Event code of conduct

Before the event:

• Those wishing to attend events will normally be asked to book their place via Eventbrite, an online event booking system. This allows us to keep track of numbers, take payment if it is a paid for event and means we can contact attendees with up to date information in the run up to the event.
• Some of our events are open to all and anyone can book on, for other events we may have a targeted audience, such as families or young people. As a result, for some events we may ask attendees to register for specific accounts with Eventbrite or Zoom to increase security. We will always let you know if you need to have a registered account to book and attend a meeting.
• Many of our events take place using Zoom. A Zoom account is not required if you are simply joining Zoom meetings as a participant, although as stated above we may ask you to have one for some specific events. It is helpful if you download Zoom to your computer, laptop, phone etc prior to the event taking place to save time, although it will download automatically when you join your first Zoom meeting.
• We will usually send you the Zoom meeting invite and any information you require to access the event, such as any meeting ID, via Eventbrite either on the day of the event or up to 48 hours before the event is due to take place.
• Please do not ever send your Zoom meeting invite and access details to other people, anyone who wishes to attend should book on to the event and we will send them details. In some instances, if we do not recognise the name from our booking list we will not allow them to access the event.
   

During the event:

• Joining the event

Depending on the event we may use the ‘waiting room’, where you will be held in a virtual waiting room until the event or meeting host lets you in.  Please do listen to the event or meeting host and follow any instructions - they are there to ensure the event runs as smoothly as possible. Do put yourself on ‘mute’ when entering (and when not speaking) as this cuts out background noise. The meeting host may choose to mute everyone automatically to avoid this.

• Camera on or off?

For some events there will be specific instructions about having your audio and camera on or off. The meeting host will let you know what these are at the start of the event. If the host hasn’t specified, you can choose if you want to have your camera on or off. If you do switch on your camera, try to be somewhere well lit so that people can see you easily.

• Interaction

Chat: Depending on the type of event or meeting it is, there will be varying degrees of interaction available to participants.  For the majority of our events, there will be the opportunity to ask questions to speakers via the chat box which will be monitored by one of the event support staff. This allows us to group similar questions, saves time with people muting and unmuting and cuts down on background noise. Please do not share personal details on the chat function. If you post any messages that we consider offensive or disrespectful to any of the audience we will remove you from the event.

Direct questions: For others, there will be the chance to ask questions direct to event host or speakers. If you want to speak then you can use the ‘raise your hand’ button which will alert the host who will then ask you to unmute and speak. Do make sure that you are in a place there is no background noise as this can be distracting, and speak slowly and clearly so hosts and other participants can hear your questions or comments.

• Behaviour:

As at all our events we expect everyone to treat each other with politeness, respect and consideration. Please communicate openly, have respect for other people’s views and when speaking please be concise and to the point being discussed. Please listen to others and do not talk over people.

Any form of intimidation, discrimination or abuse directed to other attendees or organisers will result in being removed immediately from the event.

• Other housekeeping:

We will usually have ‘screen share’ turned off so that only the event or meeting host can share screens, this is to help avoid people sharing inappropriate material from their screens during events.

We may record the event so that we can use it at a later date for other training purposes, if you do not want to be filmed please turn your camera off.

Thank you for following our online events code of conduct and we hope you enjoy attending.