General
These Congress terms and conditions (Terms) are for 18th Australasian Federation of Family History Organisations (AFFHO) Congress on Family History, as organised by the New Zealand Society of Genealogists (NZSG) on behalf of the AFFHO, to be held in Wellington, New Zealand on 11-14 February 2027.
These Terms are in addition to any other terms NZSG have in place for the use of NZSG websites.
All amounts are in New Zealand dollars and are inclusive of GST. Credit card fees or surcharges may also be applied in addition to these amounts by your credit card provider. These are beyond our control.
Registration confirmation will be emailed to you at the address provided once payment is received by the NZSG in full.
Payments & Bookings
Attendance at any Congress Event is subject to making full payment prior to the commencement of the Congress.
You will receive a confirmation email with your registration details. Payment must be by credit card, and you will receive your receipt after you complete the registration process and payment.
Your attendance / refunds
If your circumstances change and you can no longer attend the Congress, please contact us to cancel your registration 2027AFFHOCongress@genealogy.org.nz.
Our Congress fee refund policy is as follows:
– Cancellation before or on 22 January 2027: 50% refund of the Event fee
– Cancellation after 22 January: no refund of the Event fee.
Non- attendance on the day of an event is deemed a cancellation, and no refund will be paid.
Compassionate considerations for refunds of Congress fees because of illness, injury, or bereavement will be made at the complete discretion of the NZSG.
Cancellation, Postponement or Change in Format of Congress
The NZSG shall not be responsible for any delay or failure in performance of its obligations in connection with the Congress to the extent such delay or failure is caused by events beyond its reasonable control, such as fire, flood, industrial disturbances, government orders, pandemic, acts of God, acts of terrorism, the availability of the venue or other similar causes which do not arise from any fault on the part of the NZSG or its subcontractors (Force Majeure). If any such events occur, the NZSG may at its sole discretion elect to:
– hold the Congress at an alternative venue; or
– cancel the Congress upon providing written notice to all registered attendees, in which case the NZSG will provide a refund of the fees paid, less any expenses that need to be deducted for NZSG expenses which have already been incurred; or
– run the Congress in an online and On-Demand format only, in which case the NZSG will provide the necessary details to enable you and other attendees to register and participate virtually; or
– postpone the Congress to an alternate date.
By registering for the Congress, you acknowledge and accept the possibility of the Congress being moved to a virtual format and also accept that this will not be valid grounds for requesting a refund of your fee or any other fees, expenses or losses which you may incur as a result of such change. Your registration will be valid for both formats of the Congress.
You agree and acknowledge that cancellation of the Congress pursuant to a Force Majure event will not constitute impossibility of performance or frustration of the agreement between us in connection with the Congress and that in such circumstances, the terms of this section will apply instead of Subpart 4 of the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017 (New Zealand).
In the event the Congress is cancelled or postponed by the NZSG for Force Majeure reasons, the NZSG shall not under any circumstances be liable to attendees for any damages, costs or losses incurred in connection with the Event such as transportation costs, accommodation costs or any other forms of financial loss.
By registering for the Congress, you acknowledge and accept the possibility that speakers may change for reasons beyond the control of the NZSG and also accept that this will not be valid grounds for requesting a refund of your fee or any other fees, expenses or losses which you may incur as a result of such change.
Privacy & Data
Congress registration information will be used for purposes related to your attendance at the Event, including, as applicable, registering your attendance at any social events, processing payments, producing name tags, monitoring attendance, sending you materials and verification of attendance, and for communicating with you about the Congress. The NZSG or AFFHO may also use the information for:
– planning purposes and seeking feedback on the Congress;
– sending information about the next AFFHO Congress.
We may use third parties to provide booking and Event management services and an Event mobile application (App). Please check any third-party privacy policies before providing your personal information to a third party. Any use of an App will be subject to the terms of use for that App.
Audio, video recordings and/or photographs may be taken at the Congress by NZSG or our agents – please refer to the Audio / video recordings/ photography terms below.
We will request your dietary requirement on the registration form. If so, these details will be passed on to the caterers. We will work with our caterers to accommodate any requested dietary needs subject to the caterer’s terms and conditions. We will not be responsible for any accidental breaches of dietary requirements made by caterers.
You have the right to request access to and correction of your personal information held by the NZSG. Further information about how the NZSG handles information, including personal information, is set out in the NZSG’s Information Handling Policy which can be viewed at genealogy.org.nz/Privacy-Policy/10815/ .
Room Spaces
The Congress Venue has three speaking spaces with varying capacities – 300 (LT1), 150 (LT2) and 80 (Mezz3) respectively. There is no reserved seating other than for those with wheelchairs. For health and safety reasons, all delegates (other than those in wheelchairs) must be seated in a provided seat. Once a speaking space is full, there will be no further admittance to delegates.
Some sessions of the Congress will be held in LT1 and then broadcast into LT2 and Mezz3. Access to LT1 will be on first come basis.
Access to LT1 and LT2 is via the ground floor or the mezzanine floor. No entry via the ground floor will be permitted once a presentation has commenced.
Audio / video recordings/ photography
Photographs / videos / audio recordings may be taken by us or on our behalf during the Congress. If you attend the Congress, you may appear in these photographs / videos / audio recordings. You agree that NZSG and/or AFFHO may use them for NZSG and/or AFFHO marketing, promotional or other business purposes, such as NZSG’s communication channels including social media pages.
You may not take any audio or video recording or photographs of all or any part of the Congress without express permission from person or persons being recorded/photographed and any person found doing so without permission will be removed from the Event.
Expectations (i.e. behaviour)
We may, in our sole discretion and without any obligation to refund the Congress fee, restrict or refuse admittance to or remove from the Congress anyone whom in our opinion is behaving in a manner that could be disruptive to the Congress, the presenters or any other attendee, or whose actions may bring the image or reputation of the NZSG, AFFHO, sponsors, exhibitors or the Congress into disrepute. This may include posts on social media.
Lanyard
We will provide name badges / lanyards. They must be worn while attending the Congress. If you fail to wear your Congress name badge and lanyard during the Congress activities, our representatives may refuse to admit you or remove you from the Congress.
Content / No responsibility / liability
The views or opinions expressed by any Congress attendee, presenter, speaker, exhibitor or sponsor are not necessarily those of the NZSG or AFFHO. All Congress attendees, presenters, speakers, exhibitors and sponsors are solely responsible for the content of any and all presentations, advertising and online content.
It may be necessary for reasons beyond our reasonable control to alter the advertised content or to add, replace or substitute advertised presenters. We reserve the right to do this at any time without any obligation or liability to refund any part of the Congress fee.
Health and Safety
The health, safety and wellbeing of event attendees is paramount. Attendees must follow all health and safety instructions and signage at Congress venues. Attendees must always conduct themselves professionally, abide by the venue’s host responsibility policy and exercise good judgement with respect to alcohol consumption at social networking events.
Materials
Materials provided are subject to copyright and may not be duplicated or distributed without the express permission of the speaker who has provided them.
