Penguicon retains the right, at any time and with or without refund, to remove anyone determined to be disrupting the event or in violation of this Code of Conduct. This could also result in a ban of the person from future events.

Penguicon is committed to fostering an environment of comfort and safety for everyone. To achieve this, attendees should refrain from actions that a reasonable person would feel would limit, or threaten to limit, the safe enjoyment of the convention by another person.

We will not tolerate any form of misconduct toward convention participants. This includes, but is not limited to, targeting based on gender, sexuality, relationship status, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, national origin, or religion.

Violations of this policy can be reported to any volunteer or Ops member and will be addressed by a Penguicon Convention Committee member or Penguicon Board member. The Virtual Ops Desk is located in our Discord Server: https://discord.com/invite/6vz5EQq3Cs

The #ops-desk channel is located in the Discord Welcome Center. You can also reach the Ops Team by email [email protected].

 

WHAT IS MISCONDUCT?

  • Misconduct includes:
    • Making disrespectful and unwelcome verbal or text comments
    • Creating an unwelcoming environment
    • Preventing any attendee from entering or participating in con events (except in accordance with con policies)
    • Showing sexual images, playing sexual audio, or conducting discussion about sexual topics when the images or discussions do not allow attendees the opportunity to leave beforehand or are not presented in a respectful manner.
    • “Zoom bombing” aka entering and disrupting a virtual event, regardless of platform
    • Intimidating, stalking, or virtually following
    • Sustained disruption of talks or other events
    • Uninvited sexual attention
    • Taking screenshots or recordings of participants or their written comments on Discord, YouTube, Zoom, or any other platform, without their consent. 
    • The sharing or public posting of any Virtual Platform Link found within our private Sched is not permitted. Please do not share the Jitsi/Zoom/Discord/Twitch or other links to our virtual programming. 
  • Silence does not equal consent. Enthusiastic agreement does.

WHAT IS HARASSMENT?

Harassment is a category of misconduct, defined as “a pattern of misconduct toward a target over time.”

Penguicon’s Board tracks reports of misconduct over multiple years, and takes patterns of misconduct into consideration for multi-year disciplinary action, regardless of whether incidents occurred at Penguicon. We need your help to identify whether the incident you experienced was part of a pattern you do not know about. Isolated single incidents of misconduct have sometimes received a multi-year disciplinary action, based on the best judgement of the Board of Directors.

Harassment applies to electronic communication as well as physical. Participants must not engage in misconduct at any convention venues or convention-related social events, not just the Penguicon weekend. Participants asked by the Board, Conchair, Convention Committee, or Staff to stop misconduct are expected to stop immediately, or it rises to the level of harassment.

WHAT SHOULD I DO IN CASE OF MISCONDUCT?

If you feel comfortable attempting to resolve the situation yourself, try asking the person to stop, saying “no” or “please leave me alone.” We would appreciate it if Operations was still informed to help us identify any repeat offenders. If you feel threatened or unsafe, or if your attempts to resolve the situation yourself are unsuccessful, please seek help immediately.

If you are in a confrontation, or notice someone else in a confrontation, go to Operations on Discord: https://discord.com/invite/6vz5EQq3Cs or email [email protected] for help. Operations will help assist participants to create a positive space for the duration of the con. Penguicon encourages participants to report any unlawful activity to law enforcement. We ask that all attendees try to foster an environment where speaking out is fully supported. Retaliating against a person who reports or complains about misconduct will not be tolerated.

Should you choose to report misconduct to Penguicon, you can expect a member of our ConCom to be called in to provide support, investigate, and take the necessary actions to ensure that the situation is handled with the utmost care and concern with clear and concise actions. Penguicon reserves the right to remove attendees from the con and/or ban future attendance if conduct and safety guidelines are not followed. The Penguicon Board will maintain a record of misconduct reports.

MEMBERSHIPS

  • Memberships are the badges of 2021. You need one in order to access any Penguicon content for the weekend.
  • Sharing Penguicon memberships is not permitted.

PARENTAL CONCERNS

Virtual Penguicon 2021 is 18+ only. Thanks for your understanding.

ATTIRE

  • The display of bondage gear or fetish clothing in online events is controversial, but acceptable at the convention. We recommend that it is most appropriate in the evenings. Please make sure to cover all bits at all times and please do not engage in kink play on camera to avoid non-consensual experiences for others.

GAMING EVENTS

  • Win or lose, please play fair and have fun.
  • Please respect the staff and comply with any requests, or you will be asked to leave.

GUEST CANCELLATION

Our Guests of Honor and other invited Guests commit to attending Penguicon long in advance of the actual event. Along the way (and generally at the very last moment!) circumstances beyond everyone’s control may happen, resulting in the Guest not being able to attend the convention as planned. Penguicon can make no guarantee that a particular guest will be able to attend the convention, and can not be liable for the results of a Guest’s cancellation.

FINAL WORDS

Penguicon has a multi-year governing body, the Board Of Directors, who have created a bare minimum set of eight Permanent Rules, listed below. Each year, Penguicon’s Convention Chair and Convention Committee have complete discretion to expand on the rules in detail to become the full Code Of Conduct which they are willing to commit to uphold. Every member of the Board of Directors and Convention Staff, commit to uphold this code of conduct.

THE PERMANENT MINIMUM RULES

  • You must be 21 or over and legal to drink in the state of Michigan to be served alcohol.  We will be checking ID.
  • To use the hospitality areas you must comply with Michigan state drinking laws.
  • Any weapons or potentially dangerous items should be handled with care.
  • Smoking is only permitted in designated areas.
  • The convention might include discussions or demonstrations of an adult nature; these may be inappropriate for children. Parents are responsible for their children; the convention is not.
  • Be respectful of others. If someone asks you to leave them alone, do so.  Seriously.
  • The Convention retains the right to remove anybody from the Convention at any time, with or without refund.
  • Have fun, but comply with hotel rules and the law.