Media Guidelines While on Campus

The guidelines outlined below are designed to ensure and protect the rights and privacy of our guests, families and staff.  If your organization requires you to obtain appearance, materials or location release(s), submit a copy here for review prior to your visit.
 

Arriving at the South Jersey Dream Center

• Parking is available near the main building.  All media must enter through front entrance of the SJDC building and check in with Guest Relations directly inside the entrance. 
• A representative will check you in and provide you with a MEDIA badge, which should be worn above your waist at all times. All badges need to be returned to Guest Relations.
• A representative will escort you at all times while at the SJDC to assist you with your shoot and interview needs.

Communications with Guests, Staff and Volunteers

• Personal photos and videos are not allowed to be taken of the guests without an official written consent form obtained from Guest Relations. This includes cell phones and other smart phone-type devices.  Group or individual photos and videos taken from behind are permitted, as long as they do not reveal the identity of the guests.  
• If your organization requires you to bring more than one camera, it must be approved by the SJDC prior to your visit.  
• Don't ask guests, staff, or volunteers for their personal information (including phone number, address, email address, or website). 
• If you would like to follow-up or send copies of your story, contact the SJDC. Don't promise copies to guests, staff members, or volunteers.
• In order to protect the guest’s right of privacy, staff or volunteers cannot disclose information regarding any guest's personal situation without prior permission from the guest - through Guest Relations - and an official consent form signed.
• If your organization requires its own form signed for guests, staff, or volunteers, it must be coordinated through Guest Relations. It should not have the guest’s personal information, address, phone number or email on the form.
• All interviews must be held and footage gathered in the common areas of the SJDC. Media are not allowed to meet alone, or one-on-one with a guest, staff member of volunteer.  A Guest Relations representative must be present at all times.  The SJDC has a furnished studio that can be used for interviews. Access to the studio must be cleared by the SJDC.
• If further footage or interviews are needed, approval and scheduling must first be approved by the SJDC.
• If at any time you see someone or something that makes you uncomfortable, step aside to speak with your representative as unobtrusively as possible.
• Contact our Executive Director, Natalie Fortunato, at nfortunato@southjerseydreamcenter.org for all forms, to make prior arrangements for your visit, and to complete any necessary forms you might have.

While at the SJDC

• Stay with the SJDC Guest Relations representative at all times. Don't go anywhere on campus without prior approval and a representative present.
• Introduce yourself to our guests, volunteers and staff members, and explain the purpose of your visit. When you interact with guests, be sensitive and courteous.  Guests may vary in the ways they interact with visitors. Please don't touch a guest unless he or she initiates the gesture.
• Outside of approved interviews, please respect the guest’s privacy and avoid questions relating to age, finances, and deeply personal issues. 
• Don't make promises (gifts, food, interview copies) to the guests. If a guest or family makes any requests to you, refer them back to the Guest Relations representative accompanying you, who may be able to assist them.
• Remember you are in a working, busy facility. Be sensitive to the guests who are waiting to be served, and staff and volunteers performing their duties. In areas where there is limited space, remember to be mindful of guest and volunteer traffic.
• it's best to wear closed toe shoes in the work areas.
• Be aware that there are general noises - loud speaker messages; staff with hand carts; guests, families, staff and volunteers in the common areas, work areas, classrooms, hallways, loading zones, and parking lot - that may not always be able to be quieted for interviews. There is likely to be extraneous sound on your audio track.

Guest Privacy

• The SJDC Community Relations Department strives to protect the confidentiality of guests while maintaining the highest standards of communication with the news media.
• The SJDC Community Relations Department reserves the right to, however, refuse media requests prior to or during your visit especially when a guest requests privacy or if a guest’s confidentiality is being compromised.
• Release of detailed information about minor guests of SJDC requires prior written consent by the parent, guardian or legal representative.
• Any SJDC guest who has given prior approval to be interviewed, videotaped or photographed on the SJDC campus must first sign a SJDC consent form obtained through Guest Relations.
• Guest privacy is a priority at SJDC. All journalists must be escorted at all times by a Guest Relations representative.