Throughout this last year, our Culture Shift Help Desk talked to a variety of event organizers in games professional and social spaces about safety and accessibility of in-person party spaces. For many, one catalyst of their interest in reevaluating their policies and practices came from the spotlight on multiple instances of non-consensually drugged, spiked, or roofied drinks at GDC parties in 2023. 

For us, this felt like an opportunity to illuminate the larger contexts of sexual and gender-based violence in games industry spaces, through the lens of what happens at parties and social networking events. After all, we know that drink spiking, groping, sexual harassment, sexual assault, and oppression-based discrimination has been standard fare at many industry and conference spaces for a long time. 

These conversations offered so much insight on all sides around how harm is happening at parties, what it takes to put on a party, and what works and why. While we can’t capture the nuance and personal stories of those conversations here, we wanted to publicly document and share some of the recommendations we came to throughout this process.

Alcohol

Having drinks at a party is often intended to be tasty and fun. Of course, having alcohol at an event can also make some people feel uncomfortable for a large range of reasons. A few accommodations that can dampen the effects of lowered inhibitions and social exclusion can look like having

• Easy and plentiful access to water in every area of the venue.
• Snacks and food available. They should be equally (if not more) accessible than the drinks; if you have free drinks, have free food. Having multiple options that account for different dietary needs is recommended as well.
• Many non-alcoholic drink options that look and taste fun. Limiting the visual indicator of who is or isn’t drinking. 

It can also be worthwhile to consider the purpose of including alcohol in your events or parties. If it’s a networking event, perhaps the first couple of hours can be explicitly sober networking, while the remainder of the evening introduces alcohol, louder music, or a more party atmosphere. Or, maybe every other event or party you throw is completely sober with good refreshers and mocktails. Reducing the level to which alcohol is centered often makes party and social event spaces feel more accessible to women, people committed to sobriety, and people with sensory sensitivities.

Party Atmosphere

Loud music, crowded spaces, and low lighting can all help set a party mood. However it’s also worth considering some associated risks:

• Loud music and chatter means that people will lean in towards each other closer when talking, and folks are more likely to touch others in their communication with them.
• Dimly lit environments can embolden and cover up groping.
• Crowded spaces push bodies closer together and can also embolden or cover up groping. It can also add more confusion when something happens.

Adding some options within the party space can offer attendees more choice around how they want to interact with others. When considering venues, consider whether you could have a section or area with the music turned down or off, brighter lighting, and seating available.

Safety Team

One of the most effective ways to help attendees feel safe and to catch issues earlier rather than later is to have a team of sober people throughout the event, prepared with basic deescalation skills. The safety team acts as a visible reminder that safety is a priority at this party. 

For visibility, safety team members should wear something bright that can be seen from both the back and front. Some examples include a bright T-shirts, headbands, arm bands, bandanas tied around the arm or neck, light-up wrist bands. 

Key areas to station safety team members include by the door, near bathrooms, or by a step or staircase if they are present in the venue. Other safety team members can wander throughout the venue space, mingle and chat with others in light conversation, and check in on anyone who might look unwell or uncomfortable. 

Create clear guidelines on how safety team members should offer support when a guest approaches them with a concern. For example, if someone is feeling physically unwell, go with them to find a place to sit, get some fresh air, get water, or whatever else they may want or need. If they are needing urgent medical attention, ask for their consent to call for an ambulance (if they are able to give it), and find a lead event organizer.

If a guest feels uncomfortable or unsafe because of another party guest, offer emotional support for what they are experiencing. Ask them what would be supportive. If they don’t know, you can offer to 

• Stand or sit with them for a while so they’re not alone
• Get some fresh air outside together
• Approach the person/people involved in the situation and ask everyone to take a break from the interaction (if it’s ongoing)
• Speak directly with the person/people involved and share why others are feeling uncomfortable/unsafe.
• Bring them to speak with a lead event organizer about removing the guest. 

We recommend having at least one safety team member per 50 expected guests, with a minimum of two team members. We also strongly recommend that any event organizers who would likely be called in if a situation escalates remain sober throughout the party. 

Code of Conduct

Writing up a code of conduct gives you a chance to define the purpose and expectations of your party. In the case that something does happen, it also gives you something to reference as to why certain behaviors are a problem and unacceptable. It also empowers both bystanders and victims to speak up and name inappropriate behavior. 

Work with your team to determine what should be included in your event’s code of conduct. Some of our suggestions include the following:

• Respect personal space & boundaries. Practice ongoing consent in all interactions, including physical touch, topics of conversation, flirtation, drinking, etc. True consent must be voluntary, informed, & ongoing,
• There is alcohol at this event. They are meant to be tasty and fun. Do not tamper with others’ drinks. Be respectful of whether someone is choosing to drink; don’t offer to get someone a drink more than once unless they have requested you to do so. 
• Do not use discriminatory or exclusionary language and behavior, particularly to ridicule or stereotype race, ethnicity, gender, ability, or class. If someone expresses that you have done so, even if it was not your intention, apologize politely and ask whether there’s anything you can do to make it right. 

Be sure to mention how to visually recognize members of the safety team, and encourage people to talk to them if they feel uncomfortable, unwell, or unsafe for any reason. 

Your code of conduct should be shared on any event pages ahead of the event. It should also be presented upon entry. Posting them near the bathroom sinks and inside bathroom stalls gives folks a good reminder and opportunity to read them alone or at their own pace. 

Taking an additional step of requiring guests to sign a code of conduct (either printed out and stacked on clipboards or through a digital form) can also show that you are taking this seriously. We have also seen parties where folks are checked in in small groups, and each group is given a rundown of the code of conduct and how to find a safety team member; they must all listen and verbally affirm that they agree to those expectations before entering the space. This bypasses the challenge that “nobody reads” and prevents any guess from pleading ignorance when breaking a rule. 

Guest Lists

Depending on the vibe and purpose of your event, you may decide with your team how strict your guest list admissions policy should be. There are many considerations when it comes to RSVPs and last-minute admission and plus ones and etc. We don’t have a strong recommendation on those decisions; you should choose what makes the most sense for your event.

However, we do encourage the best practice of logging everyone who enters the door and whose +1 they are if they were invited by another guest. Having a record of who was actually in the room and how they connect to the web of relationships present is really helpful when you need to address harm or violations that happened during the event. Sometimes, people may not report an incident until the following days after the party is over, so having this list to reference makes it more possible to identify who may have been involved and how they were invited. 

If you are checking IDs at the door or keeping a more public guest list, be cognizant of circumstances where people may not be comfortable sharing their name or ID. Transgender people may use a different name than the legal name on their ID; undocumented folks may feel anxiety around presenting ID or providing the specific type of ID you require; stalking victims or publicly identifiable figures may not want folks to know that they are attending the party. Consider accepting different forms of ID (like conference badges) and allowing folks to register with a nickname, a non-legal name to be used on the list, while including a legal name for authentication purposes in a separate field. (And make sure whoever is working the door knows how to respectfully address and process their entry.)

Intentional Planning

Your team knows your party best. While we’ve covered a lot of general and common safety topics here, nothing will be as effective as consistently and intentionally planning events with safety and accessibility in mind. 

So, build it into your process. While preparing for an event, have a conversation with your team specifically about safety and accessibility.

• What concerns have come up in the past?
• What types of people feel very comfortable in our spaces?
• What types of people don’t show up or don’t seem very comfortable in our spaces?
• What are our worries? What are our hopes?

And then after each event, have a debrief with your team specifically about safety and accessibility.

• What did we notice during the event?
• Who showed up and who didn’t show up?
• What feedback did we receive from guests?
• What didn’t work?
• What do we want to try next time?

Consider what voices are on your team as well. Which demographics have multiple perspectives in the room? Which ones have none? Try to work towards including more marginalized perspectives in meaningful and ongoing ways – and in the meantime, you can hire consultants around race, disability, gender, queer identity, and more to improve the safety and accessibility of your events.

A Note on Testing Strips

When it comes to concerns around drink spiking, there are some items like test strips (or straws and nail polish that change color to indicate certain drugs present) and drink covers or lids that aim to respond to such threats. In our opinion, these are more reactive than proactive and put the onus on potential victims to “protect” themselves. 

Most survivors of date rape or drink spiking express that they could feel that something was wrong or off from early on, once they had ingested the tampered substance. But it can be a confusing and challenging situation to navigate socially, especially the more the drug starts affecting them. If you are worried about drink tampering at your party, our primary recommendations include

• Naming it. State directly ahead of the party and in your code of conduct that this behavior is unacceptable. Let folks know that this is a concern of yours so they can stay cognizant as well.
• Encourage people to believe and listen to their bodies. If they feel like something is off, ask them to please reach out to a safety team member, even if it might be nothing. State this anywhere you can.
• Empower folks to look out for each other. If you notice someone who looks unwell, check in on them, even if it seems awkward, or even if someone around them says they are taking care of them or everything is alright. State this anywhere you can.
• Make sure your safety team and the bartenders are aware that this is one of your concerns.

Testing strips and drink covers can also be somewhat expensive to buy in large volume. If your party has a limited budget, we recommend prioritizing hiring or training enough people for a safety team, a venue that offers options for a quieter, brighter space for a break, free food or snacks, and more planning time and work for the organizing team to consider safety concerns. With those covered, providing additional test strips or drink covers can help some people feel more safe, in control, and cared for as well. 

This is only the start

Most of these practices focus on risk reduction and intervention of harm that is happening or may happen. We know that it does not address the root issues that drive most sexual violence in our world – rape culture, toxic masculinity, silencing survivors, and oppressive systems of patriarchy, white supremacy, and more. That requires a deeper commitment of all of us to unlearn, undo, and set new norms around so much of what keeps marginalized people vulnerable and unjustly treated throughout our society. 

Still, taking small steps to help our communities feel safer, considered, and cared for is a worthwhile place to start, and a worthwhile thing to keep up even as we do that longer term work towards a world with less violence and violation.