Response Guide

This is a guide for the organizers, volunteers, and CARE team of DjangoCon Europe on handling Code of Conduct (CoC) reports. It aims to help us deal with incidents with care, consistency, and professionalism, and gives the CARE (Code of Conduct Active Response Ensurers) team a shared process.

Conferences run under time pressure and social stress; good process exists precisely so people don't have to improvise good judgment in the moment. However, it's always possible that particular circumstances require a deviation from this guide.

Some parts of this guide discuss very severe incidents, like ongoing violence. These events are not expected at DjangoCon, but we want to be as prepared as reasonably possible for anything from the most common minor incidents to the most severe cases.

This is an internal document for organizers, volunteers, and the CARE team, though a public summary may be extracted from it.

venue and local context

DjangoCon Europe 2027 is held at SoWi University Innsbruck (Universitätsstrasse 15, 6020 Innsbruck). Organizers should confirm on-site medical and security staff contacts with the venue ahead of the event and post them at registration.

Emergency numbers in Austria

112 — EU-wide general emergency number. Works from any phone, any network, no SIM or credit required.
133 — Police (Polizei).
144 — Ambulance / medical emergency (Rettung).
122 — Fire brigade (Feuerwehr).

Nearest hospital

Landeskrankenhaus – Universitätskliniken Innsbruck, Anichstraße 35, 6020 Innsbruck (tirol kliniken), a short distance from the venue.

Language

Austria is a German-speaking country. English is widely spoken at the venue, but CARE should have at least one German-speaking member reachable during the conference for interactions with local police, medical staff, or venue security.

for general staff and volunteers

Every organizer and volunteer represents DjangoCon Europe's commitment to the Code of Conduct, and participants notice how staff behave and respond.

If you witness an incident or receive a report:

Find a CARE team member to take over as soon as possible — look for CARE badges, or check the shared on-call schedule.
If a CARE member isn't immediately available, document what you can: what happened, who was involved, when and where, whether it's ongoing, and the reporter's contact information, if they're willing to share it.
Encourage the reporter to also email conduct@djangocon.eu, so there's a written record independent of your notes.
If the reporter would rather not give their name at all, point them to the anonymous report form. Mention that CARE then has no way to follow up with them or tell them the outcome, so if they are willing to be contacted, email is the stronger option.
Pass what you've documented to a CARE member promptly, and only to CARE. Do not discuss the details with other staff, speakers, or attendees.
Stay compassionate and attentive, but do not promise a specific outcome, consequence, or timeline; that's CARE's decision after review.
If the reporter consents, you may arrange an escort back to their room or a public area, help them contact a friend, or call for medical or emergency services. Never do these things without the reporter's consent unless there is immediate danger to life.

Unilateral intervention

In genuinely urgent situations — ongoing physical violence, immediate danger, or a severe violation happening live during a talk — any staff member may act immediately, including asking someone to leave or contacting Austrian emergency services (112 / 133 / 144), without waiting for CARE.

Consult a CARE member as soon as it's safe to do so afterward.

for the CARE team

The Code of Conduct Active Response Ensurers (CARE) handle reports from receipt through resolution and follow-up.

Receiving a report

Acknowledge receipt promptly and compassionately. Do not imply a conclusion about whether a violation occurred, or what the outcome will be, at this stage.
Log the report in the shared CARE incident record. Access is restricted to CARE members; see the privacy guide for retention.

Anonymous reports

Reports may arrive in person, by email to conduct@djangocon.eu, via the #care-team Slack channel, or through the anonymous report form.

An anonymous report is logged, reviewed, and taken as seriously as any other. What it cannot do is follow the same path, and reporters should know this in advance:

CARE cannot ask follow-up questions, so the report is worked on only what was submitted.
CARE cannot tell the reporter what was decided or done, and cannot check in on their wellbeing afterward.
Resolutions that depend on a reporter's account being testable, or on their consent — a no-contact requirement between two named parties, for example — may not be available on an anonymous report alone.
An anonymous report can still prompt CARE to increase presence in a space, give a general reminder about expected behavior, or corroborate a later named report about the same person.

Where a reporter is willing to be contacted but does not want their name shared with the person reported, that is not an anonymous report — take it through the normal process and handle the confidentiality within it. That path preserves every resolution option, so offer it when someone is hesitant but reachable.

Working the case

CARE decides and acts collectively wherever possible. If immediate action is needed and the full team isn't reachable, one member may act, but should consult at least one other CARE member as soon as practical afterward.
Determine what happened, whether it violates the Code of Conduct, and who is responsible.
Consider context: was the behavior a one-off, part of a pattern, intentional, or a misunderstanding? Prior reports about the same person, if any, are relevant context, not automatic escalation.
Decide on a resolution. Options include, in increasing order of severity: no action, if no violation is found; a private conversation and a request to stop specific behavior; a formal warning; a no-contact requirement between the parties for the remainder of the conference; withholding or removing a talk recording; cancelling a scheduled talk; or removing someone from the conference without refund.
"No action" is a legitimate outcome, not a failure of process. It should be reached and communicated as deliberately as any other resolution.

Conflicts of interest

CARE members must declare a conflict — a close personal or professional relationship with either party — as soon as they recognize it, and recuse themselves from that case's decision-making.

Communicating outcomes

Tell the reporter what action was taken and, at a level of detail that respects the other party's privacy, why.
Avoid public statements naming individuals, except where the incident itself happened publicly and silence would undermine confidence in the process. Any public statement should be reviewed by more than one CARE member first.
After the conference, publish an anonymized transparency report: number of reports received, general categories, and resolutions, without identifying details.

communications protocol during an active incident

This is new for 2027 and addresses a gap in prior editions: how information about an unfolding incident is managed in real time, not just reported on afterward.

Only CARE — or, in urgent cases, whoever is coordinating with local authorities — speaks on behalf of the conference about an active incident. Other staff and volunteers should not speculate, confirm, or deny details on Slack, in person, or on social media, even if asked directly.
If a report becomes visible to a wider group before CARE has reviewed it — for example, something happened in view of many attendees — CARE should issue a short, factual holding statement as soon as possible, acknowledging that something is being looked into, without naming anyone or speculating about outcome, rather than leaving a vacuum that gets filled by rumor on Slack or social media.
Set an internal expectation for how quickly an update is owed to affected parties. For example: acknowledgment within 2 hours during conference days, a substantive update within 24 hours, even if the case isn't resolved yet. Silence reads as inaction even when work is happening.
Do not discuss an active case in the general organizer Slack channel; use a private CARE-only channel.

after the conference

Complete the anonymized transparency report within 4 weeks.
Hold a CARE retrospective: what worked, what was slow, what needs to change for the next edition.
Securely archive or delete incident records per the retention schedule in the privacy guide.