Open source projects such as PostgreSQL are stronger when all members of our community have an active voice in its leadership and development. Towards that goal, our objective is to increase the participation of diverse community members PGConf NYC. Members of communities who have not historically been well-represented at PostgreSQL conferences and in PostgreSQL activities are encouraged to submit talks for consideration in our Call for Papers, as your voice represents an important and growing part of the PostgreSQL community and the leadership and guidance of our project should reflect our full community of users to the greatest extent possible.
To that end, we have put resources towards the following efforts to increase accessibility, sustainability, and safety at PGConf NYC:
We apply a strict anti-harassment policy to our event to make sure we create a safe space for everyone. It includes clear language, clear consequences, and multiple reporting options in terms of method and to people of different genders. This Code of Conduct will be enforced. All attendees, sponsors, team members and vendors will be expected to abide by it.
A quiet room will be made available to all attendees to use for whatever purpose that they need. Need to do a bit of work? Do you just need a quiet place to sit for a while and relax while getting away from the crowds? Regardless of the reason, a room will be made available for that purpose.
All attendees have the option while registering for the conference to provide any information regarding desired food accommodations or allergies.
We work with our venue to ensure we can provide adequate nutrition options for every attendee based upon allergies and other dietary requirements detailed (such as Gluten, Nuts, or Shellfish allergies, or Vegan or Kosher dietary restrictions).
We recognize how important it is to have our speaker lineup also reflect the audience that we want to serve. To that end, we’ve put a lot of emphasis on inviting speakers from a diverse background to bring their knowledge to our audience.
Speakers are provided with a dedicated quiet room for getting ready before their presentation; this space could be used for reviewing slides, making changes, clearing the mind, or whatever else is needed. Additionally, all speakers have the right to request one-on-one mentoring from someone on our committee if advice or assistance is desired for improving a talk, public speaking skills, or with any other questions or concerns.
PGConf NYC is committed to providing an environmentally friendly conference experience, involving an organized approach to introducing sustainable materials and processes throughout the conference. 2021 was the first year of PGConf NYC's sustainable approach, and we are working on making small, manageable changes in order to move on to more widespread and effective permanent changes to how our conference is managed. Our goal is to contribute in a meaningful way towards a greener and more sustainable future.
To that end, we have committed to several actions that will improve our environmental impact from the conference, including but not limited to:
Our team here at PGConf NYC hope these actions will assist with making the event comfortable for everyone. If there's something more you think we could be doing, please get in touch through our primary email address contact@pgconf.nyc.