The Museum Association of New York (MANY) is dedicated to providing a safe, inclusive, and welcoming conference experience for all participants. All attendees are expected to follow this Code of Conduct, which applies to all pre-conference workshops, concurrent sessions, special events, and capstone experiences.

Compliance with the Code of Conduct is expected from all conference participants; including, but not limited to, attendees, speakers, staff, organizers, contractors, volunteers, exhibitors, and sponsors.

Expected Behavior

MANY’s Annual Conference is committed to providing a positive and welcoming experience for all participants, regardless of age, race, ethnicity, nationality, ability, personal appearance, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, body size, sexual orientation, or any other distinguishing characteristic. Discrimination, harassment, aggression, or disrespectful behavior of any kind will not be tolerated during any conference event.

While participating in the Conference, all event participants, including attendees, presenters, sponsors, vendors, and staff will:

• Recognize that this event is a place where diversity of thought, organization, and individuals is celebrated, expected, and encouraged, and as such, respect and inclusivity should be extended to all.
• Remain positive, friendly, and welcoming to others.
• Be respectful of differing viewpoints and experiences.
• Be empathetic and offer any criticism in a constructive way.
• Gracefully accept constructive criticism.
• Do not engage in any discriminatory, harassing, aggressive, or exclusionary behavior or speech. If you see such behavior, report it to event staff immediately.

Unacceptable behavior

Discrimination and harassment includes, but are not limited to:

• Comments or actions that minimize a person’s experiences, identity, or safety.
• Deliberate misgendering or use of “dead” or rejected names.
• Deliberate “outing” of any person’s experiences or identity without their consent.
• Sustained disruption during sessions or other events or gatherings.
• Physical contact without consent or after a request to stop.
• Unwelcome sexual attention.
• Deliberate intimidation or stalking of any kind – in person or online.
• Collection (including unwanted selfies) or distribution of harassing photography or recordings.
• Threats or acts of violence.
• Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior.

Consequences of unacceptable behavior

This Code of Conduct is in place to protect the safety of all attendees and unacceptable behavior will not be tolerated. Anyone engaged in unacceptable behavior will be asked to stop the unacceptable behavior immediately and are expected to comply immediately. Anyone engaging in any of the behaviors outlined above may be subject to expulsion with no refund from the conference and related events, or exclusion from future events, at the sole discretion of event organizers.

How to report an incident

If you or someone else is being discriminated against or harassed, please report it to MANY as soon as possible.