Why conferences need a code of conduct August 4th, 2011

As usual, what I write here is my opinion and I don’t speak for anyone else. In particular, this isn’t any sort of official PyCon anything. Recently, tech conferences have started publishing a new kind of document: a code of conduct or anti-harassment policy [1]. Attendees are being explicitly told that they’re expected to follow these policies. To some, this sounds patronizing; or like tools for group-think and censorship; or like a bad episode of The Morality Police.…