Editor's Note: As noted in last week's Society Alert, the Society Alert is on hiatus this week during the Society's National Conference. In the interim, I am featuring noteworthy, recent Q&A (on an anonymous basis) from our invaluable Society Huddles.
Question: Does anyone have any language or insights on how to restrict use of cell phones at annual meetings to prohibit recording and/or photos being posted to social media during or after the meeting?
This question generated a lot of activity and many excellent answers, including:
- At our company's shareholder meetings, we pass out written Rules of the Meeting at the registration desk. One of the rules is that cell phones are not allowed in the meeting. We request participants to check their phones before entering the meeting. If someone were to take out their phone during the meeting, they would be escorted out of the meeting for violating the rules.
- At our annual meetings, we distribute Rules of Conduct at the registration table that include the following: "No cameras, audio or video recording equipment, communication devices or other similar equipment may be brought into the meeting." Our security team has enforced this rule without incident at our annual meetings.
- We display/distribute rules of conduct at our annual meetings, which includes the following verbiage: "Use of cameras and digital recording devices are prohibited during the meeting."
- We distribute an agenda and rules to attendees as they arrive. The rules include: "Cameras, communication or sound recording devices, signs, photographs and visual displays are not permitted in the meeting without the prior permission of the Company. The Company reserves the right to inspect bags and briefcases brought to the meeting. Cell phones and other communication devices should be turned off during the meeting."
- Part of our rules state: "The use of cameras, audio and/or video recording or broadcasting equipment and/or communication devices, or any other similar equipment, by any person other than [the Corporation] are prohibited without the advance written permission of [the Corporation.] Cell phones, iPhones, pagers and similar electronic devices should be silenced. Violators may be ejected from the meeting."
Access additional resources, including Sample Rules & Procedures in Appendix B of Latham's 2017 Annual Meeting Handbook posted in Basic Resources, on our Annual Meeting topical page.
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