General Event Information
15th - 17th September 2023, The Leonardo Royal Hotel, Broad Street Birmingham, UK
This page forms part of the Terms and Conditions of Fantasycon 2023. Buying a ticket or attending the event is considered acceptance of these terms. If you are not happy with any of these, please contact us to discuss.
This page is quite long and includes a lot of information. We have added a navigation list to take you any particular section, but we do recommend that you read it through at least once before attending the event.
For easy reference please click to find the section you are interested in:
Hotel
The event is taking place on the first floor of the Leonardo Royal Hotel, Birmingham (formally the Jurys Inn).
If you wish to stay at the Leonardo Royal for the duration of the event (or even days before or after) please book this with the hotel itself.
If you prefer a different Hotel, there are a variety very nearby.
We have agreed with the hotel that we can have a private bar in the convention function rooms open from 11am till midnight each day (closing earlier on Sunday) serving alcoholic and soft drinks.
The function room layout will essentially be the same as 2021 (with additional rooms for the bar area) and hopefully the reading room position adjusted to allow for less noise. The dealers room will be the same.
Dealers options can be booked here.
The hotel phone number is: 0121 6069000 and website: https://www.leonardohotels.co.uk/hotels/birmingham
Timing
The event is Friday 15th - 17th September.
Activities run from midday on Friday until 6pm on Sunday.
Event Registration and dealers room opening is intended to be from 12 noon on Friday with panels and readings starting from mid afternoon. Activities are intended to start from 10am on Saturday and Sunday. Social activities are intended to continue late into the night on Friday and Saturday, we expect the event to end by 5 or 6pm on the Sunday.
The Private Bar will be open from 11am Friday - Sunday.
Getting to the Venue
The venue is in the Birmingham Clean Air Zone - https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/info/20076/pollution/1763/a_clean_air_zone_for_birmingham/3
The hotel car park is a multistorey off Berkeley Street at the back of the hotel. It has a height limit of 1.7m.
The hotel is less than 1 mile from Birmingham New Street Station.
Directions and car park charges can be found on their website: https://www.leonardohotels.co.uk/hotels/birmingham/map
On Arrival
Check in at Fantasycon Registration Desk for your Event Badge. Anyone found in the event spaces during the event without their Event Badge will be asked to leave, so try not to lose it.
To check in, just let the person on the desk know your name (or the name of the person who made the booking).
If you have booked a hotel room, please check in at the main hotel reception, if you need assistance to check in at the hotel reception (as it is up some stairs) and the hotel staff do not notice, do ask a redcloak to assist with this.
Alternative Accommodation
There are a variety of Hotels in Birmingham, including a Travelodge on the same road.
Venue Accessibility Information
The front entrance of the Hotel has a ramp to the front door.
The hotel reception itself is up some stairs in the lobby, but staff are very happy to come to you if needed. If you need assistance, one of the redcloak volunteers can be found on the first floor.
We are using the hotel Function Rooms which are all on the first floor, accessed via two large lifts.
The Hotel bar, restaurant and coffee shop are all on the ground floor with a flat (no steps) entrance.
All of the bedrooms are accessible from the lift (no steps) and the hotel says they have accessible rooms, but these do not have walk in showers. please do check if the rooms meet your specific requirements. Other hotels nearby might have facilities that suit your needs if this one does not.
The car park is a few minutes walk away on paved streets, there is limited ground floor parking and a multistory car park accessed by stairs.
The restaurant serves food that is Gluten free, Vegetarian and Vegan as standard, but say they can cater to other allergies and dietary requirements on request. We always recommend letting the server know if you have an allergy, even if the item is listed as not containing that allergen.
There are a variety of shops and restaurants nearby if you prefer to eat elsewhere.
Please do get in touch with us admin@hwsevents.co.uk if you have any questions or directly with the hotel if it is about their facilities.
Access Policy
In Person Panel/Talks/Programme Rooms
• We aim to have at least one wheelchair/scooter space marked in each programme room and that the layout has space for a mobility scooter to manoeuvre.
• We aim to have seating in any area where there is likely to be queueing and a volunteer to ensure that those who need to sit are still able to access the
activity/panel.
• We aim to mark some seats as reserved for those who need to sit or who need to be in a specific area e.g., close to the front for sight or hearing, and close to the back for anxiety or other needs.
• If we use staging or platforms we will ensure ramped access.
• We will use microphones for speeches, readings and panels.
• We will look at the need for a t-loop depending on demand and available budget.
Scooters
• We aim to have mobility scooters available, depending on the provision in the town or city the venue is in. This will need to be prebooked by contacting us via email. We may ask you to contribute to the costs of this.
Hotels
• There will be a lift to the function rooms (if they are not on the ground floor).
• We aim to provide a map and signage at the venue to aid navigation.
Publications’ Format
• We aim to ensure that publications, particularly program information is available online in a variety of formats.
• Large print may be available, particularly for program information, but it is likely to be impractical for the souvenir guide to be available in other formats. Please let us know if you would like this via email.
In Person Social Spaces
• We aim to have seats in all social spaces and space for mobility scooters to manoeuvre.
Scent
• We ask all of our attendees to refrain from applying scented products while in the convention spaces, including in the toilets. It is fine to wear scented products, but please apply them in your own hotel room or outside.
Gender Neutral Toilets
• We aim to have at least one toilet that is designated gender neutral, but it is dependent on the venue to allow this.
• We do not police who uses which bathroom and expect our attendees not to do so either. We expect people to use the bathroom that makes them comfortable and respect others need for privacy. We also understand that young children or others who need assistance will need to be in the same facility as the person assisting them.
Invisible Conditions
• We recognise that not all conditions are visible and trust our attendees to make their needs known without having to disclose medical information or “proof”. This means that we do not use a visible badge or sticker to indicate access needs.
Allergies & Food
• We do not intend to introduce known allergens to the venue without being clear to our attendees. If you have an allergy (food or
otherwise) or dietary requirement and would like this information passed on to launch organisers or to the hotel, we are happy to do this. If the allergy relates
to your hotel bedroom or included breakfast rather than the function rooms, we ask that you contact the hotel directly. Please let us know on the registration form or by emailing us.
• We will ask for food allegen information if you book the banquet and will share this information with hotel staff.
Communication
• We aim to provide pronoun stickers, but to make them optional.
• We will look at the need for interpreters in British Sign Language, depending on the demand and available budget. If this would be helpful for you, then please do email us.
Alcohol
• We will ask that any time alcohol or food is available there should be a soft drink option as well. This will apply to parties and launches.
Covid
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We do not have a mandatory masking/tests/vaccine policy. We would ask that if you feel unwell or have symptoms at the time of the event that you not attend.
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We would ask that you bring masks and consider wearing them in crowded rooms or where distance is not possible. We would ask you to be considerate of other who may want space and may not be comfortable with physical contact e.g. hugging. We would ask that you support those who would prefer to wear masks/distance and be respectful of their needs.
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We firmly believe that vaccination (for those who can) is the best thing to do and testing, where possible, is helpful.
General
• If you need anything else that we have no mentioned here please do contact us and let us know; admin@hwsevents.co.uk
Audio / Video Recording
We may choose to record content, such as podcasts, panels and audio/video recording. This is intended to be broadcast via the internet. It is not intended to record private conversations, but any loud comments, questions asked or noise close to microphones (which will not be hidden) may be recorded and broadcasted. Any session being recorded will ideally be noted in the programme, panelists consent will be sought and the room will have a sign. By taking part in these sessions, asking questions or making recordable noise you are giving consent to the recording and broadcast of this.
Harassment Policy & Refusal of Entry
The Harrassment policy does not seek to replace or restate the Equality Act 2010, but sets out the specific conditions for our event.
HWS reserve the right to refuse entry to anyone for any reason. In this case we do intend to let you know the reason for refusing entry.
If you have booked a ticket and we decide to refuse you entry prior to the event we will refund your ticket price (this may be minus the booking fee).
No reselling tickets or products. If we think you are buying tickets or products for resale we reserve the right to refuse entry to anyone with those tickets. Tickets may only be transferred with permission from HWS. If we discover at the event itself that tickets have been resold we will refuse entry and will not give a refund. We would support anyone fraudulently sold tickets or products if they wish to take legal action to reclaim their costs from the seller. If we suspect in advance that tickets have been bought and resold or with the intention of reselling we will cancel the tickets or product and refund the costs minus the booking fee and an admin fee at our discretion.
Fantasycon is dedicated to providing a safe and comfortable convention experience for everyone.
In order to offer a welcoming and safer space for everyone, we require participants to be respectful of all others and their space, be that physical or social.
Harassment includes (but is not limited to):
Offensive verbal comments about gender, sexuality, impairment, physical appearance, body size, race class/economic status or religion.
Racist behaviour
Showing sexual images in public spaces.
Discussions or images related to sex, pornography, discriminatory language or similar is permitted if it meets all of the following criteria: organisers have specifically granted permission; it is necessary to the topic of discussion and no alternative exists; it is presented in a respectful manner; and attendees are warned in advance in the programme and respectfully given ample warning and opportunity to leave beforehand. This exception does not allow use of gratuitous sexual images as attention-getting devices (such as clothing or costumes in the dealers’ room) or unnecessary presentation or panel examples.
Intimidation, stalking or following.
Sustained disruption of talks or other events.
Uninvited physical contact and/ or uninvited sexual attention.
Symbols or images that the event organisers deem offensive. This could include t-shirt design and posters.
Participants must not engage in harassment at any convention venue or convention-related social event at any time. Participants asked to stop any harassing behaviour are expected to comply immediately. This includes not only anyone involved in the incident, but any onlookers contributing to the disruption. As a general rule, practicing common sense in physical and social interactions with strangers will ensure everyone has a comfortable convention experience.
This policy covers everyone involved with the convention. This includes all participants, event organisers, Guests of Honour, volunteers, dealers or anyone present at the convention at that person’s request. Paying membership at the convention is not required to be subject to the policy.
What should I do if I am being harassed?
In some cases you may find the harassment stops if you clearly say ‘no’ or ‘please leave me alone’, or simply walk away. We would appreciate it if a volunteer was still informed to help us identify any repeat offenders.
If you continue to be harassed or notice someone else being harassed, please contact a Redcloak immediately. The volunteers will help participants contact venue security or law enforcement, provide escorts, or otherwise assist those experiencing harassment to feel safe during the con. The first convention volunteer or organiser you report to will take whatever steps they can to assist you in feeling safe, and will put you in contact with or bring you to an appropriate member of the event organising team. We value your attendance.
You do not have to give us details of the harassment, and can choose whether or not to take a formal report. If you wish to report, we will take details of the harassment and work with you to respond to the issue in a way that assists you in feeling safe and maintains the safety of the wider convention environment, as well as enforcing our anti-harassment policy. If you report a serious criminal matter, please be aware that we may be obliged to contact the police. We would however take into account any concerns you may have around involving them.
If you would like to discuss the harassment without making a report, we will help you meet with the designated member of the event organising team. Please bear in mind that this is for informal emotional support only; our volunteers don’t have counselling training, and we can’t promise confidentiality. You can access this service by contacting any convention volunteer.
Our convention volunteers are called Redcloaks, and can be easily identified by their red hi-vis vests or red, branded tops. Any one of them can be your first point of contact. The volunteer may need to involve another member of the team to assist with your issue.
HWS reserve the right to take any action they deem appropriate, including: issuing the offender with a warning if, in the determination of the event organiser and/or the person reporting the incident, the incident is considered accidental or minor; making an internal note of the incident to document repeat offending; making a formal report of the incident available to volunteers, the event organising team or all convention participants at the discretion of the event organiser; contacting hotel security; contacting law enforcement; removing the offender from the convention with no refund; and reporting the offender’s behaviour to other conventions, the British Fantasy Society or regulatory organisations.
In order to make FantasyCon a safe event, be aware of this harassment policy, of using non-oppressive language, and of boundaries. Assist others: if you see someone being harassed or appearing uncomfortable, ask if they are okay.
HWS and the British Fantasy Society reserve the right to refuse entry to their event for any reason, while abiding by the terms of the Equality Act. Reasons for refusal may include behaviour at other conventions, online, via email or messages that have made other feel uncomfortable or harassed.
If you are concerned about someone who is, or you think might be, attending Fantasycon, please contact HWS.
Complaints can also be reported to the Chair of the British Fantasy society should this be preferable.
If you have been refused entry to any previous HWS events (formally or informally) then you are likely to be refused entry and your booking fee will not be refunded (the ticket price will be).
If have been involved in litigation against HWS (or its members) or they have had cause to take you to court, then you are likely to be refused entry and your booking fee will not be refunded (the ticket price will be). This is not intended to include written complaints sent to HWS or constructive criticism, unless those complaints are pursued in a way that could be construed as harassment.
If you are unsure for any reason please do contact us to confirm.
Nothing in these terms and condition is intended to be used to contravene the Equality Act or other UK law.
Privacy and Data Protection Policy
We use electronic methods to store your records. We also add your name and email address (but no other details) to a mailing list on MailChimp. If you wish to be removed from the mailing list then you can unsubscribe at any time by either following the instructions on the email itself or by contacting us directly. We use this mailing list to let you know about future events and to ensure you and we have all the information needed to ensure you get the most out of the event you have signed up for.
Our website and purchasing method is hosted by Wix.com and payments are taken by Stripe.com. Please see their websites for privacy policies.
If you breach the harassment policies we are concerned about your behaviour or you are banned or asked to leave from our events, this information will be shared with the British Fantasy Society and may then be shared with future organisers of Fantasycon. This is not something we do lightly or maliciously.
If the hotel charges us for any additional items that directly relate to you or your behaviour (for example a missing item from the room you were staying in), we will pass on your contact details to allow the hotel to pursue you for the costs of this and/or pursue these costs ourselves.
If there is an criminal activities that you are (suspected to be) involved with (for example theft or drug taking) we reserve the right to pass your details to the hotel, police or other law enforcement agencies.
Other than these organisations (for the reason stated here) we do not pass your personal details (eg Name, address, bank details, email etc) on to any third party. We are confident that that the hotel and mailchimp will also not share your data further.
We do however reserve the right to share event statistics with third parties. By event statistics we mean things like number of people attending the event or an activity, the number of attendees from particular countries or even an estimate of demographics (can only be an estimate as we don’t ask for much demographic information at booking). However these statistics would be without personal details (eg names etc.)
We will update this information if there are any changes that might be relevant.
If for any reason your are worried about this issue or feel there has been a breach of your privacy, please contact us to let us know via emailing admin@hwsevents.co.uk
Food and Drink
There is a Private bar in the function room suite on the first floor. This will be open from 11am on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. On the ground floor there is bar, coffee shop and two restaurants at the hotel. The second restaurant, in addition to the main hotel restaurant, is an Indian restaurant. There are also a variety of pubs and restaurants on Broad Street.
Fantasycon 2023 Banquet options.
The Banquet will be served on Saturday evening and will be followed, in the same room, as the Awards Ceremony.
If you would like to attend, please purchase a ticket for the banquet and choose your menu options.
Starters:
Char grilled vegetables with buffalo mozzarella & aged balsamic vinegar (V)
Fresh water prawns with crisp baby gem and a paprika smoked lemon cream
Cantaloupe melon with red wine balsamic marinated berries (V)
Mains:
Risotto of oven roasted butternut squash with a roquette pesto (V)
Roast chicken breast with crushed new potatoes & sweet shallots and a red wine jus
Roast suckling pig with pomme fondant & a sage and apple jus
Dessert:
Tart au citron with a wild berry jam
Raspberry pavlova with crème Chantilly
Chocolate parfait with a blueberry jam
Children
Children are very welcome at our event. However we don’t have a lot of content specifically aimed at kids.
Children under 4yrs are free. Child memberships are for people under 16yrs old.
Children under 16yrs must be accompanied by an adult who will be responsible for their behaviour at the event. Please do not leave children who are taking part in an activity, our volunteers cannot look after your children for you.
We suggest that you put your name and mobile number on the back of your child’s badge (particularly young children) so if they lose you we can help. The venue is not huge, but can be a bit maze like…
Given the media fuss about breast feeding, we would just like to say that we are fine with you breast feeding a baby anywhere at our convention.
Age Restricted Activities
We have some activities that are not suitable for under 18’s. These will be clearly marked on the programme. If you are under 18, or are with someone under 18, please do not attend, or allow them to attend, these activities.
There are bara at the venue, we are not restricting access to the rooms where the bars are, but obviously the purchase of alcohol is restricted by law. If you look under 18 or are close to that age we recommend that you bring some ID if you wish to be served alcohol. Service of alcohol is entirely at the discretion of the hotel/its staff.
Night Time
As it gets later in the evening some people are likely to want to go to bed. Please be considerate with your noise levels in the residential areas of the hotel in particular.
Photography
If you wish to take a photo of an individual please ask for consent before doing so. Not asking may be considered harassment (see below).
If you wish to take a photo of a child (16 and under), then the consent for photos, hugs etc, must come from the parent/guardian as well as the child itself. While taking photos of children with consent is fine, please do not post these on the internet without consent from the parent/guardian of the child. This applies to photos where the child is the subject rather than crowd scenes or shots with children in the background. You should not post names or contact details of a child on the internet without written consent from a parent/guardian.
Taking photos of general crowd scenes, panels and talks is fine, but if you post these to the internet and someone in the photo asks for it to be removed, please do so.
Official Photography
We may have an official photographer at the event. They will be clearly identified as such. They will be taking both crowd and individual photos. If you do not wish for your photograph to be used for publicity purposes please let us know or if you see an official photo online that you are in and do not want displayed, please contact us to get it removed.
Audio Recording
There are various activities planned, such as podcasts, panels and audio recordings, where we will be recording audio content. This is intended to be broadcast via the internet either on the day or following. It is not intended to record private conversations, but any loud comments, questions asked or noise close to microphones (which will not be hidden) may be recorded and broadcasted. Please assume the content of any talk / panels / Q&As are being recorded. By taking part in these sessions or making recordable noise you are giving consent to the recording and broadcast of this.
Dealers and Sponsorship
Please see details on the Fantasycon Dealers Page for options to book this.
All of the dealers are in the same room which will be locked when not in use.
The hotel has its own car park .
There is free wifi throughout the venue, there are power sockets in the room. but do let us know if you need this so we can ensure an appropriate extension lead is available if required.
A list of confirmed dealers will go up on our website.
Redcloaks and Volunteer Crew
Please be respectful to/about our Redcloaks and HWS Volunteer crew. They have given up their time to make your event enjoyable.
If you are rude or unpleasant to our Redcloaks/volunteer crew you may be asked to leave the event and not return. No refund will be offered in these circumstances. This becomes a more likely scenario if the person does not cooperate with (or are rude to) the team who are dealing with this issue.
Venue / Hotel Staff / Property
Please be respectful to the staff at the venue, they are just doing their job. If there is a problem please see our complaints procedure below or ask the hotel staff to assist you or explain their complaints procedure.
We may like to use the venue again in the future, for this or other events. If we are unwelcome at the venue as a result of your behaviour, you may find that you are unwelcome at our future events. Unwelcome behaviour towards staff may be considered harassment and dealt with under the policy above. If the hotel themselves are unhappy with your behaviour they may ask you to leave their venue.
If you damage or remove hotel property then we will pass the costs of this on to you.
Drugs, smoking, alcohol intoxication
Please do not smoke in any part of the building.
Please do not bring illegal substances to Fantasycon, anyone found in possession of such items will be reported to the police.
If you are drunk/intoxicated by any means and not in control of yourself you will be asked to either return to your room (if you are staying overnight) or to leave the event. If you do not comply with the request we may feel it appropriate to involve the police.
Complaints
If you have any issue prior or after the event please contact us via email admin@hwsevents.co.uk if you have any concerns on the day, please ask a Redcloak to put you in touch with a member of the HWS Crew or Karen who will do their best to resolve the issue.
If you have any complaints or concerns about the Venue/Hotel/Staff please talk to Karen at HWS, in the first instance, rather than complaining to the hotel staff or the event crew. This allows us to check if the issue is something that we can directly resolve, if it is within our agreement with the hotel and to know if an issue affects more than one attendee. We also hope this reduces any stress for yourself.