When we started to speak to community members about diversity, one thing we learned is that having a publically posted code of conduct can make a difference. We have never heard of any specific incidents that would've made GORUCO a hostile environment for anyone. But the feedback we received is that having an official policy can help by signaling an intent to keep things that way.

So starting this year, GORUCO has a code of conduct. It's adapted from the Open Source Bridge Code of Conduct (and itself licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike). And it includes personal contact info for a few organizers, so in case you do end up dealing with unacceptable behavior, you can contact us for immediate help.

It's our humble opinion that GORUCO has always been an event that is welcoming to people from different backgrounds. We wouldn't expect any less from our attendees. And we're happy to formalize and publicize that expectation.