Everyone is welcome here
JoCo Tech & AI is for anyone curious about tech and AI — whether you build it for a living or opened your first AI account last week. That only works if people feel safe and respected in the room. This page says how we keep it that way, and what to do if we fall short.
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Our commitment
JoCo Tech & AI is committed to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone at our events, regardless of gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, age, disability, body size, appearance, level of experience, or choice of technology. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. This code of conduct applies to every person at a JoCo Tech & AI event — attendees, speakers, volunteers, organizers, and any organization that sponsors or hosts us — and we will act on violations.
What we expect from each other
- Assume good faith and make room. Plenty of people here are new to this. A question that sounds basic to you is someone else's first step.
- Let other people talk. Especially during the hands-on parts, where the point is that everyone gets their own turn.
- Take "no" the first time — about a conversation, a photo, a business pitch, or a request for someone's contact details.
- Keep it welcoming. We come from farms, labs, classrooms, startups, county offices and home offices. Assume the person next to you knows something you don't.
- Ask before you take someone's photo, and before you post it. More on that below.
What counts as harassment
Harassment includes, but is not limited to:
- Comments that demean someone over their gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, age, disability, body size, or appearance.
- Sexual language, images, or unwelcome sexual attention.
- Intimidation, stalking, or following someone — at the venue, in the parking lot, or afterward online.
- Photographing or recording someone who has asked you not to.
- Unwanted physical contact.
- Repeatedly disrupting a talk or a session.
- Using our meetups mainly as a place to hard-sell or recruit people who aren't interested. Talking about your work is welcome; cornering people is not.
If someone asks you to stop, stop — right then, without arguing about whether they should have been bothered.
Consequences
Organizers may take any action they judge appropriate, including a private word, a formal warning, asking someone to leave an event, or excluding them from future events. Our events are free, so there is nothing to refund. This applies equally to attendees, speakers, volunteers, organizers, and sponsoring or hosting organizations.
Where this applies
At our meetups and anywhere we gather, including the venues that host us and any social time before or after. It also covers conduct in our online spaces, and conduct directed at people because of their involvement in this community. We are guests in someone else's space — please treat venue staff and their other customers as you would another attendee, and follow the venue's own rules.
Alcohol at our venues
Some of our venues serve alcohol and some don't. Where there is a bar, drinking is optional and never the point of the evening; nobody should feel out of place for not drinking. Please pace yourself — for most of the room this is a weeknight after work.
If you don't feel well, if your ride falls through, or if you're concerned about how someone else is doing, find Jeanne or email us. We would far rather help you get home safely than hear about it afterward.
Photos
We take photographs at meetups and may post them on this site or on social media, because showing a real community is how we grow one. If you'd rather not be photographed, tell an organizer at the event — we will accommodate that, and no explanation is needed. If a photo of you is already published and you want it removed, email us and we will take it down. No reason required.
If something happens, tell us
You do not need to be certain, and it does not have to be serious. If someone made you uncomfortable, if you saw something that bothered you, if you're worried about another attendee, or if you just have a question — please reach out. You will not be making a fuss.
- Email jmcclure@arsinnovate.com — this is checked during every meetup and after.
- At the meetup, find Dr. Jeanne McClure — she organizes the meetups and will help you right away and discreetly. If you'd rather not approach her directly, email instead; it reaches the same place.
- If someone is in immediate danger, call 911 first, and tell venue staff. Then tell us when you're able.
How we handle a report
If you contact us, we'll listen first and we won't push you into anything. We'll only share what we have to in order to address it, and we'll tell you before we do. You decide how far it goes — asking an organizer to quietly keep an eye on a situation is a perfectly reasonable request, and often the right one. We won't ask you to confront anyone or to repeat the account to a group.
Questions
If anything here is unclear, or you think something is missing, email jmcclure@arsinnovate.com. We welcome suggestions and review this policy as the community grows.
Last updated: September 2026.