When you buy a Diversity Support Ticket, you receive a standard ticket while the extra proceeds are put in a pool to pay for Diversity Tickets. Diversity Support Tickets let you use your wealth to support someone who might not otherwise be able to attend. Anyone who buys a Diversity Support Ticket will be publicly thanked! :)
Diversity Tickets are fully sponsored (i.e. free) tickets that are awarded after an application process and lottery. In some cases, travel expenses will also be awarded. Anyone from an underrepresented group in tech is invited to apply. This includes, but is not limited to: women, people of colour, LGBTQ people, disabled people, and people facing economic or social hardships.
We see diversity outreach in the form of sponsored tickets as one small way to help counteract the systemic oppression that usually works to disadvantage large groups of people and keep them out of tech. Building technology is an act of representation, and our entire industry (and society at large) will benefit when the pool of people being represented is larger and more diverse than it is today.
In a few months, we will open applications for Diversity Tickets. We do outreach with organizations that represent marginalised groups in tech to reach the right audience. We’ll have a lottery for the available spots, with priority based on a combination of need and impact. The number of spots is determined by Diversity Support Ticket sales.
We are currently offering sponsorship opportunities for JSConf EU 2015. Contact us for details. The great companies below are supporting us in 2015 – Thank you!