An annual gathering of nerdy friends
Policies
Camp Nerdly has several policies designed to protect the mental and physical well-being of all attendees that all attendees must agree to in order to participate. If you have questions or comments about any of these. please contact us.
Learn more about:
Camp Nerdly Code
Camp Nerdly is a place for gamers of all stripes to play together and work together. It is a place for joy, friendship, and peace. It is not a place for grudges, squabbles, or trouble.
All campers will be expected to live up to the following code:
You will have a job at Camp Nerdly, as will everyone else. You should be happy to perform this service in order to help your fellow campers have a good time, and should do this service well.
Sometimes issues come up and extra help is needed. If you see somewhere help is needed, you should be proactive and step up to help. If someone asks you for help, you should be happy to give it.
Everyone is responsible for fun at Camp Nerdly. You should come ready to run a game for other people.
Games and the outdoors are great for young people, and they are encouraged to come. However, people under 16 must be under the supervision of their parents or a guardian at all time for safety’s sake, and to help everyone have fun. They are still considered campers, and should follow the Code.
Camp Nerdly is a place to have your senses fully engaged. You are outdoors, with friends, playing fun games. Because of this (and park regulations), no alcohol or drugs are allowed at Camp Nerdly. We realize some people smoke and/or vape nicotine, and they are asked to only do that in the designated area (the parking lot.)
People can have issues with each other, and you are expected to keep them to a minimum and deal with them in a mature manner. If an issue comes up, and outside resolution is needed, you are expected to ask a member of the Owlbear Council to help.
If you break the Code, you bear responsibility. You will be asked to fix any problem you made, and any member of the Owlbear Council can ask you to leave the camp. If asked to leave, you will not get a refund.
COVID Policy
COVID-19 VACCINATION IS MANDATORY WITH NO EXCEPTIONS
People are more important than games.
Vaccination has proven to be the most potent weapon in the fight to reclaim our lives with COVID-19. On every level, from fighting infection to reducing hospitalization, it is the only weapon in our arsenal that lets us do the things we love while also saving lives.
Camp Nerdly is a vaccination required event, and proof of vaccination will be required to attend. Vaccination status will be requested in advance and proof will be required at the door. (We may explore a way to allow people to submit proof in advance, but this is going to be limited by our lack of ability to securely handle personal medical data online.) You will not be checked in or allowed to attend any portion of the event if you do not show proof of vaccination. This decision is not up for discussion.
While we recognize there are some rare people who cannot get vaccinated for medical reasons and others who choose not to for a variety of other reasons, we cannot put those individuals or anyone else at-risk just to attend a festival. If you are not vaccinated and want to be part of Camp Nerdly, we encourage you to get vaccinated as soon as possible to meet our vaccination requirements.
Proof of vaccination must show you have received all necessary doses of one of the 4 major internationally accepted vaccines (Pfizer, AstraZeneca, J&J or Moderna) more than 14 days before the event. Acceptable proof includes:
- A CDC vaccination card or equivalent from another national government, or photocopy/digital image of the same. Cards given to you by your provider at the time of vaccination are usually CDC issued. A clearly readable picture on your phone is sufficient.
- A digital record of vaccination from an official source, including the Minnesota Department of Health, New York’s Excelsior Pass, Hawaii’s Safe Travels system, California’s Digital COVID-19 Vaccine Record, and other state vaccine record systems.
- A printed or digital record from a retail pharmacy showing vaccination was completed and when
- A digital record of vaccination from Travel Pass or VeriFLY, the two airline-supported vaccine verification systems
The name on the proof of vaccination must match your registration and some other form of identification. All attendees are encouraged to self-select a badge name that will be used at the event; this does not need to match your ID, registration name, or the name you use to verify your vaccine status. This is to ensure everyone at Camp Nerdly can identify as they choose in our space and no one faces issues such as an ID containing a dead name being made public or a violation of privacy or safety. If you have any concerns about this, please say so in your registration and we will work with you to both protect your right to use the name of your choice and to ensure everyone at CN15 is fully vaccinated.
PLEASE RAPID TEST BEFORE LEAVING FOR CAMP, AND STAY HOME IF YOU ARE FEELING UNWELL!*
*Our camp nurse will have a supply of rapid tests on-site for those who develop symptoms.
Anyone who wants to wear a mask can do so regardless of guidelines or the requirements of the festival. No one will be judged for taking extra steps to protect their health and the health of others.
COVID TESTS ARE NOT REQUIRED TO ATTEND, BUT WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO TAKE ONE BEFORE TRAVELING TO CAMP NERDLY
Anti-Harassment Policy
Camp Nerdly is dedicated to providing a harassment free experience for everyone. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Attendees violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from the Camp Nerdly community at the discretion of the Camp Nerdly organizers. We also believe that every person is more important than the game they are participating in. People should take care of their needs without concern for that game, so long as no harassment occurs as part of this.
Everyone participating in the Camp Nerdly community — including, but not limited to Camp Nerdly, its Discord community, its forums, and the games organized therein — is required to agree to the following Code of Conduct. This includes all attendees, participants, volunteers, and members of the Owlbear Council.
Harassment includes but is not limited to: verbal comments that reinforce social structures of oppression related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, religion, as well as player experience with gaming and geek conventions. Other forms of harassment that will not be tolerated include: deliberate misgendering or use of ‘dead’ or rejected names, deliberate intimidation, stalking, harassing photography or recording, sustained disruption of games, physical contact and simulated physical contact (eg, textual descriptions like “hug” or “backrub”) without consent or after a request to stop, and unwelcome sexual attention. This list is not exhaustive of all possible harassing behaviors. Participants asked by any person to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately. Camp Nerdly prioritizes the safety, mental well-being, and physical well-being of it’s participants over anyone else’s comfort.
If a participant engages in harassing behavior, the Camp Nerdly organizers may take any action they deem appropriate, up to and including or expelling the offender from the event or space. Any individuals who are expelled for harassing behavior will not receive a refund and may be blocked from the Camp Nerdly community — including, but not limited to Camp Nerdly, its Discord community, its forums, and the games organized therein — in the future at the discretion of the organizers.
Mature games may include discussion, description, or images related to sex, pornography, discriminatory language, or similar. Such games will be explicitly identified by the game organizer as including mature themes, both before sign-ups occur and at the game’s initial introduction, and the organizers of such games will be encouraged to employ safety techniques during game play. Camp Nerdly organizers are willing to introduce and train people on these techniques. Every effort will be taken to ensure that attendees may avoid games containing content they do not wish to deal with.
If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please speak with a Camp Nerdly organizer as soon as it is safe to do so. At Camp Nerdly, organizers will be recognizable by their name tags. In each online community, Camp Nerdly organizers will be accessible. Organizers can be reached by email at campnerdly@gmail.com, or by using this form.
Camp Nerdly organizers will be happy to help participants contact authorities, provide escorts, or otherwise assist those experiencing harassment to feel safe for the duration of camp and within the online community. We want everyone to enjoy their weekend and Camp Nerdly Online spaces!
General questions and concerns can be sent via this contact form.
Important telephone numbers:
- Prince William Forest Park: (703) 221-4706
- Prince William Emergency Number: (866) 677-6677
- For Medical or Police Emergencies, dial 911.
- Yellow Cab, Serving Triangle, VA: (703) 491-2222
This policy was based on the existing XOXO Community Code of Conduct, which is itself based on resources provided by Geek Feminism, and borrows heavily from similar open source policies authored by JSConf AU and Django.
This policy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. We encourage other events to adopt (and enforce) similar policies by using and remixing ours.
Guiding Principles
In accordance with our Code of Conduct, all members of our community shall function within the following principles:
Camp Nerdly strives to create an inclusive, safe, fun, and engaging intentional community for all gamers. It is the goal of this community to encourage a safe, inclusive, and healthy space for all gamers. It is a space for discourse, conversation, support, and care for one another.
Be a good citizen. Being a good citizen means being a positive, supportive, and kind person in the Nerdly community. Good citizens do their best to avoid hurting others, they are conscientious of the space they’re occupying, and they try to ensure they are being inclusive of everyone. Good citizens do not deliberately hurt each other, participate in offensive or derogatory behavior, or make offensive or harmful comments or jokes. All good citizens act within the framework of The Nerdly Code, our inclusivity guidelines and our anti-harassment policy.
Pitch in. Camp Nerdly is run by those who show up. If you see a problem, if someone has taken on a chore that’s too big, or if you just have a question, then lend a hand and help out.
Always assume best intentions. Assuming best intentions means believing that people are speaking and acting with their best intentions at heart. This means when someone says or does something, you try to see it in the best possible light.
Act with integrity and kindness. While it’s important to be heard and share our opinions, it’s just as important to keep our community a positive, safe space. Do your best to act with kindness, maintain your personal and community integrity, and to ensure that you’re helping create a safe and inclusive environment. By upholding our values with kindness, we can continue to be supportive of one another.
Maintain a safe(r) space. While we play games for fun, some content in games and some comments by gamers may be felt to be offensive or exclusionary. It’s important to try to forge an inclusive and safe space at our gaming tables. To do so, all our games use an X-Card or other safety tool during play to help encourage safe gaming. We also recommend that every game has a tone conversation. For more information on these tools, refer to the Camp Nerdly website or ask a member of the Owlbear Council for tools to create and maintain this kind of play.
GAMING GUIDELINES
All members of our community shall function within the following guidelines:
- Respect player pronouns and character pronouns
- Practice regular check-ins for enthusiastic consent of game content
- Respect player autonomy