Balisage Code of Conduct[1]

All attendees, speakers, sponsors, staff, and volunteers at Balisage and related technical events and social activities (“conference”), are required to adhere to the following code of conduct. Organisers will enforce this code throughout the event. We expect cooperation from all participants to help ensure a safe environment for everybody.

Balisage is dedicated to providing a welcoming and engaging conference experience for everyone, a place to explore new ideas and to discuss and perhaps disagree. We do not tolerate disrespect of conference participants in any form. Sexual language and imagery is not appropriate for any conference venue, including anything communicated during the content of the virtual conference, on social media, or any other online outlet.

Conference participants violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from the conference without a refund at the discretion of the conference chair.

Unacceptable behavior

Harassment includes, but is not limited to:

  • Mocking, belittling, or offensive comments, for example related to technology choices, professional experience, or technical ability/skill;
  • Offensive comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, or religion (or lack thereof), which may reinforce social inequities;
  • Sexual images in public spaces;
  • Unwelcome sexual attention;
  • Deliberate intimidation, stalking, or following;
  • Harassing photography or recording; or
  • Sustained disruption of talks or other events.

Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately.

If a participant engages in harassing behavior, the conference chair may take any action deemed appropriate, including warning the offender or expulsion from the conference with no refund.

Reporting

If you notice unwelcoming behavior at Balisage — you are being harassed, or someone else is, or you have any other concerns — please bring it to the attention of the conference chair, B. Tommie Usdin (btusdin@mulberrytech.com), or the conference staff (info@balisage.net) immediately. Email is the best way to get in touch, but messages may also be sent through the Whova conference portal.

We expect participants to follow these rules at Balisage and all related technical and social events.

About this Code of Conduct

This version of the Code of Conduct was last edited July 22, 2026.

[1] Balisage: The Markup Conference gratefully acknowledges the work of the Tech Inclusion Global Summit and the JSConf2012 organizers.This document draws upon the work of The Ada Initiative the Conference Code of Conduct, the Recurse Center, and !!Con.