What is this Document?

This code of conduct outlines the expected behaviour of everyone who attends Scotiacon Events, so that we may provide for a safe, open and fun event. In order to do so WE (Scotiacon UK LTD) place responsibilities on YOU (Attendee of a Scotiacon Event). By attending you are agreeing to be bound by this code of conduct and any other additional rules that may be put in place for other events during the convention, as well as any rules put in place by the hotel.

Preamble

At Scotiacon, we want to provide for a safe, inclusive and above all fun event for our community members, and we hope to do this through advancing our statement of intent, as outlined below:

Participants of Scotiacon come from many walks of life and we are proud of the diversity that our attendees and staff represent. As such we aim to be a welcoming environment especially for those who may have been marginalised due to their race, sexual and gender identity, disability and/or other immutable characteristics. We aim to make our event as inclusive as we are reasonably able to do so and ask that you as an attendee do the same.

Harassment of any kind is not tolerated at Scotiacon and will result in sanctions under our unacceptable behaviour policy. This includes, but is not limited to general characteristics such as race, gender, or sexuality, or fandom specific characteristics such as the maker of an individual's fursuit or the species of someone's fursona. If any such harassment is reported to us, we will investigate accordingly with reference to the unacceptable behaviour policy as appropriate. Any incidents of harassment should be reported to the Welfare team.

We have a zero tolerance of abuse directed at our staff and vice versa. We also reserve the right to decline the registration of individuals who we believe to have engaged in actions or behaviours that could put our attendees, the staff, the venue or the event as a whole at risk. Those found to be expressing views or exhibiting behaviours that are likely to cause detriment to the safety or enjoyment of the convention to others , will be asked to stop. This included views that are expressed on online platforms. If they continue they may be subject to being sanctioned by Scotiacon.

While all attendees must be at least 18 years old on their first day at the convention and be registered this does not mean that we will accept sexualised or fetish behaviours within public spaces, unless it is part of a closed door event that is specifically catered for this. All attendees must behave in an appropriate manner, including but not limited to: maintaining an acceptable level of hygiene, respecting the personal space and what level of physical contact others may want, not becoming intoxicated to the extent that they pose a risk to themselves or others , not to bring or consume any illicit substances, and not to facilitate the entry of individuals who do not hold a ticket to attend the event. For those who have a booking with the venue hotel it is forbidden to allow individuals to stay overnight if they do not have a booking with the hotel, or some other prior agreement with hotel management.

Most of all we wish that you all have a brilliant time and come back and join us in future years!

General Principles

We (Scotiacon UK Ltd) reserve the right to take appropriate action should any attendee:

• Undertake any action or behaviour that interferes with convention operations.
• Engage in criminal behaviour at any time and/or be assessed to be a risk to children or vulnerable adults.
• Undertake any action or express any views that are likely to cause excessive discomfort and/or offence to other attendees, staff members, or members of the public.
• Engage in any action that may adversely affect Scotiacon’s relationship with its attendees, its staff or the public in general.
• Undertake any action where they falsely represent themselves as a representative of Scotiacon to others.
• Undertake any actions which may adversely affect Scotiacon’s relationships with its venue, suppliers or cause financial damage to Scotiacon.
• Be found to be causing discomfort to others through unwanted physical contact, conversation or messaging via any messaging app.
• Cause any damage to the property of others, through any action regardless of intent.

In addition we also reserve the right to amend our Code of Conduct at any time in order to ensure that our policies are up to date and fit for purpose. Changes will be published on our website and any substantial changes will be broadcast via our social media channels and/or emailed out.

The action that Scotiacon takes will be dependent upon the severity of the breach, but sanctions may include, but are not limited to: ejection from the convention, revoking of their membership and being banned from further Scotiacon events. Scotiacon UK ltd will not accept any claims for refund of tickets, accommodation or any other financial loss occurred should you be ejected from the event. Details of the sanctions and the process by which they are reached may be found in UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOUR policy, which can be made available upon request.

Should any actions or behaviours cause damage to the venue we will pass on details to venue staff so that they may take appropriate actions.

We also reserve the right to share the details of any serious breaches, where there is a breach of the peace or other offence committed, with other parties in line with our DATA SHARING POLICY in order to prevent further crime and/or disorder.

In addition to any issues arising during the convention, we reserve the right to revoke or deny permission to attend for actions or behaviours undertaken by a potential attendee outside of the event, if we are provided with information, which after investigation, we believe to be true, that suggests their presence is reasonably likely to be harmful to the running of the convention, or pose a risk to other attendees or staff members. While we will endeavour to give a reason for why we are denying or revoking permission to attend to the affected individual, there may be situations where this cannot occur.

Registration

You must be at least 18 years old on your first day at the convention. It is the responsibility of all attendees to have government issued or government recognised identity documents that are in their legal name, show their date of birth, and have an image of them that is a reasonable likeness to their current selves. These must be presented to registration staff upon entry to Scotiacon in order to enter the convention spaces. Any attendee unable to prove their age through an appropriate identity document will not be granted entry to the event until such time as they are able to do so. We will not accept any claims of financial damage if you are not able to provide this when registering at the event.

At the time of registration you will be provided with a badge which will mark you as an attendee of the event and will grant you entry to the event spaces.

You are required to wear your provided badge prominently at all times so that you can be identified and recognised as a member of the event. If this gets lost, damaged or defaced, you must make yourself known to a representative of the event who can organise a replacement. Changing or covering up any information on your identification (i.e. by using stickers or drawings) is strictly forbidden and you will be asked to remove them.

Only registered attendees may enter the event spaces, which will be marked.

Other hotel residents who are not registered with Scotiacon may enter the public areas of the hotel according to their individual contract with the hotel. Members of the public may also enter areas of the venue that are publicly accessible.

If you are a guest at the hotel you will be issued with a room key at the hotel reception. It is your responsibility to keep this safe and secure. Any loss or damage to it should be reported to reception.

General Behaviour

Scotiacon aims to provide a safe, open and fun convention for everyone. In order to do so we require our attendees to abide by our general behaviour policy.

We are a diverse community and in order to foster this inclusiveness we ask you to treat each other with respect. We also ask that you treat all hotel staff, and the general public with respect.

“No” means no. “Stop” means stop. “Go away” means go away. We will not accept any other interpretation of these statements.

If we are made aware of attendees and/or staff who have engaged in unwanted behaviours and subsequently persisted with that behaviour despite being told ”no”, “stop” or “go away” or other words and/or actions intended to communicate this, we reserve the right to ask you to explain your actions to our welfare team who will investigate as appropriate. If we believe these accusations to be true, sanctions will be placed upon you as per our UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOUR policy.

If you are subject to such harassment we ask that you let our welfare team know so that we may take appropriate actions. How to contact our welfare team will be distributed both at the event and through the events media channels. Please come and talk to our welfare team at the event should you be subject to such behaviours so we can take action, provide support and prevent it from happening again in the future.

Individuals have the right to determine who they initiate or receive physical contact from, as well as the types of physical contact they are comfortable with at that moment in time. They are also entitled to have their personal space respected within all practicable means. We ask that these preferences are respected. If you are not sure what behaviours an individual is comfortable with, please ask and only initiate personal contact if consent is given.

Poor personal hygiene can lead to detriment of con experience of others. If this occurs we reserve the right to ask you to address it and restrict access to the event spaces until the problem is corrected.

Appropriate and respectful behaviour is expected at all times, especially in the public areas. We ask that any physical contact in public spaces between attendees be limited to displays of affection. A good rule of thumb for this would be a behaviour that the general public would deem appropriate to display in the presence of family. If we feel that behaviours exhibited go beyond this we reserve the right to ask attendees to stop these behaviours or to go and continue these behaviours in a private space.

You are liable for any damage that you might cause to any property, however it may be caused. Scotiacon will take no responsibility for any damage to property or financial losses that are accrued by you should there be any theft of or damage of your property unless it can be demonstrably proven that it was due to negligence on the part of Scotiacon.

If any attendee is found to be deliberately tampering with fire, security systems or public safety systems, they will be immediately ejected and liable to be banned for life. There will be no exceptions to this rule. They may also be liable for civil or criminal prosecutions as determined by the seriousness of the incident.

General Hotel Rules

The consumption of food or drink purchased outside of the hotel is not permitted, unless it is consumed in your own hotel room. If you do consume outside food please dispose of any rubbish the bins provided.

It is strictly forbidden to throw, drop or eject any objects out of, or off of, windows, balconies, galleries or similar parts of the building. Offenders will be sanctioned as per the seriousness of the incident.

Attendees may not enter any non-public areas of the hotel. This includes all backstage areas, cleaning cupboards, kitchen and bar areas , service elevators, the rooftops, emergency exits and any areas marked as “Staff Only”, unless expressly authorised to do so, or accompanied by venue staff.

During the event, Scotiacon has exclusive use of all hotel spaces, including the main hotel lobby, and bar/restaurant. During the core event days (Friday - Monday) these areas are considered private spaces and non-attendees will not be admitted. The only exemption for this is members of the public paying for parking at the reception and accessing the Fitness Centre (Club Moativation).

Tampering with any fire-protection devices – in particular, disabling smoke detectors or malicious triggering of fire doors or alarms – is illegal, therefore prohibited and will result in expulsion from the event and liability for any damages or associated costs being borne by the perpetrator(s).

The sale of any merchandise outside of the official Dealers’ Den, Artist Alley, or other authorised space will require explicit permission from the convention management.

It is not permitted to bring any animals aside from registered service animals to the event unless expressly authorised to do so by the venue and the Directors. We will not make any exceptions to this rule.

Hotel Rooms & Privacy

You are expected to treat the hotel rooms and property of the hotel with respect and with care. You will be held personally liable for any damage you or any others present in the room may cause.

It is strictly prohibited for anyone to stay overnight in a hotel room if they are not part of the booking for that room. Violators will be asked to leave that room, and may be subsequently ejected from the hotel and event, held liable for compensation claims of the hotel and be banned from future events.

The cleaning crew is required to check your room in line with hotel policies. “Do Not Disturb” signs will only be respected for until a time determined by the hotel. Mess beyond that which could be reasonably expected could leave you liable to pay for extra cleaning costs, so we ask that you leave your room in an acceptable state. Scotiacon will not be liable for these costs and they will be the responsibility of the individuals in the room.

If you are sharing a room we ask that you gain their permission prior to inviting others into the room, or hosting any activities within it. Should we receive any complaints of uninvited guests in a room, we reserve the right to investigate and ask individuals who do not hold a booking for that room to leave. Repeated or serious offences may be dealt with as per our UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOUR policy.

Any activity in a hotel room that produces a large amount of noise or other environmental disturbance to the detriment of other hotel users will be investigated. Should we find them to be unreasonable we will require the activity to stop or change so that it no longer is a source of disturbance. Repeated or serious offences may be dealt with as per our UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOUR policy.

Hotel Pool & Health Club Facilities

Please be considerate of other pool users and obey all directions from the lifeguards/pool staff as well as all signage. If rules are broken you may be asked to leave the health club, and face further restrictions from the hotel and Scotiacon.

The hotel pool may only be used while wearing appropriate swimwear. Entering any part of the pool area in a fursuit is strictly prohibited.

You may not overcrowd the pool, try to create a vortex, or do anything else that might cause the pool to overflow or cause any other damage to the pool and/or pool complex.

To avoid cultural misunderstandings, please make yourself familiar with local sauna customs. In any case, please read the instructions posted or ask a member of staff within the Health Club, and ensure you’re wearing appropriate attire at all times.

Please use any gym equipment in line with usual practice or as instructed on the piece of equipment.

Any one found to be taking photographs or film within any changing areas will be asked to delete any images taken and are liable to further actions being taken against them.

Alcohol & Other Drugs

You are expected to drink responsibly. You will be held liable for any statements made or behaviour while intoxicated. Intoxication is not an excuse for unacceptable behaviour, actions or statements made.

Persons who are intoxicated to the point of incapacity or to a point where they pose a risk to themselves or others may be escorted to their rooms or ejected from the venue. We deem this an unacceptable behaviour and dealt with as per our UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOUR POLICY and our intoxication policy.

Smoking is not permitted anywhere within the entire venue building except designated smoking areas outside the hotel building. A considerable cleaning fee will be charged for smoking in a room, and could lead to further sanctions from Scotiacon and the hotel.

The possession, consumption or sale of any quantity of any illegal or controlled substance (in the absence of a valid prescription) will not be tolerated. Attendees found in possession of such substances are liable to be arrested, handed over to the police and permanently banned from the convention.

Scotiacon reserves the right to inform any affiliated conventions or events of such incidents.

Clothing & Decency

We will not permit nudity, insufficient clothing or fetish gear to be worn in any public areas. We reserve the right to compel you to return to your room and change into appropriate clothing before you can return to a public area.

If you wish to wear body paint, it must be smear-safe and not transferable to any other persons or surfaces. General clothing decency rules still apply.

Display of any sign, symbol or clothing that is commonly associated with, or intended to look similar to, any organisation, party or political ideology likely to offend or cause offence to other guests or attendees is not permitted.

Display of adult-themed materials is not permitted in public areas of the hotel. This includes (but is not limited to): room signs, flyers, business cards, posters and drawings on public message boards. Adult themed artwork may be sold within the art show and Dealers’ Den in the appropriately marked areas.

Exposure of fetish gear is not permitted in any of the public or event spaces, even if it is part of a costume. They may be allowed at specific closed door events billed as explicitly allowing their display however they must be changed into and out of within these spaces. Some clothing requirements are imposed by the venue as part of their own policies and procedures, the convention may be contractually required to abide by these rules. Representations for event suggestions and policy changes should be made by feedback form, online survey or contacting the event by email.

The definition of “adult-themed” materials is difficult. However we would accept that it is not adult themed if it would be acceptable to display the costume on the cover of a magazine at an average newsagent. Drawing the line for “fetish gear” is much harder, and the issue will always be highly subjective.

For example, there are a few things that we do not want to see in public:

• No Latex/neoprene or similar material costumes
• No visibly “anatomically correct” costumes.
• No costumes or accessories commonly associated with age-play, pet-play, bondage or sadomasochism.
• No Jockstraps or similar underwear that is designed to expose the buttocks.

On the other hand, the following items are usually considered okay:

• Collars without a leash attached
• Leather wristbands, without “D-Ring”
• Accessories used in an “innocent” context, such as a dog harness that is part of a sled dog costume.

Scotiacon withholds the right to disallow any costume that is deemed “fetish gear” by the Welfare Department, Directorship or at the request of the hotel’s management.

The general public deem Pup masks and other items associated with pup play to be fetish gear. As such they are not allowed to be worn in public areas, unless it is part of a closed door event explicitly for this purpose or within a private hotel room. We appreciate this may cause disappointment however it poses risks to Scotiacon’s relationships with the venue, suppliers and the general public.

Weapons, Lookalikes, and Dangerous Items

All weapons, including lookalikes, replicas, tools and toys must be left within hotel rooms unless they are presented to a designated member of the Welfare team for inspection and/or approval. If it is approved it will be allowed to be present in public areas of the venue if it is used in an appropriate manner. If it is not approved or used in an inappropriate manner we will require that it remains within the attendees room.

For guidance on what type of weapons are acceptable, please contact: [email protected] or see the ATTENDEE PROP + WEAPONS GUIDELINES on our website for further details. However a general rule is that if it is an item that is likely to be mistaken for a real weapon it will not be allowed. We cannot accept the display of bladed items, or weapons which are designed for historic reenactments.

Mock fights or engagement with mock weapons without explicit consent, swordplay, fire breathing or any other activities that may adversely affect bystanders, or venue property are not allowed without explicit permission from the Welfare Department and/or directors, who may appoint a staff member to take precautions and observe the activity.

The Welfare Department may require your weapon to be “peace-bound”. Tampering with the peace binding is not allowed and will invalidate the clearance immediately. It is unlikely the welfare department will peace bind it again if there is evidence that the tampering was deliberate.

Should any of these privileges be abused individuals may be sanctioned as per our UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOUR POLICY.

Photography & Video Recording

Scotiacon reserves all rights to video and photo material gathered at the convention except for footage taken in private hotel rooms. Scotiacon grants you the right to use these videos and photos for private and/or non-commercial purposes.

If you plan to take video and photo material gathered at the convention at Scotiacon for commercial purposes such as, but not limited to: for sale as part of a subscription to patreon or similar commercial service; for use in a monetised video or streaming event; you will need to contact Scotiacon who will consider your proposal and if it is deemed acceptable they will grant permission to do so on a case by case basis. We will allow for privately arranged and paid for photoshoots/film shoots paid for an attendee at the convention unless there is intent to further sell on any material gathered, which will need to be discussed with Scotiacon prior to the shoot occuring.

Commercial press, agencies and other affiliated service providers must contact the convention in advance to arrange accreditation, permission and any requirements of the event. Buying a convention membership of any level does not grant automatic rights to members of these agencies.

Under no circumstances will we grant rights to any material gathered by attendees to be distributed to stock photography libraries or press agencies for the purpose of commercial gain, without explicit written permission from THE DIRECTORS.

Publication of any footage in any external publication featuring Scotiacon (such as press, television or other mass media) requires written permission from THE DIRECTORS.

Official camera teams may record video and take photos in the public areas of the convention and during events to be used in various publications, such as the convention’s official (or otherwise endorsed) media channels. You agree that video and pictures taken of you can be used in such publications without release or compensation. Any internal media team members will be appropriately identified as such.

A release will only be required for material filmed in situations where a reasonable expectation of privacy exists.

Photography and filming is strictly forbidden in the Dealers’ Den, art show, or any location where the sale of artwork or other visual media is taking place.

Scotiacon also reserves the right to record video and audio within event spaces, and in limited circumstances within hotel rooms, in order to maintain public safety and for the detection and/or prevention of crime and disorder. For further information see our PRIVACY POLICY.

Other restrictions or rules may apply for some events and may be announced on location. We will not accept responsibility for any losses as a result of any rule changes that are made on site. Specific events and areas may have their own rules and/or codes of conduct and by entering into these areas or by participating in the event, you agree to be bound by these additional rules.