Code of Conduct & Conference Policies

This page lists the Code of Conduct and other policies and agreements related to registering for and/or attending the OpenSimulator Community Conference, including:

Code of Conduct
Content Appropriate for All-Ages, General Audience
Privacy Policy
Photography & Videography Policy
Right of Refusal
Registration Legal Agreement

Please be sure to review each of these policies so you fully understand your responsibilities and obligations at the conference. For reference, other policies related to speakers, sponsors, and volunteers also include the following:

Top 5 DOs and DON’Ts

DO be respectful of other attendees of the conference.
DON’T wear scripted HUDs or attachments that can decrease simulator performance.
DO come to the conference in suitable attire for an all-ages audience (no nudity or explicitly violent depictions, please).
DON’T panic if the region you are in crashes – wait a moment or two and try to login again.
DO share blog posts, snapshots, and other media from the conference – use the hashtag #OSCC14!

Code of Conduct

The Overte Foundation & Avacon, Inc., the organizers and managers of the OpenSimulator Community Conference 2014, are dedicated to running a successful event which fosters discussion and camaraderie that celebrates the diversity of the OpenSimulator community. To help ensure the smooth running of the conference, the following Code of Conduct governs all attendees’ behavior at the conference.

General Behavior

The conference organizers expect conference attendees to respect each other and behave in a generally civilized fashion. Members should respect common sense rules for public behavior, personal interaction, common courtesy, and respect for other users.

Disruptive behavior is not acceptable, and any actions disturbing to attendees, speakers and presenters, or to the performance of the conference grid may result in the user being permanently disconnected from the conference grid.

Abusive, harassing, or threatening behavior towards any other attendee or directed at any OpenSimulator user (even those not present at the conference) will not be tolerated. Please report any incidents in which a member of the conference is abusive, insulting, intimidating, bothersome, or acting in an unsafe or illegal manner to the conference organizers immediately.

Children and Minors

Children under the age of 13 years old may not register for the OpenSimulator Community Conference 2014. Minors between the ages of 13 and 18 must be registered by a parent or legal guardian.

Please remember that some of the session content, avatars attendees may wear, and displays in the conference or exhibit areas may not be suitable for minors. Some program items dealing with adult topics may be closed to individuals under 18 years of age.

Avatar Guidelines

While we all want to look our best, conference attendees should be mindful that prim-heavy attachments, scripted attachments, physical prims, and other avatar customizations can severely negatively impact server and viewer performance at the conference. Please do not wear scripted attachments, HUDs, HUD based AOs, or other resource intensive attachments to the conference.

Content Appropriate for All-Ages, General Audience

The OpenSimulator Community Conference is an all-ages, general community event, therefore, no user may upload or display content that would be inappropriate for children or a general audience.

Privacy Policy

AvaCon Inc. takes the privacy of conference attendees seriously. Your personally identifiable information is kept secure. Only authorized employees, agents and contractors (who have agreed to keep information secure and confidential) have access to this information. Under no circumstances will your contact information or email address be sold or given to third parties for marketing purposes. We may share information with other companies assisting us in producing the event or providing services for the event, or governmental agencies or other companies assisting us in preventing or investigating criminal activity. We may do so when: (1) permitted or required by law; or, (2) trying to protect against or prevent actual or potential criminal activity,fraud or unauthorized access; or, (3) investigating a criminal act which has already taken place.

Service vendors may have their own privacy policies. Whenever possible, we will link their privacy policies here. By attending the OpenSimulator Community Conference, you are agreeing to the release of your personally identifying information under the circumstances outlined above.

EventBrite Privacy Policy: http://www.eventbrite.com/tos

UStream Privacy Policy: http://www.ustream.tv/privacy-policy

Sched.org Privacy Policy: http://sched.org/about/legal/privacy-policy

Photography & Videography Policy

There will be photographers and videographers present at the conference; by attending the conference virtually, you consent to having your avatar photographed or recorded.

Anyone wishing to take pictures or make audio or video recordings of any part of the conference is free to do so. If the photos or audio/video will be published or made publicly available, we encourage you to release them under a Creative Commons license so that everyone can share in the media created at the conference. Please be courteous and don’t take pictures or film people if they ask you not to do so!

In order to keep good records, promote and publicize future conferences, and to make archives available where possible, AvaCon, Inc. reserves the right to videotape, record and take photographs and screenshots of the OpenSimulator Community Conference. By attending the OpenSimulator Community Conference, each participant (including, but not limited to, each registrant, speaker and/or exhibitor) expressly consents to videotaping, photography, and other recording of the proceedings by AvaCon, Inc. with the understanding that all products of such activity will be released to the community and the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 license.

Right of Refusal

AVACON, INC. RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REFUSE REGISTRATION FOR ANY CAUSE, OR REVOKE THE CONFERENCE PASS OF ANY ATTENDEE FOR JUST CAUSE. PERSONS VIOLATING THE LAW OR CONFERENCE POLICIES MAY BE EJECTED FROM THE CONFERENCE, AND MAY BE REPORTED TO THE POLICE OR OTHER LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS IF WARRANTED .

Registration Legal Agreement

By registering for the OpenSimulator Community Conference, all attendees, speakers, sponsors, and other conference attendees agree to the following terms:

WAIVER OF LIABILITY

By registering for and/or attending the OpenSimulator Community Conference in any capacity, you agree that AvaCon, Inc., and their officers, directors, agents, employees, volunteers, affiliates, successors, assigns, and subsidiaries (collectively referred to as “AvaCon”) will not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort that you may incur as a result of your participation in the OpenSimulator Community Conference.

You acknowledge that AvaCon has not pre-screened its attendees, and that it is not responsible for any actions, behaviors, conduct, statements and/or omissions of any attendees. If there is a dispute between you or any organization and/or individual you meet at the OpenSimulator Community Conference, you understand and agree that AvaCon is under no obligation to become involved, except where required by law.

Additionally, AvaCon disclaims any and all liability for the claims, acts, omissions, and conduct of any exhibitors, speakers, advertisers and/or sponsors of the OpenSimulator Community Conference. Without limiting the foregoing, you may report the misconduct of participants, exhibitors, advertisers, and/or sponsors to AvaCon, where AvaCon may, at its sole discretion, investigate the claim and take appropriate action.

RELEASE

You hereby release AvaCon, Inc., and their officers, directors, agents, employees, volunteers, affiliates, successors, assigns, and subsidiaries from claims, demands and damages of every kind, known, or unknown, suspected or unsuspected, disclosed or undisclosed, arising out of or in any way related to the OpenSimulator Community Conference.

If you are a California resident, you waive California Civil Code section 1542, which states: “A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor at the time of executing the release, which, if known by him or her, must have materially affected his or her settlement with the debtor.”

LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY

Except in jurisdictions where such provisions are prohibited, AvaCon shall not, under any circumstances, be liable for direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages that are related, in any way, to the OpenSimulator Community Conference. This limitation of liability applies even if AvaCon has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

The aforementioned limitations will apply to the fullest extent permitted by law.

UNFORESEEN EVENTS

AvaCon seeks to secure agreements from each speaker prior to announcing the speaker’s commitment to appear at the OpenSimulator Community Conference. Unfortunately, one or more speakers may be unable to appear or may not arrive at their scheduled time for any number of reasons. AvaCon cannot be responsible if a speaker does not appear as scheduled. Additionally, OpenSimulator Community Conference sessions may be cancelled or rescheduled at any time; and AvaCon retains the right to change the content of any session at any time.

Attendees acknowledge that the OpenSimulator server software on which the conference will be hosted is in the “alpha” stage of development, and therefore it is possible for technical difficulties to disrupt the conference proceedings from time to time during the event. AvaCon and its associated event partners and server administrators will make a good faith effort to minimize any such disruptions, but all parties acknowledge that disruptions or even a complete failure of the OpenSimulator software shall not result in AvaCon’s liability or delay of performance under this Agreement.

The OpenSimulator Community Conference’s organizers retain the right to cancel the OpenSimulator Community Conference for any reason that is beyond its organizers’ control, which could include, but are not limited to, negligence of the attendee, fire, flood, explosion, lightning, windstorm, earthquake, subsidence of soil, failure or destruction, in whole or in part, of machinery or equipment, IT systems, computer servers, or internet and network connections, or failure of supply of materials, discontinuity in the supply of power or internet connection, governmental interference, civil commotion, riot, acts of terrorism, Denial of Service (DoS) or Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, war, strikes, labor disturbance, transportation difficulties, labor shortage, acts or omissions of other common carriers, or any cause beyond the reasonable control of AvaCon. In the event of such cancellation, AvaCon’s liability will be limited to refunding any fee paid by each registrant.

ADMISSION

AvaCon shall have sole control over admission policies at all times, and it retains the right to refuse registration or eject any participant (including, but not limited to registrants, speakers and/or exhibitors) at any time during the OpenSimulator Community Conference.

INDEMNIFICATION

You agree to indemnify, defend and hold AvaCon, Inc., and their officers, directors, agents, employees, volunteers, affiliates, successors, assigns, and subsidiaries harmless from any claim, expense or demand, including without limitation reasonable attorneys’ fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of your breach of this Agreement, or your violation of any law or the rights of a third party. Additionally, you agree that the AvaCon, Inc. will not be liable in any way for the accuracy, reliability, or quality of any claim you make at the OpenSimulator Community Conference.

GOVERNING LAW

You acknowledge and agree that this Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Massachusetts, excluding conflict of laws provisions. You hereby submit to exclusive jurisdiction in the federal and state courts of Massachusetts, and you agree to expressly waive any claim of improper venue and any claim that such courts are an inconvenient forum.

GENERAL

AvaCon, Inc. reserves the right to make such additional conditions, rules, and regulations as it deems necessary to enhance the success of the OpenSimulator Community Conference. Any participant (including, but not limited to registrants, speakers and/or exhibitors) agrees to abide by the Code of Conduct and other applicable policies and guidelines of the OpenSimulator Community Conference as written and updated at the conference website at https://conference.opensimulator.org/2014.

If any provision of this Agreement is held to be invalid or unenforceable, such provision shall be struck and the remaining provisions shall be enforced. Section headings are for reference purposes only and in no way define, limit, construe or describe the scope or extent of such section.

Should AvaCon, Inc, fail to act with respect to a breach by you or others, any such failure does not waive its right to act with respect to subsequent or similar breaches.

This Agreement sets forth the entire understanding and agreement between us with respect to the subject matter thereof. The provisions of this Agreement will survive termination or expiration to the extent necessary to carry out the intentions of the parties.