BioNJ Virtual and In-Person Meeting Code of Conduct
BioNJ is committed to providing a safe, productive, and welcoming environment for all meeting participants and BioNJ staff. All participants, including, but not limited to, attendees, speakers, volunteers, industry partners, exhibitors, BioNJ staff members, service providers, and all others are expected to abide by this Virtual Programs Code of Conduct. This Policy applies to all BioNJ meeting-related events, including those sponsored by organizations other than BioNJ but held in conjunction with BioNJ events, on public or private platforms.
BioNJ has zero-tolerance for any form of discrimination or harassment, including but not limited to sexual harassment by participants or our staff at our meetings. If you experience harassment or hear of any incidents of unacceptable behavior, BioNJ asks that you inform Donna Gibbons, SVP, Human Resources and Operations at DGibbons@BioNJ.org so that we can take the appropriate action.
Unacceptable Behavior is defined as:
- Harassment, intimidation, or discrimination in any form.
- Behavior or comments that disrupt the event, a session, or other formal or informal meeting or event in any way.
- Verbal or non-verbal abuse of any attendee, speaker, volunteer, industry partner, exhibitor, BioNJ staff member, service provider, or other meeting guest. (Examples of verbal abuse include, but are not limited to, verbal comments related to gender, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, religion, national origin, inappropriate use of nudity and/or sexual images in public spaces or in presentations, or threatening or stalking any attendee, speaker, volunteer, industry partner, exhibitor, BioNJ staff member, service provider, or other meeting guest.)
In addition, participants are required to adhere to the following rules:
- No sharing of your conference link with anyone.
- The recording or transmissions of any education sessions, presentations, demos, videos, or content in any format is strictly prohibited.
- Disruption of presentations during sessions, in the exhibit hall, or at other events organized by BioNJ throughout the meeting. All participants must comply with the instructions of the moderator and any BioNJ event staff.
- Presentations, postings, and messages should not contain promotional materials, special offers, job offers, product announcements, or solicitation for services. BioNJ reserves the right to remove such messages and potentially ban sources of those solicitations.
- Any direct selling of products/services offered by speakers, industry partners, or consultants in any public area of the virtual platform or meeting space is prohibited. Many of the engagement conversations are based around knowledge and expertise and are not categorized as a direct sales pitch. Selling must be conducted during mutually agreed upon private video, audio or text conversations.
- Participants should not copy or take screen shots of Q&A or any chat room activity that takes place in the meeting.
BioNJ reserves the right to define and determine unacceptable behavior and offenses and to take any action deemed necessary and appropriate, including immediate removal from the meeting without warning or refund, in response to any incident of unacceptable behavior, and BioNJ reserves the right to prohibit attendance by the offender at any future meeting, virtually or in person and to prosecute any violator to the fullest extent of the law. The views of program speakers do not necessarily reflect the views of BioNJ or all of its members.
