Regional Conference COVID-19
Protocols & SCBWI Policies
Refund Policy
According to our COVID Safety Protocols, if you are ill or showing symptoms within 24-hours of the conference, please notify us at florida@scbwi.org to cancel your registration and receive a refund. No other refunds are available.
SCBWI Florida COVID-19 Safety Protocols
The following protocols have been developed based on CDC guidelines, requirements and recommendations from SCBWI headquarters*.
1. Masks are strongly encouraged, but not required.
2. All attendees should be fully vaccinated or have had a negative Covid PCR test taken no early than three days (72 hours) prior to the meeting.
3. Proof of vaccination or negative test required. Your vaccination card or a photo of the card will serve as proof. You will receive a link to upload your vaccination card or negative test prior to the event.
4. If you are not feeling well, please be considerate of others and do not attend the meeting. If you are ill or showing symptoms within 24-hours of the conference, please notify us at florida@scbwi.org to cancel your registration and receive a refund.
5. Masks and hand sanitizer will be available at the conference.
Thank you for following our protocols to help ensure the health and safety of our faculty and participants. While SCBWI Florida has COVID-19 precautions and procedures established for our events, please know that you assume all risks associated with attending any in-person gathering.
*Policy for Minimizing COVID Risk from SCBWI Headquarters
To minimize the risk of Covid-19 at all SCBWI in-person events with more than 75 attendees, event organizers are required to implement one of the following attendance policies:
• Require proof of vaccination OR a negative test result. The test should be administered by a health care service such as a clinic, pharmacy, or testing kiosk. Rapid antigen tests are acceptable. Attendees should be encouraged to take the least expensive test option, but the test results must come from a health care service. Home tests are not acceptable. The test must be taken within three days of the event, and the results must be submitted within the three day period, not at the door.
At any SCBWI in-person event, regardless of the number of attendees, organizers must offer each attendee a free disposable mask, provide hand sanitizing stations throughout the event area, and post this policy in its entirety in areas visible to attendees.
Comments regarding this policy should be directed to SCBWI headquarters by emailing covidpolicy@scbwi.org. Include your name and contact information in order to receive a response.
Weapons Policy:
By registering for this conference, you acknowledge that audio taping, video-taping and/or transmitting or aiding in any of the foregoing of any part of the conference (including, but not limited to, presentations, individual sessions, and networking events) is prohibited. Additionally, the material in all handouts and presentations is copyrighted and may not be reprinted, blogged, written, orally transmitted, and/or reproduced without written permission of the copyright holder only. If you are found in violation of the above, SCBWI reserves the right to remove you from the conference and bar you from attending future conferences.
While we love when bloggers share thoughts about their overall experience, offer a personal anecdote, and/or briefly talk about something that resonated with them, it is equally important that bloggers not give away that which is not theirs to give. The fair use policy issued by SCBWI above refers to speakers’ rights, authors’ rights, and illustrators’ rights, under any circumstances, and it pertains to the content of our speakers’ talks, workshops, and/or handouts. This falls into the category of protecting intellectual property. Again, personal impressions, a quote that is cited, and/or a general overview would be considerate. However, it would be a breach of copyright law to give away a detailed report of a presenter’s material. Thank you in advance for taking this policy into account. Your professionalism is greatly appreciated.
Photos/Video Policy:
Attendance at this event constitutes permission for your photograph or video to be taken at the event and used for SCBWI purposes.
Food Policy
While we make every attempt to accommodate food sensitivities, please understand that we cannot ensure every single participant’s dietary preferences and food sensitivities for every meal. We ask that if you have serious allergies/sensitivities or strict food preferences that you please bring supplementary food with you.
Other Terms and Conditions
Please note that while speakers and topics were confirmed at the time of posting the conference, circumstances beyond the control of the organizers may necessitate substitutions, alterations or cancellations of the speakers and/or topics. As such, SCBWI reserves the right to alter or modify the advertised speakers and/or topics if necessary, without liability and no cancellations are allowed if these circumstances arise. Any substitutions or alterations will be updated on our web page as soon as possible. SCBWI is not responsible for any loss or damage as a result of a substitution, alteration or cancellation/postponement of an event. SCBWI shall assume no liability whatsoever in the event this conference is cancelled, rescheduled or postponed due to a fortuitous event, Act of God, unforeseen occurrence or any other event that renders performance of this conference impracticable, illegal or impossible. For purposes of this clause, a fortuitous event shall include, but not be limited to: war, fire, labor strike, extreme weather or other emergency.
SCBWI does not allow anyone under the age of eighteen to attend an SCBWI event. There are no exceptions to this policy.
SCBWI Anti-Harassment Policy
The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) is dedicated to providing a safe and harassment-free environment for all of its members and will take any and all necessary steps to address and prevent harassment at events associated with SCBWI. Harassment under this policy may include verbal comments, written comments, displayed images, or behaviors such as intimidation, stalking, body policing, unwelcome photography or recording, sustained disruption of talks or other events, inappropriate physical contact, unwelcome sexual attention or advances, and bullying or coercion.
The SCBWI Member Anti-Harassment Policy applies to all situations of harassment or intimidation at any SCBWI Event. An “SCBWI Event” is any event, meeting or activity that is authorized by an SCBWI Regional Manager to be sponsored by, or affiliated with, SCBWI. SCBWI events may include, if properly authorized by an SCBWI Regional Manager, the Annual Summer Conference in Los Angeles, the Annual Winter Conference in New York, regional conferences, meetings and meet-ups. This SCBWI Member Anti-Harassment Policy also applies to “SCBWI On-Line Interactions,” which include communications and content posted on, or directed towards, SCBWI’s Social Media accounts or sent through any of the communication tools available on SCBWI’s website, www.scbwi.org. SCBWI’s Social Media accounts under this policy include the official SCBWI accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr and LinkedIn.
Code of Conduct
All participants in SCBWI Events and SCBWI On-Line Interactions, including faculty, staff, and attendees, are required to comply with the following anti-harassment code of conduct. The SCBWI Anti-Harassment Policy prohibits harassment, including but not limited to the following behaviors:
-intimidation, stalking, or following.
-Sustained disruption of talks or other events.
-Inappropriate physical contact.
-Unwelcome sexual attention.
-Abusive verbal comments.
-Quid pro quo– sexual harassment that occurs when one in an authority position requests sex or a sexual relationship in exchange for professional consideration or favors.
-Harassment does not include respectful disagreement or reasonable and respectful critique made in good faith. SCBWI continues to welcome and appreciate presentation of appropriate controversial ideas, free speech, and creative artistic expression. SCBWI encourages members to hold one another accountable to the Code of Conduct as stated in this part of the Policy and to take the perspectives of others seriously when a disagreement arises.
Reporting Procedures
Any person who believes there has been a violation of the SCBWI Anti-Harassment Policy can report the offense in one or all of the following ways:
-Certain SCBWI Events, including the Annual Summer Conference in Los Angeles and the Annual Winter Conference in New York, will designate one or more Safety Team Members who will be available during the conference to provide a safe space for members to report an incident. The Safety Team Member will report directly to the conference director or regional advisor in charge.
-A complainant may submit a complaint under this policy to the Director of Community Marketing and Engagement, the Director of Illustration and Artist Programs and/or your Regional Manager.
-SCBWI has a dedicated email address for reporting any potential incident of harassment under this policy. Anyone who chooses to report an incident can find the Anti-Harassment Report Form on the SCBWI website (About > Anti-Harassment) or use the following link: https://www.scbwi.org/anti-harassment-report-form/. Reports should include the substance of the complaint, date, and whenever possible, a list of witnesses or a reference to the relevant URLs, if the offense occurred through an SCWBI On-Line Interaction.
SCBWI will investigate all complaints subject to the SCBWI Anti-Harassment Policy. If the policy applies, SCBWI will investigate the matter and take whatever action is necessary and appropriate to prevent a recurrence and protect the environment at SCWBI Events. If a complaint is made anonymously, please note that SCBWI will not be able to follow up on an anonymous report with the complainant directly, as SCBWI will not have contact information for the anonymous complainant. Moreover, anonymous complaints may hinder SCBWI’s ability to investigate the complaint. SCBWI will take steps to protect the confidentiality of the complaint, to the extent possible. However, complete confidentiality may not be possible in all circumstances. SCBWI will make every attempt to respond to a named complainant in a timely fashion.
If appropriate, SCBWI may report the incident to local authorities.
Non-Retaliation
The SCBWI Anti-Harassment Policy prohibits retaliation against a member of the SCBWI community for reporting harassment, intimidation or discrimination, or for participating in an investigation relating to any complaint made under this policy. The sanctions for retaliation are the same sanctions available to address any other violation of the SCBWI Anti-Harassment Policy.
Sanctions
SCBWI takes all allegations of harassment seriously. Complaints will be investigated by SCWBI if they fall within the scope of SCWBI’s Anti-Harassment Policy. Depending on the results of the investigation, SCWBI will determine whether a sanction is appropriate.
Sanctions for faculty, speakers, staff or board members may include any of the following:
-warning the party involved that the particular behavior is inappropriate and must be ceased;
-immediate removal from a particular event;
-denial of access to SCBWI spaces and venues on a temporary or permanent basis;
-withholding of a contracted honorarium;
-prohibition from future speaking engagements;
-prohibition from future faculty appointments;
-expulsion from SCBWI; and/or
-removal from the Board of Advisors or Board of Directors, when appropriate.
Sanctions for attendees, members, and guests can include any of the following:
-warning the party involved that specified behavior is inappropriate and must be ceased;
-immediate removal from a particular event, without refund;
-denial of access to SCBWI spaces and venues on a permanent or temporary basis;
-termination of SCBWI membership, without refund; and/or
-prohibition of future SCBWI membership.
If the conduct at issue involves one of SCBWI’s employees, SCBWI will handle utilize whatever corrective action is appropriate based on the result of the investigation and subject to SCBWI employment policies and practices.
Confidentiality
SCBWI will make every reasonable effort to conduct all investigations into allegations of harassment, intimidation, or discrimination in a manner that will protect the confidentiality of all parties and witnesses. Notwithstanding the above, confidentiality is not absolute, and those with a legitimate business reason to know and be informed of the allegations will be so informed. Parties to the complaint should treat the matter under investigation with discretion and respect the reputation of all parties involved.
If you wish to file a complaint or an anonymous complaint, CLICK HERE to access the Anti-harassment Report Form. If you have questions regarding this policy, go the SCBWI.org homepage and click on the green HELP button in the lower right corner and complete the form.
