Harassment Free Conference: Is this for just marketing?

I'm on the organizing committee for Steel City Ruby Conf, and I can assure you, this is not just for marketing.

Our mission for this conference is to bring more people in to the Ruby conference scene because we think it's awesome. We are doing many things to help achieve this goal, such as working to keep attendee costs down, having a 30m on/30m off schedule to have lots of time for discussion, and yes, being inclusive and making that clear by having an anti-harassment policy.

Why would anyone who hasn't been to a conference before want to attend a conference after seeing the list of incidents compiled by Geek Feminism (http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline_of_incidents)? It certainly gives a different impression of what conferences are like than the tone we are trying to set.

We used Geek Feminism's policy (http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Conference_anti-harassmen...) pretty much verbatim, and we're also following many of their other awesome recommendations (http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Conference_anti-harassmen...). We encourage all tech conferences to do the same to promote inclusion in our communities.

I'd be happy to answer any questions either here or via email.

It does look like they are taking a particularly strong stance. Kudos, especially for this:

"In particular, exhibitors should not use sexualized images, activities, or other material. Booth staff (including volunteers) should not use sexualized clothing/uniforms/costumes, or otherwise create a sexualized environment."

Railsconf had a similar policy: http://railsconf2012.com/antiharassment

I think this is an excellent idea.

It is a good idea, just can't believe some poeple need to be reminded to be decent. Maybe it's just Ruby people. I haven't see this required at other language conferences.