Code of conduct
The rules of the room.
Beacon Hacks is a fourteen hour event for high schoolers, many of whom are attending their first hackathon. Everyone in the building agrees to this before the doors open: attendees, mentors, judges, sponsors, volunteers and organizers.
What we expect
- Treat everyone in the room as someone who belongs there, whatever their experience level.
- Assume good faith. Beginners ask basic questions; that is the point of the event.
- Share the space: the tables, the outlets, the mentors’ time and the sponsors’ attention.
- Ask before photographing or filming anyone, and stop if asked.
- Build your own project during the event. Bringing prior work and passing it off as new is not in the spirit of it.
- Follow instructions from organizers and venue staff, especially about which areas are off limits.
What is not acceptable
Harassment of any kind, including:
- Comments or jokes that demean someone for their race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, age, body size or appearance.
- Sexual language, imagery or attention. This is an event for minors and there is no version of this that is acceptable here.
- Intimidation, stalking, following, or unwanted physical contact.
- Sustained disruption of talks, workshops, judging or another team’s work.
- Photographing or recording someone who has asked you not to.
- Alcohol, drugs, weapons, or anything else prohibited by the venue or by law.
- Encouraging any of the above in others.
This applies to the venue and to any other Beacon Hacks space, online or off, before, during and after the event.
Reporting
If something happens, tell an organizer. We wear marked shirts and are on the floor all day. You can also email team.beaconhacks@gmail.com, which reaches the organizing team directly.
If you or anyone else is in immediate danger, call 911 first, then find an organizer.
You do not need to be certain, and you do not need proof. If something felt wrong, tell us and let us look into it. Reporting in good faith will never count against you, and we will not ask you to confront the other person yourself.
What happens after a report
An organizer will find somewhere private to talk, listen to what happened, and write it down. We will tell you what we plan to do before we do it, and we will not share your name with the person reported unless you say we can.
Depending on what happened, the response may be a warning, removal from part of the event, disqualification from judging, or being asked to leave the venue with no refund of anything. For attendees under 18, we will contact a parent or guardian when someone is asked to leave, and when the safety of a minor is involved.
Under 18
Every attendee is a high school student, and most are minors. Organizers and mentors are never alone one to one with an attendee in a closed room. Nobody leaves the venue with an adult who is not their own parent or guardian. If a mentor, judge or sponsor makes you uncomfortable in any way, that is exactly the thing this page exists for. Tell an organizer.
Who this binds
Everyone, equally. A sponsor’s representative and a first-time ninth grader are held to the same standard, and being important to the event buys nobody an exception.
Adapted from common hackathon and open source codes of conduct, including the Contributor Covenant and the conference anti-harassment policies they descend from.
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