Should I have doubts if the organizers of a workshop ask me to sign a behavior agreement upfront?

Question

Recently, I applied to attend a workshop of 14 days. I came to know about this workshop from colleague of mine. After a few days, I received an email saying I got accepted, along with that, some procedures that I need to follow. Among the points, one was

Once you join the course, you will also have to sign (i) an agreement that you will be present in each and every event (talk, discussion, practicals, field trip etc.) and (ii) maintaining good conduct and behavior throughout the course with fellow participants/ organizing personnel/ hotel staffs/ speakers etc. Any violation of agreement or any kind of misconduct reported to the organizer will attract strict academic as well as legal action.

The agreement signature issue was not mentioned when I applied for the event. I mailed as there was a line saying "violation of the agreement would lead to strict legal and academic action". Seeing this point, I was a bit concerned, as this point talked about legal action. I have never been to any workshop, or nor have I known anyone speak of any workshop where one has to sign an agreement that he/she has to attend every lecture. I recently communicated a paper, and I feel I may get a review at that time. And right now I cannot afford to anger the reviewer. Hence I wrote an email saying:

Respected Sir,

Thank you for considering me eligible for participating in the lecture course. I had a query regarding the fourth point which says: "Once you join the course, you will also have to sign (i) an agreement that you will be present in each and every event (talk, discussion, practicals, field trip etc.) and (ii) maintaining good conduct and behaviour throughout the course with fellow participants/ organising personnel/ hotel staffs/ speakers etc. Any violation of agreement or any kind of misconduct reported to the organiser will attract strict academic as well as legal action."

According to (i), there will be an agreement that I have to be present in each and every event (talk, discussion, practicals, field trip etc.). Will there be some consideration in the exceptional cases of physical sickness or if during that time I am asked to review an already submitted work of mine in some journal (since the review period will be time bound, in such a case I may not be able to compulsorily attend each and every event, I may have to work for the review during that time). Since signing an agreement is a serious business and violation of the agreement would lead to strict academic as well as legal action, hence I had to query about this issue.
Regard,

To this, I got the reply:

Dear ****

Thanks for your query. This course, unlike others is a prestigious and highly demanding one. This is aimed to make every participant as beneficial as possible. This is the reason, why *** is spending this huge amount. This can only happen if the beneficiary participants like you will be alert, responsive and receptive. You should rather be happy and positive to get an opportunity like this, instead of thinking negatively in anticipation of being sick or reviewing papers with a challenging attitude.

I would suggest you to rather take care of your review of manuscript than attending this course. There are many deserving candidates out there who are willing to leave everything behind and simply be attentive to listen and grasp knowledge from world leaders. Think twice, if you are the one who is fit for such course or not. If not, simply withdraw your candidature and we will be very happy to send your participation fee back.

Your candidature will be withdrawn if I fail to hear from you within the next 24 hours on the acceptance of the terms and conditions.

I felt that the reply was a bit rude. Was this reply appropriate? Is there something wrong with my e-mail? I may be wrong, do let me know if you feel the same. I personally felt that the person could have just said that they will be sticking to the rules, instead of going into so much of details. Do correct me if I am wrong...

P.S. I am just a student. I have been in research field for not more than 1.5 years, so I still may not be knowing the drills. My advisor thinks i am wrong in asking this. The *** stars are just used to replace the event name and the organizer name. My main email contains the real names...

Answer 1

Plain and clear: Turn around and run.

We know, of course, nothing about your actual event, but that kind of language and mindset is absolutely impossible. Unless you are trying to get into such prestigious circles, of course (what do I know, it might be an Oxford or MIT event for the "best of the best of the best" students in the world...), but you would likely have mentioned that.

This sounds more like a brainwashing event than an earnest academic workshop. As you rightly took good note of the terms in their first mail, you will very likely have either nagging doubts/fears during the event, or, will find that the athmosphere is one of much tension (which is hardly good for learning).

Even though you are "only" a student, you are still an adult human, and a teaching organisation has no business talking like this. They are a service provider and you are the customer. They are nothing without you. You are not a serf labouring to meet a person higher up in the food chain, it should be the other way round.

Even if there were some way to justify the legally binding agreement for attendance and behaviour, a professional would answer your question in a neutral/friendly way, explaining why they need the agreement. They are asking you to sign something (onesided, as well), with a clear threat attached. They do not see fit to explain why and how it exactly it works. This is clear fear-based intimidation, or at least, by their communication, it looks that way.

So either they have bad intentions, or they are just not good at communicating. In both cases, this is in conflict with them trying to teach you something!

Answer 2

Should you be worried about "legal actions"?

Maybe. I deem unlikely that any jurisdiction has specific laws for you not attending a workshop (of course I am not a lawyer and you never know, maybe North Korea's..). Any legal consequence must come from the agreement they make you sign, and you are at the very least entitled to see it before reaching the venue and be put in a position where you are pressured into signing it.

In my humble opinion, I don't think there is any actual legal consequence awaiting you and this is most likely an empty threat.

Should you be worried about "academic actions"

The only thing I can think of is being somehow shun by that specific workshop community and maybe be blacklisted for future workshop from the same organizer. Is this a relevant thing to you? Maybe, if you are "caught" missing any of the talks, you might receive a reprimand.

Other considerations

Without further information I cannot say whether this is a good workshop or a bad one, but there are some obvious red flags.

The language they use in their reply to you sounds unprofessional to say the least. I personally find it quite offensive.

Furthermore, everything they write sounds extremely pretentious. Sentences like:

This course, unlike others is a prestigious and highly demanding one.

and

This is the reason, why *** is spending this huge amount.

and

There are many deserving candidates out there who are willing to leave everything behind and simply be attentive to listen and grasp knowledge from world leaders.

make it sounds like they are desperately trying to convey the high quality of their workshop to you.

This is somewhat inconsistent with what they are trying to project, though. If their course had really such good speakers, whose lessons are so invaluable, why do they have to put an unheard-of clause about attendance, threatening attendees with potential "academic and legal action"?

Why, instead of politely replying to your legitimate query, do they write such a passive-aggressive letter, suggesting that you pass on this because maybe you are not the candidate they are looking for? Do you see that this, too, is a device to have you attend?

If I had to guess, I would think that in the past people got so sick with wasting their time there with pompous self-proclaimed world leader that many left the venue. I am not saying that this has happened, I am most likely wrong, this is indeed a great workshop with a stricter than usual rule and the occasional rude guy answering email, but I would take time to reconsider whether this workshop is indeed worth attending for two weeks. Maybe your time and money are indeed better spent elsewhere.

Were you wrong in asking ?

I think you had a right to ask, but perhaps your email was a little misguided. Rather than providing possible motivations you could have simply asked explanations on what the clause meant and to see the agreement.

If you want to go forward I'd ignore their considerations, as there is little point in arguing with jerks, and just stick with a polite email along the lines of

Dear Sir, I am planning to attend the workshop fully, but I'd like to understand the legal consequences of any agreement I enter into. I kindly request that you send me a copy of the agreement I will be required to sign beforehand and extend the deadline to allow me to read it before giving you a definitive answer.

Answer 3

SCAM!

They avoid answering a valid legal question, try to make you feel bad for asking, and apply pressure to make you ignore the legal issue. If you run a con, that's how you do it.

Bonus points for the random 24 hour time limit.

Answer 4

I'm not at your career stage, but I would be incensed if I got such a response. Granted, as already pointed out, your letter was sort of naive, but his level of rudeness was uncalled for.

Unless this is the career opportunity of a lifetime, I would publicly withdraw. I wouldn't send the letter to him. I would withdraw by forwarding his email message to the leadership of whatever organizations run and fund this event, politely explaining that you found the reply offensive and suggesting that they find somebody with the appropriate level of civility to interact with trainees in your field.

Of course, this might be horrible career advice.

His appropriate response, by the way, would have been "Unfortunately, past experience dictates that we remind our attendees of matters of basic etiquette. We understand how this raises concerns. Attached are the agreements that we require of you for your review." Same message, without being an asshole.

Answer 5

The initial agreement is perhaps a bit heavy handed but not too strange and comes across a covering themselves against people who see the workshops as an opportunity to spend a few days in a hotel getting drunk.

Threatening legal action for bad behaviors is understandable but it is odd that they would feel the need to make this point if it really is a respected academic course with stringent entry requirements. Legal action for non attendance is just odd, as long as you have paid it's no skin off their nose whether you actually turn up or not...unless the real point of the 'workshop' is to sell you something.

However the reply to your reasonable query is worrying and has a lot of the hallmarks of very dubious hard sell tactics. It is entirely reasonable for them to say that they require full attendance and a minimum standard of behavior but equally it is entirely reasonable for you to query what would happen if you are ill or have to fulfil other commitments ans as such this reply does seem overly aggressive.

For example you might expect a more professional reply to be worded like :

'This is a demanding course and we do expect all participants to attend all scheduled events in order to get the full benefit and missing some parts by individuals cannot be made up later. If you have other commitments you may wish to reconsider your booking.' Terse but polite the message being take it or leave it which is fair enough.

Equally some of the language is a bit awkward and weird This course, unlike others is a prestigious and highly demanding one and You should rather be happy and positive to get an opportunity like this really do ring alarm bells indeed the phrase 'world leaders' is a very strange one to use in this context.

Overall this sounds a lot like the language of a scam and I would recommend staying well away.

A genuinely world class course would not remotely need to use this sort of manipulative and coercive tone.

Answer 6

TLDR;

Instead of essentially saying, "This is the reason, why Mr. Jones is spending so gdd** much," I'd expect a seasoned organizer to say something more along the lines of, "Mr. Jones is making an investment in your career by having you join our seminar."

---

Aside from the behavior release, his reply scares me.

The wording, "this huge amount," is a red flag to me. I see that he's trying to convey there is great quality in the programming, but "huge amount," just sounds off and is not wording that would be typical from a highly seasoned event organizer.

I'd expect the organizer would be better versed in describing the high pricing as a pro versus a con as he did in the email.

I want to add that the negative response sounds as if he's trying to accuse you of being unprofessional as a means to disarm you from being concerned about odd details.

I've noticed this behavior a lot in conversations I've had with scammers. If you question their scam, they often turn the tables on you and accuse you of potentially trying to scam them. I believe that this, in turn, is meant to put you on the defense and totally forget (or feel bad) that you were distrustful in the first place. As an aside, I'm simply conversing with them because their commitment to dishonestly is admittedly fascinating to me. I say that I am indeed someone they should distrust and perhaps, for their safety, we should not continue with the transaction (so I can see what they stoop to next to try to get me to do business with them.) If your scenario wasn't in the scope of my academic career, but instead just a rando in my inbox, I would say that I am indeed interested, but I should bow out (just to see what they do next.)

Answer 7

I have never seen such a clause in any conference, and the answering letter is quite rude. However, the reasoning behind it is sound, and even applied internally sometimes. If there is a prestigious conference with limited capacity, and people know that you tend to show up for only a fraction of the time, chances are that you are not invited.

I believe that asking about situations which force you to skip parts of the workshop was a mistake. Suppose you reserve a table in a very exclusive restuarant, and immediately ask what happens if you feel sick on that evening, or your car breaks down, or your cat gets hurt. The answer will likely be "Have you considered ordering pizza, Sir?". I can understand that "strict legal action" is shocking, but unless you live in a country with pretty strange legal system the worst that could happen is that once you miss a course, you are excluded from the workshop, and even that is unlikely.

So I would answer that I want to attend the workshop, explaining that I only asked because the legal action frightened me, and that I am convinced that I will attend all courses.

Answer 8

The question refers to the event as a workshop, but within the description the term "lecture course" and "course" are used. The agreement the organizers want you to sign mentions field trips, practicals, as well as talks and discussions.

It appears to me that this is a compressed or short academic course rather than what I would call a workshop. If attendees have the option to claim academic or professional credit for completing it, I can see why the organizers might require an agreement that outlines the requirements for successfully completing the course.

I've seen universities have strict attendance/testing requirements for summer term courses because they operate on a compressed schedule. If you miss a few days of class, it's more like missing a week or more during a normal term. This looks like something similar.

All that aside, I also think the organizer was rude in the response that was sent to you.

Answer 9

After reading the two clauses a couple of times i think "strict academic as well as legal action" might be taken if you voilate clause (ii). In that case I may have no reservations. The response from organizers makes me suspect that your university is financing course fee for you or this is a university sponsored conference. If these not being the case I think you try to contact your head of department (and anonymously if you think his remarks would be just like that of your advisor). Lastly I will never attend a conference with such "attitude" peoples as there is a risk of voilation of clause (ii) :-)

Answer 10

I definitely would not go. Legal actions are potentially very serious. I assume this conference was troubled in the past, but it looks unusual to me to have these requirements.

Answer 11

You're overthinking this. It's perfectly reasonable for a workshop that is in high demand to expect full attendance from the candidates lucky enough to be chosen to attend. It's slightly unusual to be asked to sign an agreement, but I imagine that springs from long and bitter experience of previous workshops, on the part of the organisers.

Viewed in this light, their email is a bit terse and cranky, but fairly reasonable. Reviews can be put off, especially if you write to the editor to let them know you will be out of touch for a few days.

If you want to attend the workshop, you should write back apologetically, and let the organisers know you will be in full attendance.