SOF Week Admission Policy

2025 Policy

SOF Week 2025 Admission Policy 

SOF Week 2025 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/or conference, including those invited by any other participant, must register and receive approval to attend via the official SOF Week registration process. Registration should be completed as early as possible to ensure adequate time to process and approve the registration before the event starts. 
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 likely to be non-compliant with this policy. 


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 dependents of exhibitors and active duty military, will be admitted. If an attendee turns 18 over the course of the event, they will only be able to attend after their birthday. 
    Behavior 
  • As an attendee, you agree to abide by the GSOF Code of Conduct. 
  • As an attendee, you are expected to follow the rules and regulations set by the event venue. This includes respecting policies like not bringing in outside food or beverages if the venue prohibits them. It’s always a good practice to familiarize yourself with a venue’s guidelines to avoid any inconvenience. 


Cancellation and Substitution 


Cancellations: A cancellation request will be honored, but no refund will be provided. If an attendee wishes to cancel their registration, please contact Customer Solutions at [email protected]. 
Substitutions: Substitutions will be approved on a case-by-case basis. Please note that any attendee provided as a substitute will still need to register and adhere to the verification and approval process. Please contact [email protected] for more information. The last date for substitutions is May 3rd, 2025. 


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 Tampa Water Street, Tampa Marriott Water Street, Embassy Suites Downtown Tampa, Sparkman Wharf, Amalie Arena, and Westin Tampa Waterside. 

  • Firearms (including concealed carry), explosives, knives, 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.
  • Knives or bladed articles of any size are 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 2025.
  • **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 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 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. 2
    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 SOF Week 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 identity documents will be used for security vetting and 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 database encryption and security. 
  • ○ ID data is held until completion of 30 days from the event and then permanently deleted from the database and any mirrors. 
  • ○ For USSOCOM Enterprise attendees, IDs will be obfuscated within 30 days following the event. 
  • ○ By collecting and uploading an individual personal ID documentation, you have obtained the appropriate consent from your employer. 
  • Your verification photo will be used for security vetting and access control purposes, but will also be associated with your profile in the SOF Week App. Your photo and profile will only be visible in the SOF Week App once you give explicit consent, which will be requested upon your initial login to the SOF Week App. You will also have the option to change your photo upon login to the App, if desired. 
  • 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 subject to prosecution. 
  • The organizers reserve the right to exclude any person(s) without prejudice. 

Multimedia 
Photography / Filming 

  • Filming and recording of sessions is strictly prohibited.
  • 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. 
  • 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. 

Multimedia Products 

  • 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: 3
    ● 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 lewd or nefarious content 
    ● Products with language that implies endorsement by the event organizer 

Security 
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 access eligibility; no data is transferred as a result of badge scanning. 
  • Badge must not be tampered with, including but not limited to alteration or changing of data, removal or blocking of bar codes or QR codes, etc. Doing so may be grounds for removal from SOF Week and/or legal action. 
  • As an attendee, you agree to adhere to the limits of access to exhibition and conference space defined by your badge type.
  • 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 the following information being shared with the scanning organization: 
    ○ Rank / Prefix 
    ○ First and Last Name 
    ○ Title 
    ○ Company / Organization 
    ○ Registration Type 
    ○ Email Address 
    ○ Work Location (City, State, Zip Code, Country) 
    This is similar to providing them with your business card. Any attendee may decline that their badge 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.