Suitcasing and Outboarding Policy

As the premier legal operations organization, our events attract and engage the entire legal ecosystem. CLOC wants to ensure everyone in the community, from members, to attendees, to sponsors, have a successful experience at CLOC events. Thus, we are increasing steps to protect from suitcasing and outboarding at our events. This policy establishes our position and practices.

What is Suitcasing?

Suitcasing is the act of attending an event to market, promote, sell, or otherwise solicit business, without purchasing an exhibitor booth or sponsoring the event. This behavior is counter to the business interests of our paying exhibitors and sponsors, as it steals leads and opportunities from them. Suitcasing may take the form of commercial activity conducted during event hours from a hotel guest room or hospitality suite; a restaurant, club, or any other public place.

Examples of Suitcasing:

• Attempting to sell product on the exhibit floor without exhibiting
• Placing marketing materials on tables, counters or in booths
• Promoting outside events, organizations or conferences
• Booth sharing with a company or person that is not exhibiting

What is Outboarding?

Outboarding is when someone attends a CLOC event and hosts an unauthorized event, meeting, demonstration or presentation in any space at or near the event, including other hotels, restaurants, nearby properties, or at their own personal business without consent of CLOC. Outboarding is prohibited even by paying exhibitors and sponsors.

Examples of Outboarding:

• Offering your own content session without CLOC’s consent
• Inviting event attendees to a hospitality suite for a product demonstration
• Essentially, holding any type of event/gathering while in town for CLOC’s event without CLOC’s consent

SUITCASING AND OUTBOARDING ARE PROHIBITED

CLOC EMBRACES A ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY

Seeking Approval

To avoid outboarding, CLOC must be informed of any separate activities or events during the event hours, and you must receive CLOC’s express consent prior to hosting the event. For avoidance of doubt, for the CLOC Global Institute event hours are currently as follows: Monday, 8:00 AM – 7:00 PM; Tuesday, 7:30 AM – 6:00 PM; Wednesday, 7:30 AM – 5:00 PM and 8:00 PM – 11:00 PM; and Thursday, 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM.

To seek approval for an activity you desire to host, please provide as much detail as possible through this form. CLOC will evaluate all properly submitted and sufficiently detailed requests and will consider, among other things, the nature of the request, whether the requester is a member or paying exhibitors/sponsor of the event, and the value of the proposed activity to the event and the CLOC community. All decisions by CLOC are at CLOC’s sole discretion and are final.

What Happens if Someone Violates this Policy?

CLOC has created a Suitcasing Prevention team that will look into all complaints regarding suitcasing and will take appropriate action. While all event attendees are invited to the exhibit hall, anyone who is observed to be soliciting business in the aisles, or other public spaces, in another company’s booth, or in violation of any portion of this policy, will be asked to leave immediately.

If CLOC determines someone is suitcasing or outboarding, in addition to facilitating removal of the violator from the exhibit floor or venue property, CLOC reserves the right to suspend the violator from participating in future CLOC events or opportunities, to assess a fine on the violator, and to deduct up to eight (8) longevity points.

What Can You Do?

If you suspect another company of suitcasing – report this to CLOC staff, or to conduct@cloc.org. Also,

• Do not enter or loiter around the booth of any other sponsor
• Do not harass or antagonize any attendees or sponsors
• Do not remove anything from any exhibitor’s booth
• Do not register or give, share, swap or otherwise provide a registrant’s badge to anyone not authorized to be at the event or that particular activity.