Event Policies

Policy Contents (2012)

1. Participant Selection Criteria: How participants are decided
2. Event Privacy Policy: How your details will and won't be used
3. Reduced Fee Criteria: Who qualifies for the reduced fees
4. Participation Fund: Fully-sponsored participation
5. Fee Terms and Conditions: Refund policy, etc.
6. What is Covered by the Organising Fee?

Participant Selection Criteria

Participants are selected on the basis of:

1. The expertise to contribute to the exchange of e-campaigning knowledge (i.e. campaigning, new media, both)
2. Being involved in successful e-campaigning initiatives from which others can learn
3. Diversity that contributes to the exchange of e-campaigning knowledge (i.e. organisations, issues, countries)
4. Participating in the shaping of the event via the eCampaigning Forum Event web site and/or eCampaigning Forum practitioner list
5. Being able to attend both days of the event
6. Those that have attended the eCampaigning Forum in the past
7. Those willing to contribute before and/or during the event to help make it a success, especially:
• Finding sponsors for the event
• Atrracting new qualified participants to the event
• Taking on a task before, during or after the event

Furthermore:

1. Participation is only confirmed upon full receipt of the fees
2. Each organisation is initially limited to two participants. Different national offices count as different organisations
3. Extra participants per organisation (> two) will be accepted on the basis of each extra participant having unique expertise to contribute and/or once the initial registration round is complete

Selection Process:

1. Interested participants apply by initial deadline
2. Applicants informed if they are offered a spot or if they are on the wait list
3. Those offered a spot have 15 days to pay (payment must be received within 15 days)
4. Those on the wait list will be offered a spot as they become available
5. Participation is confirmed upon receipt of fee

Event Privacy Policy

Your details will be used:

• To assess your application for attending the eCampaigning Forum
• For Applicants: Saved as a record of who applied
• For Participants: Used for essential communication pre and post event leading up to and immediately following the event
• Email address added to the event email discussion list of other participations
• Participants Name, Organisation, Role, Country URL and Twitter username will be publicly listed
• Participants Name, Organisation, Role, Country, Email, Phone and IM details will only be distributed to other participants in printed format at the event and in electronic format after the event
• Participants topic interests and objectives for the event will be publicly listed
• Participants name and organisation will be provided to the venue receiption to facilitate entry to the venue
• Participants agree that any photos, video or audio in which they appear and taken by FairSay can be used and distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales license.
• Applicants eligible to participate in a pre and/or post meeting will have relevant details passed to the appropriate pre-meeting coordinator
• Applicants indicating an interest in an offer by a third party will have their basic details (name, email, organisation, role) passed on to that third party.
• For applicants and participants: transferred to the eCampaigning Forum practitioners email discussion list 2-3 months the event in order to facilitate your continued engagement with the rest of the community
• For applicants and participants: invited to join and participate in various social networks in order to facilitate your engagement with the rest of the community

At any time you can ask for any of these uses to not apply to you and/or can remove yourself from any email list or other social network in which you are included.

How your details will not be used:

• Your details will not be sold, traded or otherwise distributed to others other than is specifically outlined above
• You won't be added to any email list without having specifically opted-in for it, other than is mentioned above

Reduced Fee Criteria

Reduced fee spaces will be allocated once organising costs are covered and the potential participant list is sufficiently a diverse. A reduced fee applies only to the organising fee. All other fees are at cost and no reduction applies. The two reduced fee levels are:

1. One-third off the normal organising fee. UK participants, academics contributing to academic track and those from medium to large organisations in the most developed countries can qualify for this
2. Half-off the normal organising fee. Small organisations out side the UK in developed countries and any organisation in less developed countries qualify for this. A few people who qualify for (a) may also be provided with this reduction where their contribution is seen as critical.

Reduced places will be allocated on the basis of the following criteria (in the following order):

1. Participants coming from outside the UK and thus also paying for travel, accommodation and meals and academics invited to contribute to the academic track. The top priority for reduced-fee places goes to those coming from:
   • Further away and thus incurring higher travel costs
   • Academics invited to participate in the academic track
   • Countries with lower economic development
   • Small organisations / are independent
2. Participants who will significantly enrich the event will be allocated a reduced-fee spot as part of the negotiations to get them to attend
3. Participants from organisations not yet accepted to the event to ensure participant diversity
4. Smaller organisations or individuals for whom any fee is significant
5. Those from organisations who have not attended in the past

Constraints: Getting a reduced fee means:

• It is decided after the standard fee participants are approved (except for invited academics when it is decided immediately), so you may have to on a wait list if others are more deserving of the subsidy based on the above criteria.
• Only one person from your organisation may attend
• educed-fee places are not eligible to attend any non-free public event for free

Participation Fund

A few places are available with all costs (travel, accommodation, meals, organising fee) covered. Sponsored participation is dependent upon sponsors contributing specifically to a participation fund.

The decision on who is sponsored will be done in conjunction with the sponsors and their interests and priorities. Where there is no clear preference, the following criteria will be used:

1. 'Southern'-based candidates: Up to two months before the event (due to visa lead-times and travel arrangements)
2. Non-UK candidates: up to three weeks before the event (due to travel arrangements)
3. UK-based candidates: Up to two days before the event
4. Candidates within 3 (ish) hours travel from venue: up to first day of event

The full participation fund will be used with FairSay covering any excess amounts.

Fee Terms and Conditions

• Fees due in full 15 days from the date os issue or by the day before the event - whichever comes first. The organising fee rate is only valid for these 15 days after which a new invoice may be issued if the organising fee has increased.
• Participation is only confirmed upon receipt of the fee following a offer to attend (and assuming the participation offer hasn't been withdrawn due to late payment of fees)
• Payments by Credit Card via Pay Pal or Google Checkout will also be billed for the processing fee FairSay incurs so that FairSay receives is the full invoiced amount.
• There are no discounts or refunds for only attending part of the event.

Cancellations and Refunds

1. For the organising fee
• 100% Refund: If cancelled more than 30 days in advance
• 75% Refund: If cancelled 8-29 days in advance and another person can be found to attend at the same fee level (otherwise 0% refund)
• 50% Refund: If cancelled less than 8 days in advance and another person can be found to attend at the same fee level (otherwise 0% refund)
• 0% Refund: If a registered participant does not show up at the event
• All refunds will be dealt with after the event and once all fees have been received and expenses paid
2. For the food costs:
• 100% refund if cancelled 10 days or more in advance
• 0% refund if cancelled less than 10 days in advance
3. For the on-site accommodation:
• 100% refund if cancelled 8 or more days in advance of 12:00 on the day of check-in
• 0% refund if cancelled less than 8 days in advance of 12:00 on the day of check-in

What is Covered by the Organising Fee?

1. Attendance for both days of the eCampaigning Forum (21-22 March, 2012)
2. Lunch, 3 breaks a day and the associated venue service charges
3. The meeting rooms and facilities for both days of the eCampaigning Forum (21-22 March, 2012)
4. Hiring facilitators, covering speaker costs, organiser effort, printed materials, covering unpaid/short fees, etc.
5. Venue service changes (10%) and UK VAT (20%) for venue food service

The additional options you selected when applying (e.g. accommodation, meals, training, southern participant fund contribution) are not included in the 'organising fee'.