BarCamps are heavily collaborative events, and collaboration depends on good relationships between participants. To this end, we’ve agreed on the following code of conduct to help define the ways that we think collaboration and cooperation should work.

This Code of Conduct covers your behavior as a member of the BarCampMadison Community, in any forum, mailing list, wiki, web site, IRC channel, install-fest, public meeting or private correspondence.

The Ground Rules

Be considerate. Your work will be used by other people, and you in turn will depend on the work of others. Any decision you take will affect users and colleagues, and we expect you to take those consequences into account when making decisions.

Be respectful. The BarCampMadison community and its members treat one another with respect. Everyone can make a valuable contribution at BarCamp. Participants may not always agree, but disagreement is no excuse for poor behavior and poor manners. We might all experience some frustration now and then, but we cannot allow that frustration to turn into a personal attack. It’s important to remember that a community where people feel uncomfortable or threatened is not a productive one.

Be collaborative. One of the great things about BarCamp is working together. Collaboration reduces redundancy of work done improves the quality of the event and session for everyone.

When you disagree, consult others. Disagreements, both political and technical, happen all the time and the BarCampMadison community is no exception. The important goal is not to avoid disagreements or differing views but to resolve them constructively. You should turn to the community and to the community process to seek advice and to resolve disagreements.

When you are unsure, ask for help. Nobody knows everything, and nobody is expected to be perfect. Asking questions avoids many problems down the road, and so questions are encouraged. Those who are asked should be responsive and helpful. However, when asking a question, care must be taken to do so in an appropriate forum. Off-topic questions detract from productive discussion.

Mailing lists and web forums

Mailing lists and web forums are an important part of the BarCampMadison community. This code of conduct applies very much to your behavior in those forums too. Please follow these guidelines in addition to the general code of conduct:

1. Please use a valid email address to which direct responses can be made.
2. Please avoid flamewars, trolling, personal attacks, and repetitive arguments.

This code of conduct is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license. You may re-use it for your own project, and modify it as you wish, but if you do, you should give credit to the Ubuntu code of conduct, from which this document owes a great deal of credit.