What behaviour is and isn’t acceptable at your event?

There’s been a lot of publicity about sexual harassment and the #metoo movement in the last year, but how would you handle a complaint of this sort if it happened at your event?  What about a conference attendee smoking, vaping, carrying a gun or taking marijuana? In some places, this behaviour is permitted and it is important that we all know how to deal with these situations if they arise.

Sexual harassment is not unique to the meetings industry, but meetings do offer opportunities for abusive behaviour. You could get a complaint about any activity that an individual or group considers inappropriate and at meetings people often present themselves differently, as they are away from home, family and in unusual circumstances outside the office environment. Other issues which could offend are social media postings, suitable clothing and verbal comments, such as racist, anti-lgbt etc

Marijuana is now legal in Canada, as well as in 10 states in the US: California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, Michigan, Washington, Oregon and Alaska. If you are holding an event here, you need to anticipate that attendees may want to use and what can be done to make sure that it is done safely. As this is a relatively recent development the liability laws have not been developed, as has been the case with alcohol.

EDGE Venues has looked at some items that you might want to consider when planning your event.  If you’re organising an internal conference, then your company standards may cover some of these items, but if it is an external event then there are additional things to consider.

Checklist:

• Outline what behaviour is unacceptable at meetings and events
• Do attendees have a clear understanding of what is permitted and not permitted eg harassment, excessive drinking and other conduct
• Issue instructions for an attendee to report improper conduct
• Set up procedures for how you will investigate and respond if a complaint or allegation is made
• If misconduct is found, plan what corrective action will be taken
• Document all reported incidents, investigations and results
• Check your insurance cover and any policy issues
• Check your suppliers’ insurance cover and make sure these are adequate
• Check national and state laws and regulations, make sure they are enforced
• Have adequate security
• Minimize opportunities for attendees to cause harassment, injuries or damage.

Accusations may be as harmful as proved bad conduct, as the perception of a badly managed event or one with a reputation for inappropriate behaviour will deter delegates from attending and will have a long term detrimental effect.