Meeting Policies

Health and Safety

The Society for Developmental Biology (SDB) strongly encourages meeting participants to be vaccinated for COVID-19. The Centers for Disease Control lists authorized vaccines by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and those authorized by the WHO. SDB recommends participants wear a mask while in the meeting space. The Society will follow health and safety recommendations from the CDC and local authorities. This policy will be modified as needed based on local conditions.

Cancellation Policy

Meeting registration cancellation with partial refund must be requested in writing BEFORE August 10, 2023, by email to sdb@sdbonline.org, with “WCSDB 2023 Meeting cancellation” as subject title.  A processing fee equivalent to 30% of the registration fee will be charged.

If the Meeting pivots to a virtual meeting, registration fees will be applied toward registration for the virtual meeting. If the meeting is cancelled, the full registration fee will be returned to each registrant.

Code of Conduct

The Society for Developmental Biology supports an environment for the exchange of scientific ideas that is grounded in dignity and respect for all program participants.  The Society understands that a diverse, inclusive and collegial community culture promotes scientific creativity and progress, and it endeavors to adhere to this culture in all its educational, outreach, conference and awards activities.

No Harassment Policy

Program participants are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and to treat each other with respect.  This expectation applies to the Board of Directors, other volunteers, members, event attendees, employees, consultants, vendors, and others while at the Society office, while representing the Society elsewhere, and while attending events organized by the Society.

Program participants shall not engage in any behavior that interferes with another's ability to participate fully in the Society's activities.  In particular, program participants shall not make unwelcome sexual advances, make requests for sexual favors, or engage in other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual or offensive nature.

No Violence Policy

The Society has adopted a policy of “zero-tolerance” with respect to violence in the Society office, while representing the Society elsewhere, and while attending events organized by the Society.  The Society prohibits acts or threats of violence by any program participant.  In addition, the Society will not tolerate acts or threats of violence against program participants.

Reporting

If a program participant discovers any conduct which they believe violates this policy or is otherwise detrimental to the Society, they are asked to promptly report it to the Executive Director, Ida Chow.

Meeting Photography/ Videography Policy

Photography and video recording of scientific presentations using any device, are prohibited without the explicit consent of the author(s) and presenter(s).

Tweeting Policy

We invite you to share your WCSDB 2023 Annual Meeting experience by live tweeting! Please note, however, that tweeting of raw data presented at the conference and of photos of presenters' slides is prohibited without specific consent of the author. Meeting attendees may tweet generalities or publicly available information (e.g., talk titles, names of speakers, events and socials). Individuals who do not comply will be removed from the session.