DC isn’t just a place to learn about the latest in business: it’s also a place to lift your head up from your everyday and think about how what’s going on in the world affects your work.

We believe there’s immense value in being exposed to new viewpoints—including ones that challenge your own way of looking at the world. DC is a place for thought-provoking conversations, but we can’t have those conversations unless everyone feels safe and respected.
We’re committed to being a safe and inclusive space for all our attendees, regardless of gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, race, nationality, ethnicity, disability, medical conditions, religion (or lack thereof), physical appearance, politics, or ideology. Our Code of Conduct is here to provide a clear set of guidelines to everyone in the DC community about the standards to which we hold you—and ourselves.

Above all, we ask that all attendees, speakers, sponsors and other guests behave respectfully. Be kind to others. Do not insult or put down other attendees. Harassment and sexist, racist, or exclusionary jokes or comments are never tolerated at DC, at satellite events, or on social media or other online platforms for the event.

Harassment includes (but is not limited to) comments using demeaning, derogatory, or discriminatory language, comments intended to cause offense or harm to other members of the community, deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, harassing photography or recording, sustained disruption of talks or other events, inappropriate physical contact, and unwelcome sexual attention.

If you’re asked—whether by an DC organizer or another attendee—to stop your behavior, you’re expected to do so immediately and respectfully.

Respecting your fellow attendees also means interacting with them in human, collaborative, and non-spammy ways. Whether you’re sponsoring or just attending, remember that no one has opted in to hear from you simply by being at DC. It’s important not only to be kind to your fellow attendees, but also to their inboxes. Of course, we encourage you to connect with other attendees in genuine, human, and helpful ways. However, scraping emails, blasting people with unsolicited pitches, or spamming your fellow attendees is not acceptable. This is DC, after all.

We believe peer to peer discussions, feedback, corrections can help build a stronger, safer, and more welcoming community.

If you see someone behaving disrespectfully, and you feel safe and comfortable doing so, you are encouraged to respectfully discourage them from such behavior. If you do not feel safe, comfortable, or otherwise able to respond and resolve it respectfully, please bring it to the attention of DC event staff immediately. We want to hear from you about anything that you feel is disrespectful, threatening, or just icky. We will listen and work to resolve the matter.

If you catch yourself behaving disrespectfully, or if someone else shares their discomfort with you, own up to your words and actions, and apologize accordingly. No one is perfect, and even well-intentioned people make mistakes. What matters is how you handle them, and avoiding repeating them in the future.

If you feel harassed, threatened, or creeped out by another attendee you can block and report them from their profile. If you block someone, they won't be able to message you any more, you won't be matched in Meetups, and you won't see any new messages from them in public chats. If someone is causing problems for you, please report them as well so we can step in and deal with the issue.

We take all concerns seriously, and we will use our discretion in determining when and how to follow up on reported incidents.
Depending on the circumstances involved, we may decline to take any further action or may direct the participant to other resources for resolution.

If we determine that an DC participant is acting inappropriately, we may take any actions that we feel are necessary to prevent continued disrespectful behavior or harassment. This may even include expulsion from DC without warning or refund.