SOF Week 2024 is open to professional representatives from the defense and security sector, including but not limited to, U.S. and partner nation military, U.S. Department of Defense personnel, partner nation government personnel, non-profit organizations, exhibiting organizations, think tanks, academia, and media.

Anyone wishing to attend the exhibition and conference (including those invited by an exhibitor) must pre-register via the SOF Week website. Registration should be completed as early as possible to ensure adequate time to process the registration before the event.

On-site registration facilities are limited and cannot be guaranteed. Online pre-registration is advised to avoid delays or barriers to entry.

 

General

Admission is restricted to relevant professional and government visitors. Visitors should be involved in, or have some legitimate connection to, special operations forces and associated industries. All exhibitor personnel, visitors, academics, guests, contractors, and service providers must register and are subject to a security verification process. 

The organizers reserve the right to exclude or remove anyone from SOF Week who does not comply with this policy or who they reasonably consider to be likely to break these rules.

 

Dress Code 

• Military: Uniform of the Day / Duty Uniform

• Civilian: Business Casual unless otherwise noted 

Age Restrictions

• No person under the age of 18 years (unless given express permission by the SOF Week organizers and accompanied by an escort), including children of exhibitors, will be admitted

 

Cancellation and Substitution

Cancellations: If an attendee wishes to cancel their registration, please contact Customer Solutions at customersolutions.sofweek@clarionevents.com. 

• Attendee credit cards will not be charged until the attendee is approved to participate. The vetting/approval process takes approximately 3 - 5 days. Registrations that are canceled before the attendee is approved will be honored, and the credit card will not be charged. This policy does not apply to Industry badge types. Industry attendees cards are charged at the time of registration.

• If the attendee is approved, we can cancel the registration, but no refund will be provided. For questions regarding the refund policy, please contact the Customer Solutions team at customersolutions.sofweek@clarionevents.com

Substitutions: Substitutions will be approved on a case by case basis. Please note that all attendees will need to register themselves and adhere to the verification and approval process.Please contact customersolutions.sofweek@clarionevents.com for more information.

 

The last day to substitute badges is May 3rd.

Weapons and Prohibited Items

The following restricted items and guidelines are in effect for all SOF Week functions held at the Tampa Convention Center (TCC), JW Marriott, Marriott Water Street, and Westin Waterside.

• Firearms (including concealed carry), explosives, stun guns, handcuffs, brass knuckles, sticks, batons, martial arts instruments, pepper spray, tear gas and knives, fireworks, smoke canisters, aerosols, air horns, noisemakers, flares, dangerous or hazardous items, illegal substances, laser devices, bottles, glass vessels, cans, poles, or any article that may compromise public safety or which may pose a hazard or nuisance to any other person, are strictly prohibited.

• Weapons storage is not available for personal firearms. A secured Arms Room will be on-site at the TCC exclusively to store exhibitors' display firearms. All firearms on display must have the firing pins removed and be inspected by a USSOCOM-designated authority.

• Guests will be subject to a search upon entry. Anyone possessing prohibited items will be asked to remove the item from the venues or dispose of it. Guests who refuse to comply will not be permitted entry into the venues.

• Any person licensed by the State of Florida to carry a concealed weapon is hereby notified that they shall not carry their firearms during SOF Week 2024.

• **Off-duty law enforcement officers are NOT authorized to bring firearms into any venue hosting a SOF Week function.

 

Geofencing and Unauthorized Data Collection 

Geofencing and unauthorized data collection are strictly prohibited. Geofencing is defined as the use of GPS or RFID technology to create a virtual geographic boundary, enabling software to trigger a response when a mobile device enters or leaves a particular area, and is commonly used as a mobile marketing optimization strategy. Unauthorized data collection is defined as any unlawful or unauthorized collection of personal Data or Client Information.

Any individual or organization found participating in geofencing or unauthorized data collection will be immediately ejected from the event and barred from participating in any future rendition of the SOF Week. 

 

Admission and Identification

All exhibitor personnel, visitors, guests, contractors, and service providers acknowledge that only the organizer’s official admission badge, worn by the person named on it, will permit admission into SOF Week. The badge remains the property of the organizer and has a notional value of $0.01.

A badge may only be used by the person named on the badge. Identity checks will be conducted as a condition of entry at various access points. Your identity will be verified by the photo uploaded during the registration process. Wearing a badge belonging to another attendee may constitute sufficient grounds for the unauthorized individual to be banned from attending any SOF Week function. It may also lead to prosecution. 

All attendees participating in a SOF Week function shall carry a photo ID and produce on request a supporting personal photographic identity document, e.g., passport, driver’s license, or national identity document.

Please Note: 

• Your documents will only be used for verification purposes and will not be stored by USSOCOM, Clarion Events, GSOF, or Cvent.

  • Data is collected in the form of image data for ID purposes. This data is held in the database as a binary large object (BLOB) and is subject to all our usual database encryption and security. ID data is only held until the verification and approval process is completed; upon completion, ID document images are permanently deleted from the database and any mirrors. 

  • By collecting and uploading an individual personal ID documentation, you have obtained the appropriate consent from your employer. 

• Any person found to be registering to attend SOF Week using false information or credentials or deliberately withholding information will have their application automatically denied and may be liable to prosecution.

• The organizers reserve the right to exclude any person(s) without prejudice.

 

Security and Photography

Photography of booths and/or exhibits is only allowed with the expressed permission of the booth manager.

Closed Circuit Television Cameras (CCTV) will operate at all times during SOF Week. The organizers reserve the right to deliver the CCTV videotapes to the Police or other competent authorities as evidence if requested. The contents of such videotapes may be used as evidence in a court of law. For further information, contact the Security Manager.

Filming and Materials

• The organizers reserve the right to film/permit approved third-party filming during SOF Week. By attending the event, visitors permit the organizers/approved third parties to use any footage taken.
   

• No sponsorship, promotional, marketing, political, or prohibited materials may be brought into, used, or displayed by any person inside SOF Week without the expressed written permission of the organizers. Any person possessing non-permitted items may be refused entry to or ejected from the venue and site. Prohibited items include, but are not limited to: products that include hate speech toward any race, culture, ethnic group or religion, material endorsing or disparaging a political figure, U.S. government official or foreign nation, material with lude or nefarious content, products with language that implies endorsement by the event organize.

 

Badge Scanning and Data Collection

• As an attendee, you acknowledge your badge will contain a QR code. Your badge may be scanned at the entrance to the event by event staff. This is purely to identify your badge type and event eligibility; no data is transferred as a result.
   

• The QR code on your badge may also be scanned using a “lead retrieval” device. As an attendee, you agree that by allowing your badge to be scanned by an exhibitor at the event, you consent to your full name, organization, email address, and phone number being transferred to the exhibitor. This is similar to providing them with your business card. Any attendee may decline for their badge to be scanned for lead retrieval purposes.

 

Export Control

• Visitors should be aware that export control regulations may apply to exhibits based upon both U.S. legislation and legislation from the territory of origin of the exhibitor. Such legislation or regulations may cover the exportation of goods, the transfer of technology, the provision of technical assistance overseas, and activities connected with trade in controlled goods. Exhibitors whose activities may be impacted by such legislation or regulations must ensure they have the necessary licenses and mechanisms in place.
   

• Any visitor who, at the sole discretion of the organizer, is deemed to be engaging in controlled business or activity during the exhibition and who does not have relevant trade control licenses may be subject to action on the part of the organizers, including revocation of the application to attend and expulsion from the event. The relevant authorities will be informed of any such activity, which may result in legal action being taken against the visitor by these authorities. Visitors expelled from the event will have no claim for redress against the organizers nor any refund for loss of fees.