These are the terms and conditions (the “Agreement”) governing your participation in any KUONI CONGRESS owned and operated hybrid event, meeting, show, seminar or conference which combines a "live" in-person event with a "virtual" online component (the “Hybrid Event”). By registering for the Hybrid Event you agree to these terms, which form a binding legal contract between the Hybrid Event owner and host, KUONI CONGRESS (“KUONI CONGRESS” or “Owner and Organizer”) and the registered participant (“you” or “Participant”). If you are registering on behalf of another individual, it is your responsibility to ensure the person participating is aware of these terms and accepts them. By completing the registration on behalf of another individual you are warranting that you have made the Participant aware of these terms and that they have accepted these terms.

1 Participant Requirements 

1.1 Access. Your registration entitles you to access to the Hybrid Event for which you have registered. Any and all other costs associated with your attendance shall be borne solely by you, and Hybrid Event shall have no liability for such costs.

1.1.1 Badges. Each in-person registered participant will receive a name badge upon arrival. For organizational and security reasons, we request that all participants and industry partners wear their badges at all times during the congress activities. Re-print due to loss of badges or due to misspelled names can be done at the registration desk at a cost of EUR 25 per badge (inclusive 23% PolishVAT).

1.1.2 Invitation letter for visa applications in-person participants. In-person participants may need a letter of invitation from the congress organizers in order to obtain a visa for entry into Poland. It is the sole responsibility of the participant to take care of any visa requirements.
Participants who require an entry visa must foresee sufficient time for the visa application procedure. Participants should contact the nearest local Embassy or Consulate of Poland to determine the appropriate timing and conditions of the visa application.

This procedure is intended to assist in-person participants who need to obtain a visa or permission to attend the EAS Annual Meeting 2023 in Krakow. It is not an official invitation covering fees and/or any other expenses or financial support from the congress.

Invitation letters will be sent separately after full payment of the registration has been received.

1.2 Use of Likeness. By participating in the Hybrid Event you acknowledge and agree to grant Hybrid Event the right at the Hybrid Event to record, film, live stream, photograph, or capture your likeness in any media now available or hereafter developed and to distribute, broadcast, use, or otherwise globally to disseminate, in perpetuity, such media without any further approval from you or any payment to you. This grant to Hybrid Event includes, but is not limited to, the right to edit such media, the right to use the media alone or together with other information, and the right to allow others to use or disseminate the media.

1.3 Hybrid Event Content. You acknowledge and agree that Hybrid Event, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to change any and all aspects of the Hybrid Event, including but not limited to, the Hybrid Event name, themes, content, program, speakers, performers, hosts, moderators, venue (for hybrid event), and time. Hybrid Event content shall be recorded by KUONI CONGRESS and will be accessible to paid Participants. 

2 Prohibited Conduct 

2.1 Limitations on Use. By registering for a KUONI CONGRESS Hybrid Events pass you agree not to sell, trade, transfer, or share your complimentary access link and/or code, unless such transfer is granted by the Organizer. By registering for a paid Hybrid Event Pass, you agree not to share, sell or trade your access. If KUONI CONGRESS determines that you have violated this policy, KUONI CONGRESS may cancel your access, retain any payments made by you, report you to law enforcement authorities, and ban you from future Hybrid Events.

2.2 Disruptive Conduct. You acknowledge and agree that Hybrid Event reserves the right to remove you from the Hybrid Event if KUONI CONGRESS, in its sole discretion, determines that your participation or behavior create a disruption or hinder the Hybrid Event or the enjoyment of the Hybrid Event content by other attendees. 

2.3 Recording, Live Streaming, and Videotaping. Participants may not record or broadcast audio or video of sessions at KUONI CONGRESS Hybrid Events. 

2.4 Unethical/Non-Compliant Business Practices. KUONI CONGRESS reserves the right to deny participation to anyone who engages in or is reputed to engage in unethical or non-compliant business practices. 

2.5 In addition to the requirements and prohibitions set forth in this Section 2, KUONI CONGRESS may also exclude any prospective participant from registering for or participating in any Hybrid  Event, in KUONI CONGRESS’s sole discretion.

3 Fees and Registration

3.1 Payment. The payment of the applicable fee for the Hybrid Event is due upon registration. If such payment is insufficient or declined for any reason KUONI CONGRESS may refuse to allow you to access the Hybrid Event and shall have no liability in that regard.

3.2 Taxes. The fees may be subject to sales tax, value added tax, or other taxes and duties which, if applicable, will be charged to you in addition to the fees.

3.3 Final invoice will be sent by email to all the registered attendees, after the conference, at no charge. 

3.4 Non or late payment. In case a payment has not been received within 14 days, the registration will be cancelled, and individuals must redo the registration procedure with the then current registration fee.

4 Cancellation and Quality Assurance

4.1 Registration Cancellation

4.1.1All cancellations and changes are to be addressed to the congress secretariat in writing (eas2023@kuonitumlare.com) at any stage prior to or during the event. Changes which result in a partial or full refund are subject to a bank charge fee of € 15.00 per refund. All necessary refunds will be made after the conference (EUR). 
* Until May 21st, 2023: 100% refund less bank charges (15€).
* From May 22nd to June 9th, 2023: An administration fee of 50€ will be charged. Refund less bank charges (15€).
* From June 10th, 2023 : no refund can be made.

Please note that if you do not cancel and do not access the Hybrid Event, you are still responsible for payment. In no event shall KUONI CONGRESS be obligated to refund all or a portion of the registration fee. 

4.1.2 Substitutions can be made at any time by contacting the congress secretariat in writing (eas2023@kuonitumlare.com), except for complimentary registration (if you have been invited to the conference).

4.1.3 Changes in your registration. Participants have the flexibility of changing their registration from online to on-site or vice versa. 
From onsite to online:
* Until May 21st, 2023: Free of charge
* From May 22nd to June 9th, 2023: 30€ administration fee + 15€ bank charge deducted from the refunded amount
* From June 10th, 2023 : a switch is possible but no refund can be made
From online to onsite:
* Until May 21st, 2023: Free of charge
* From May 22nd to June 9th, 2023: Free of charge
* From June 10th, 2023 : 30€ administration fee added to the additional amount

4.1.4 KUONI CONGRESS strives to provide you with the most productive and effective educational experience possible. If after attending the conference you feel there is some way we can improve, please provide us in writing with your comments on the evaluation form after the event. Should you feel dissatisfied with your experience and wish to request a credit or refund, please submit it in writing no later than 10 business days after the end of the Hybrid Event to: Kuoni Congress, avenue des Morgines 12, 1213 Petit-Lancy, Switzerland.

We will evaluate individual complaints in a context of collective comments from the Hybrid Event. As speakers are confirmed months before the Hybrid Event, some speaker changes or topic changes may occur in the program. KUONI CONGRESS is not responsible for speaker changes but will work to ensure a comparable speaker is located to participate in the program.

4.1.5 If KUONI CONGRESS is prevented from carrying out its obligations as it pertains to the Hybrid Event you registered for as a result of any cause beyond its control, or such Hybrid Event cannot be conducted because of a software or issue with the hosting platform or due to acts of God, strikes, labor disputes, government requisitions, restrictions or war or apparent act of war, terrorism, disaster, civil disorder, epidemic or pandemic, curtailment or restriction on transportation facilities, or any other comparable calamity, casualty or condition (collectively a “Force Majeure”) KUONI CONGRESS shall have the right to immediately terminate the affected Hybrid Event without liability and shall be relieved of its obligations to Registrant. If the affected Hybrid Event is terminated due to a Force Majeure occurrence before the first day of the Hybrid Event, then KUONI CONGRESS will reschedule the affected Hybrid Event and your registration fee will be applied to the rescheduled Conference.

4.2 Gala Dinner Cancellation
Cancellation is subject to the entire Gala Dinner fee. The sale price is final. No payments will be refunded or refundable. Participants can transfer their tickect for Gala Dinner to someone else, if they cannot attend. This can be done by writing to the Conference Secretariat (eas2023@kuonitumlare.com) before 31 May 2023. Please note that if you do not cancel and do not attend Gala Dinner, you are still responsible for payment. In no Gala Dinner will happen shall KUONI CONGRESS be obligated to refund all or a portion of the registration fee.

5 Hybrid Event Registration Confirmation

5.1 Once you have completed your registration, you will receive your registration confirmation by email. Please ensure that your valid email is entered correctly on the registration form. Be sure to check your junk email box too in case any of your Hybrid Event email(s) are caught by spam filters.

5.2 You will receive essential information for registered attendees electronically at the email address and mailing address that are provided on your registration form.

5.3 In addition, you will also be added to the Hybrid Event participant list for notifications of future Hybrid Events.

5.4 If you would like to opt-out of any of these benefits, please do so during your registration or contact us via the secretariat email address.

6 INSURANCE & LIABILITY 

• The EAS annual meeting is an event for registered attendees. Connection information to the online tools (e.g. meeting platform, Zoom, Slack etc) should not be shared with non-registered people. When connecting to any of the online tools offered  all attendees should use their own name, and not attempt to misrepresent themselves in any way.

• All attendees are expected to behave professionally and treat each other with respect for the duration of the meeting and in all activities related to it. Ideas and results must be respectfully discussed based solely on their scientific merits. Personal attacks will not be tolerated.

• Appropriate and respectful language should be used by all attendees in their interactions throughout the meeting, onsite, but also in all platforms the conference makes use of, be it video, audio, text and chat form. Participants are advised to be mindful and respectful at all times of cultural differences among the participants.

• Explicit consent from the speaker and the organisers should be sought before publishing of presentation recordings or video clips on any kind of media or platform (scientific publications, on social media, or on conference websites). Posting (a few) slides (or parts thereof) on social media (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc) helps promote scientific discussion and is permitted unless the speaker indicates at the beginning of their talk that they are not comfortable with that.

• Every attendee is expected to make their individual contribution towards a respectful and inclusive meeting climate. Any discriminatory behavior against colleagues on any basis, such as gender, gender identity, race, ethnic background, national origin, religion, political affiliation, age, marital status, sexual orientation, disabilities or any other reason will not be tolerated during the conference and in any event related to it.

• Attendees who witness or are affected by possible violations of the Code of Conduct should use the anonymous form, attaching evidence (e.g., pictures, screenshots) if available. The complaint will be examined by Code of Conduct committee (members listed at the bottom of the message) and action will be taken if the majority concurs that the code has been violated. First infraction will result in a warning, further infractions in revoking of the conference platform connection privileges.

• Please plan your talk in order to be strictly within the planned time. This will ensure that all speakers get the time necessary for their presentations and allow the full time allotted to Q&A.

• Going over time will lead to question time reduction. If you speak through all of the question time, the chair will interrupt you. Use a plain or uniform background for the presentation and preferably a sans-serif (e.g. Arial or Helvetica) font. The colour palette should be chosen to be colour-blind friendly (a simple check can be done using one of the many colour-blind simulator available, e.g. Colblindor).

• Make sure that all key content in the presentation is also relayed in the speech, and not only written in the slides, to allow visually challenged people to follow.

• Use respectful language at all times, in the slides, during your talk, when answering questions. Demeaning, disrespectful or exclusionary language will not be tolerated. Critique ideas and not people.

• Be sure to indicate clearly, by stating it at the beginning of your presentation or writing it on your slides, if you are not comfortable with snapshots of your slides being publicised on social media for the strict purpose of promoting scientific discussion.

• The following practises for chairing are recommended to run a successful meeting while ensuring a good climate and allowing fair participation of minorities and young scientists in the discussion throughout the conference.

• In the introductory remarks of each session, attendees should be reminded of the expectation for respectful language at all times. The chairs should also explicitly encourage young scientists to participate during Q&A sessions.

• If not already familiar with them, chairs are encouraged to acquaint themselves with the pronunciation of the presenters' names before the session. Chairs should remind attendees that recordings or video clips of the presentation cannot be posted/publicised without explicit consent from the speaker and the organisers. They should also mention that if the speaker indicates (either by saying it or better yet writing it on the first or further slides) that they are not comfortable with snapshots being posted or published, attendees should refrain from doing so.

• Chairs are encouraged to be conscious of their biases and avoid preferentially selecting questions coming from the same set of people.

• If a speaker uses language that is disrespectful, aggressive or inappropriate in any way, the chair should interrupt and warn the speaker, and in case of repeated infraction, be prepared to interrupt the presentation.

• Questions that are posed in an aggressive or demeaning manner, or use inappropriate language should be skipped by the chair.

• It is crucial that sessions end on time, as the technical personnel and audiovisual equipment are required to prepare and run the following sessions. 

• Speakers going overtime should have question time reduced, and if they run through all of the question time, they should have their talks terminated. As Q&A is a crucial part of a successful and productive meeting, please make sure that enough time for questions is scheduled and preserved throughout the session.