You Belong Here

Belong here. Be Yourself. We like it that way.

FFEA embraces everyone for who they are, where they come from, how they identify, what they look like, how old they are, who they love or their beliefs.

Our Association welcomes everyone as we promote and strengthen the festival, event and fair industry in Florida. The greater the mixture of voices represented and amplified in our Association, the more we will all contribute and receive, thrive and be brilliant as our best selves.

Bring all your lived experiences, your perspectives, your dreams and goals. It’s in our differences that we unleash the power to expand everyone's engagement, learning and leadership while building richer authentic, experiences for all our stakeholders.

To create an inclusive atmosphere where all differences are celebrated FFEA has zero tolerance for the creation of a hostile environment for an individual or group because of their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, marital status, citizenship or otherwise.

Attendees are required to refrain from overt statements, innuendo, stereotyping, or offensive humor, which would disparage the dignity or inclusive feeling of any individual or group. This applies to participation in workshops, lunches, social events, or any other activity related to the Conference or FFEA events.

• Use inclusive and non-discriminatory words in verbal and written communications
• Refrain from using out-of-date or offensive language such as referring to women as “girls” and addressing women as “honey” or “sweetie”, etc.
• Avoid discriminatory jokes that belittle a person’s sex, race, age, personal/physical attributes, etc. or are perpetuating a stereotype. If in doubt, don’t tell the joke.
• Avoid references to personal/physical attributes.
• Introduce Conference participants in a non-sexist, non-racial, non-religious manner. Acknowledge professional positions, skills, and contributions to the industry. Be consistent in the use of names and titles, giving the same type of information and level of formality for each. As an example: “Ms. Mary Jones, Vice President of ABC Presentations, and Mr. John Smith, Sales Manager of Smith & Associates, will join us today.” Ask panelists how they wish to be presented.
• Refrain from interacting with any convention participant in such a way that creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive environment or interferes with an individual’s or group’s participation in the Conference or FFEA in general.
• When engaged in a discussion give equal opportunity for contribution to everyone
• Review your presentation verbal information, projections and handouts:
  • use asexual words such as sales representative or salesperson instead of salesman.
  • avoid visual aids or illustrations that show people in stereotypical roles. Present individuals without bias regardless of sex, race or ethnicity, age, etc.,
  • eliminate sexist language by rewording sentences or phrases to be more inclusive. Or replace masculine/feminine pronouns with they.