Code of Conduct

CON.TXT strives to be a safe, welcoming, and enjoyable space for all attendees. We count on you to help create that space by respecting your fellow con-goers' physical and social boundaries, accessibility needs, and identities.

Before you touch people or their personal effects—including clothing, assistive devices, and service animals—make sure you have been invited to do so, verbally or nonverbally. Respect others' use of shared spaces: moderate your volume, your use of scent, and your physical distance, and always leave a clear path to the exit.

Before taking any photos or videos at CON.TXT, get explicit permission from anyone in those photos or videos. In the interests of promoting a safe space, no audio or video recording is permitted during panels.

Similarly, when speaking or writing publicly about the con, refer to con-goers by badge name only, especially in panel write-ups. During panel discussions, please state your badge name when you begin speaking so that people who cannot see your badge are able to identify who is speaking. Name badges are to be worn in con space at all times. Badge names should not include slurs or threatening language; if you register with an unacceptable badge name, the concom may require you to change it.

Be respectful in your language. If an attendee has specified their pronouns, use them. Do not use slurs or make derogatory remarks based on any aspect of a person's identity. If you have a problem with someone's behavior you are not under any obligation to deal with it yourself, but if you choose to, call out the action rather than the person.

In summary: seek and expect consent in all interactions. If you don't know whether someone wants your presence, conversation, or touch, ask them and respect their answer.

(Loosely adapted from the ReaderCon Code of Conduct)

Safety Policy

We want CON.TXT to be a safe space for all attendees. We expect all attendees, including concom and volunteers, to abide by the CON.TXT Code of Conduct. If you experience or witness behavior counter to the Code of Conduct, or any other activities of concern, please contact any member of the concom by email at safety@con-txt.net or at the con by approaching anyone in a purple sash. The concom will take all reports seriously. Members violating the code of conduct may be warned or asked to leave. Please note that CON.TXT is a private event, and we reserve the right to refuse admission to any participant at any time for any reason, with no refund of registration fees.

We will be sharing the hotel with other groups. The restrooms adjacent to con events are not reserved solely for our use and are labelled "Women" and "Men,” but a gender-neutral restroom in con space is available in the Upsuite.

The hotel’s front desk number is (703) 413-6630. Should you need to call 911 for an emergency during the con, the hotel's street address is 550 Army Navy Drive, Arlington, Virginia.

Accessibility Policy

We want CON.TXT to be an accessible space for all attendees. We commit to making the entire con natively accessible and to accommodating any specific requests we receive, subject to the limitations of our resources and venue.

All con events take place on a single floor of the hotel in rooms grouped closely together. The restrooms and hotel entrance are also located on this floor.

Parking, including handicap-accessible parking, is available at the hotel; however, it is expensive. Less expensive parking spaces will be farther away and may not be handicap-accessible. There are clear sidewalks and curb-cuts between the hotel and the nearby Metro station, as well as restaurants and a shopping center.

Seating is provided for all events. Certain areas will be reserved for people using wheelchairs or other mobility devices, and chairs can be moved as needed.

People with service animals should be aware that the hotel also allows pets, so there may be untrained animals on the premises. A reminder will be given to attendees on the difference between service animals and pets.

We will offer a wide range of food during the con events and provide ingredient information. Additionally, the hotel's rooms are all equipped with kitchens (including refrigerators, stoves, and cooking equipment) at no extra cost, and there are a range of grocery services available, including delivery.

For the vid show, a list of psychological and physical triggers in the vids to be shown will be made available before the show.

We are not able to offer ASL interpretation. However, if due to your disability you require your own ASL interpreter or personal aide to be able to fully participate in CON.TXT, we will allow them to attend panels and events with you without paying a registration fee. Please contact us at safety@con-txt.com about attaining a personal aide badge.

The con is not scent-free, but please be courteous to your fellow con-goers who may have sensitivities.

Online Privacy and Accessibility Policies

Everyone who participates in CON.TXT online events is subject to our Code of Conduct.

By registering for CON.TXT events, online or in-person, you affirm that you will be 18 years old on or before the day of the event.

While vidshows will be available to watch after the fact, panels must be attended live. CON.TXT does not permit any recording of members—audio, video, or photographs—without the permission of everyone in the recording. This policy extends to online events. In addition, you may not republish another person's written comments from the CON.TXT Discord or Zoom chat without the writer's express permission. You may paraphrase discussion or share unattributed “overheard” comments, but connecting someone's written or spoken comments with their name or social media handle without their express permission will be treated as a violation of this policy.

We have tried to make the CON.TXT online spaces as secure as is practical, but we cannot guarantee privacy to the degree we can in an offline space. We ask attendees to be especially respectful of each other’s names, pseudonyms, and personal information. Use one consistent badge name as your Zoom and Discord handle; use badge names when introducing yourself or referring to other congoers in Discord or Zoom chat or in Zoom meetings.

If during the convention you have concerns about your privacy, or about any other behaviour that contravenes the Code of Conduct—or that you’re concerned about for some other reason—you can get in touch with the Safety team. There will be a Safety volunteer on duty in the Discord server during all hours of scheduled programming during the convention. You can find them in the #safety channel. You can also ping all on-duty members of the safety team by typing @mods in any channel on Discord. You can also send an email to safety@con-txt.net.

CON.TXT strives to provide an accessible environment for all attendees, online as well as in person. We ask all attendees to help create this environment by following these guidelines for panel participation: Keep your microphone muted when you are not speaking.

If you have a question or comment, use the chat to raise your hand and wait to unmute until you are called on.

Moderators taking a high volume of questions and comments—for example, prompts for a game—may ask audience members to use the chat exclusively, and read selected comments aloud. If you are planning to use screen-sharing as a moderator, consider making any slides or handouts available for download before the panel starts.

Panels using screen-sharing are strongly encouraged to audibly describe the materials being shown, and all panels are encouraged to audibly describe any aspects of the panel that would not be apparent to someone participating via audio only.

(Adapted from the WisCONline Privacy and Safety policies.)