Code of Conduct

This code applies to members, partners, directors, officers, staff, volunteers, invited guests, speakers and sponsors, in every setting the Club runs: events and delegations, the member portal, the matchmaking engine, the referral programme and any channel the Club operates.

It also applies to conduct outside those settings where that conduct affects the safety of a member or the standing of the Club.

Do business straight. Represent your company, your role and your mandate accurately, and honour the commitments you make to other members.

Treat people with respect, including when you disagree, and including with the Club's staff, venue staff and suppliers.

Respect confidences. What is said in a private roundtable stays there unless the participants agree otherwise.

Take no for an answer. A declined introduction, a declined meeting or a declined offer is the end of it.

Harassment in any form, including unwanted sexual attention or physical contact, comments that demean a person on the basis of nationality, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age or disability, intimidation, stalking and persistent unwanted contact.

Misrepresenting your identity, your company, your financial position or your authority to contract.

Using the Club's directory, events or introductions to send unsolicited bulk messages, to recruit for a scheme, or to solicit on behalf of a business the Club has not admitted.

Passing another member's confidential information to a third party, or using an introduction to circumvent the member who made it.

Retaliating against anyone who reports a breach of this code in good faith.

Club events are business settings. Alcohol is served at some of them; behaviour that would not be acceptable sober is not acceptable after a drink.

Photography and filming happen at Club events. If you do not want to appear, tell the organiser at registration or on the day and we will keep you out of the frame.

Follow the instructions of the Club's organisers and of the venue's staff. The organiser may ask a person to leave an event.

Report a breach to any director or officer of the Club, or in writing to legal@lvbbc.org. At an event, the organiser on site can act immediately.

Say what happened, when, who was involved and what you would like to see happen. You may report on behalf of someone else with their agreement.

Reports are handled discreetly. We share what is reported only with the people who need it to respond, and we tell you before we widen that circle.

The President, or another director where the President is involved, reviews the report and decides what immediate step is needed to keep people safe.

The person concerned is told the substance of what is alleged and is given a reasonable opportunity to respond, except where an immediate step is needed first.

The Club may take any measure proportionate to what it finds: a private warning, exclusion from an event, suspension of access to the matchmaking engine, or suspension or termination of membership.

The Club records its decision and the reasons for it, and tells the person who reported the outcome as far as it properly can.