PMJA Code of Conduct
Public Media Journalists Association is committed to providing a professional and educational environment that allows everyone in attendance to feel safe and valued. To that end, our attendees — including sponsors, vendors, speakers, exhibitors, employees and volunteers — are held to the following expectations:
- Behave professionally and appropriately.
- Be kind and considerate in all interactions with others.
- Demeaning, harassing, aggressive and intimidating behavior and materials will not be tolerated.
- Respect others in attendance — respect other’s personal space, and be aware of those around you to ensure a good experience for everyone.
- Inappropriate behavior including harassment, intimidation, aggression and bullying interfere with others’ ability to participate fully in the event. Therefore, we will not tolerate behavior including but not limited to:
Slurs; derogatory statements; obscene language and jokes; leering; stalking; sexual comments; uninvited touching and sexual advances; hostile or physical intimidation; sexist, misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic and racist language and/or behavior; violating personal space; offensive texts, email or voicemail messages; or offensive social media postings.
Consequences of inappropriate behavior:
If a participant engages in harassing behavior, event organizers retain the right to take any actions to maintain a safe and welcoming environment for all participants, up to and including warning the offender or expulsion from the event with no refund.
Event organizers may take action to redress anything designed to, or with the clear impact of, disrupting the event or making the environment hostile for any participants.
If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please report it immediately. Misconduct can be reported to PMJA's Executive Director or a member of the PMJA Board, at the event.
Our team can help you contact venue security, local support services, local law enforcement, or otherwise assist to ensure you feel safe for the duration of the event.
In addition, participants are asked to adhere to the following rules:
- The recording or transmissions of any education sessions, presentations, demos, videos, or content in any format is strictly prohibited.
- Disruption of presentations during sessions or at other events organized by PMJA throughout the in-person or virtual meetings will not be tolerated. All participants must comply with the instructions of the moderator and any PMJA event staff.
- Presentations, postings, and messages should not contain promotional materials, special offers, job offers, product announcements, or solicitation for services. PMJA 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 in-person or virtual venues is prohibited. Many of the engagement conversations are based around knowledge and expertise and are not categorized a direct sales pitch. Selling must be conducted during mutually agreed upon private in-person, 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 PMJA's virtual spaces.
PMJA reserves the right 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 PMJA reserves the right to prohibit attendance at any future meeting, virtually or in person.
We value your attendance and expect all participants to adhere to this policy at all conference venues and on-site or off-site events.