the convention center as well.
  • Multiple reports were made during the event about those not adhering to the mask mandate.
    • Resolution: The event team reminded participants who were not following the mask mandate that not doing so was a violation of the Event Code of Conduct.

Online Webinars

  • A staff member at LF reported multiple derogatory comments in the YouTube comments during webinar which included expletives
    • Resolution: Comments were deleted. No additional action could be taken as the identity of the offender was unknown.
  • A community member reported a speaker in a CNCF webinar being introduced in a way that showed ‘political party favoritism’ and bias on the part of CNCF by including on the website.
    • Resolution: This portion of the moderator's introduction was removed from the video recording.

OpenJS World

  • Two witnesses reported that an intoxicated attendee made repeated unwanted advances towards another attendee, including initiating non-consensual physical contact several times. This incident took place at an informal gathering of a small group of attendees. Those who noticed separated the victim from the harasser, and others put the harasser in a taxi.
    • Resolution: A formal code of conduct charge was brought, and the person who engaged in the harassing behavior was banned from all OpenJS and LF events until completing a series of therapy sessions. The individual took responsibility, apologized, and demonstrated remorse for their actions. They said that they would further reflect on the impact of their behavior with the assistance of professional support, and have since completed all required therapy sessions.
  • Multiple reports were made during the event about those not adhering to the mask mandate.
    • Resolution: The event team reminded participants who were not following the mask mandate that not doing so was a violation of the Event Code of Conduct.

Open Source Summit North America

  • Multiple reports were made during the event about those not adhering to the mask mandate.
    • Resolution: The event team reminded participants who were not following the mask mandate that not doing so was a violation of the Event Code of Conduct.

PrestoCon Day (Virtual)

  • A staff member heard a speaker use an expression to illustrate a point that could be construed as offensive. 
    • Resolution: It was brought to the speaker’s attention as to why this was not appropriate to use.

Open Source Summit Latin America (Virtual)

  • A participant made an offensive remark in the virtual platform chat towards another participant about using English instead of another language in the chat.
    • Resolution: A warning was issued to the participant, who acknowledged and apologized.

OTel Community Day

  • A speaker made a political statement and used expletives while delivering a talk.
    • Resolution: This was brought to our attention by an event team member and no other complaints were received. We did not issue a CoC warning to the speaker, determining we would only do so if a complaint was made.