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Event Booking Terms and Conditions

This page (together with the documents referred to on it) defines the terms and conditions on which we enable you to make a booking for a place on any of our courses, conferences or seminars (‘Events’) listed in our publications, flyers, e-newsletters, social media and on our Website. Please read these terms and conditions carefully before booking any of our Events. You should understand that by booking any of our Events, you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions.

Please understand that if you refuse to accept these terms and conditions, you will not be able to book any of our Events.

1. Price and Payment

The price of any of our Events are available on our Website. Prices listed are inclusive of VAT (if VAT is applicable) at the prevailing rate unless otherwise stated.

Prices are liable to change at any time, but changes will not affect bookings in respect of which we have already sent you a Booking Confirmation, except in cases of obvious error.

You may pay for your booking online by credit and debit card. Credit and debit card payments made online through our Website are processed by a secure payment collection service. Our online payment processing is undertaken by Sagepay, a leading secure internet payment service provider.

To successfully process your online booking, we will take your name, address and other details and then you will be transferred to a secure page to enter your credit or debit card details and finalise the payment process. Sagepay will need to know certain information about you in order to process payment for the booking and you hereby consent to the transfer by us to Sagepay such information.

Payment shall be due strictly in accordance with our standard invoice terms (thirty days from date of invoice, or prior to the commencement of the Event, whichever is sooner).

We shall be entitled to charge you interest on late payments in accordance with the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 (as amended from time to time).  Please note, we ensure our emails are secure as possible, however, please do not send us payment information using email. You can make a payment over the phone by calling 01865 254760. Unless we are proven to be fraudulent or negligent, we will not be liable to you for any losses caused as a result of unauthorised access to the personal and transactional information that you provide us when making a booking.

2. Special Offers

We reserve the right, from time to time, to run special promotional offers on events. Special Offers may include, but are not limited to, price promotions. In the event of a Special Offer, additional terms and conditions may apply which will be made available at the time of booking.

3. Confirmation of Booking

After making a booking you will receive an e-mail from us acknowledging that we have received your booking request. Please note, your booking is not confirmed until full payment has been received.

The contract between us (‘Contract’) will only be formed when we send you the Booking Confirmation and receive full payment. Should there be a limited number of places at each Event these will be allocated in order of receipt of bookings. 

4. Joining Instructions

You will receive joining instructions confirming timings and venues once your booking has been processed. If you have not received this one week prior to the event please contact us. Prior to contacting us, please ensure you have checked your email inbox as well as your spam and junkmail, just in case the joining instructions have been sent to these inboxes by your email client. 

5. Code of Conduct

The RMS requires all event attendees to abide by a Code of Conduct when attending an RMS event. By agreeing to the terms and conditions of booking you are also agreeing to conduct yourself safely, professionally and respectfully in line with this Code of Conduct.

6. Course/Event Content

We reserve the right to make changes to the published programme of an Event (but not the overall content), for example to timings and/or speakers if one of the advertised speakers is unable to attend. In such cases, you will not be entitled to a refund if you cancel your place. 

7. Course/Event Venue

Our Events are held at a number of venues throughout the world. You acknowledge that we may have to change the published venue for the event for reasons beyond our control and in such cases, you will not be entitled to cancel unless the change in venue represents a significant disadvantage to you.

You are liable for any loss or damage which you may cause to our premises or that of the external venue and agree to adhere to all housekeeping rules, procedures and policies (including policies as to behaviour and conduct) that may be in place at any venue from time to time.

If you have a disability or medical condition that requires special arrangements to be made, or specific dietary requirements, please notify us of your requirements when making your booking. 

8.  Virtual Courses and Events

To allow Society activities, and in particular Events, to continue despite restrictions imposed by COVID 19, the RMS have begun to organise Virtual events. This includes training courses, meetings and large scale conferences. Currently we are using our website and Zoom in order to deliver these events online. Zoom is a GDPR compliant video conferencing platform with full end-to-end encryption.

We have assessed the associated risks of using an online platform and also the implications for GDPR legislations. We have taken advice and we are confident that we have mitigated against any risks associated with using an online platform and have implemented the following measures:

  • All meetings are password protected
  • All meetings use the Zoom waiting room to allow us to screen attendees before they are admitted
  • Attendees are advised not to share the Zoom link
  • A member of RMS staff monitors and is present for the duration of all events
  • We have procedures in place to deal appropriately with any issues and all staff are briefed on this
  • Zoom registration is not used therefore no personal data is passed on to them by the RMS
  • The RMS has the ability to remove any attendee if their behaviour is deemed inappropriate
  • Participants are made aware if the meeting is to be recorded
  • A full DPIA (Data Protection Impact Assessment) has been conducted and was satisfactory

For further information on how Zoom handle personal data and cookies, please visit https://zoom.us/gdpr.

If you have any questions on virtual meetings and how this may affect your personal data, please contact info@rms.org.uk.

9. Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Hours

Some of our courses carry CPD hours. You will be awarded a CPD certificate by speaking to RMS representatives at the event or by emailing the event organiser prior to the completion of the course. CPD hours are only awarded upon completion of the full duration of the Course. 

10. Oour Cancellation and Refund Policy

In-person events

Cancellations received in writing more than one month but less than 3 months before the Event, will be subject to a 50% administration fee. No refunds will be made for cancellations less than one month prior to event or for non-attendance. If cancellation by the delegate is prior to 3 months before the event - the delegate shall be entitled to a refund of fees paid less 10% administration fee. Substitutions received in writing can be made at any time provided that the substitute attendee meets any applicable eligibility criteria for the relevant Event.

Refunds for additional options such as dinners and workshop places when cancelled by the attendee, will be made on a case by case basis. 

We reserve the right at any time and without prior warning to change the venue of the Event and/or Speakers/Chairperson from those described in the programme. We also reserve the right in our absolute discretion, to cancel your booking where we need to do so due to circumstances outside of our control (including, but not limited to, situations where sufficient numbers have not booked for the Event or the speakers are unavailable or cancel the Event or if you are more than 30 days in arrears with any payment due to us, or if it may prejudice our reputation). We shall have no liability for losses or costs which you may incur due to such cancellation but we shall refund your booking payment (in full as soon as possible) or offer you an alternative Event if one is available. You have the choice of accepting the refund, a credit note or attending the alternative Event.

We will usually refund any money received from you using the same method originally used by you to pay for your purchase but reserve the right to refund using an alternative method.

Virtual events

Virtual events often have a much shorter timescale between when booking opens and the event takes place. There are also less individual costs associated with the attendance of a virtual attendee than there are with an in-person one.

In the cases where no additional resources have been purchased for the attendee, such as a licence to use software or to grant access to a platform, or that places were not limited on the number that could attend (e.g. a training course) the RMS intend to provide a full refund if it is requested at least 3 weeks prior to the start of the event.

If the refund is requested for a limited capacity event or training course or if licences have been purchased, the RMS will provide a refund on the condition that we are able to resell the reserved place at the event and that the refund request has been made 3 weeks prior to the event.

11. Rights in Materials

All copyright and other rights (including all intellectual property rights) in materials provided to you during or for the purposes of any of our Events (including, without limitation, course notes, slides, brochures, articles or case studies) are the property of the RMS or of our speakers. You are entitled to use such materials only for your own personal use. You are not entitled to copy such materials (except as permitted by law) nor are you entitled to use or authorise others to use such materials for any commercial purposes.

12. Images

We often take photographs at events for marketing purposes. By attending an event, you are giving us permission to use images in which you may be present. In addition, these images may be shared and stored on third-party platforms. Should you not wish to appear in any images, please notify the RMS representative at the event.

13. Our Liability

Event attendees shall be required to keep their personal belongings with them at all times and we accept no liability for damage to, or loss of, personal belongings. We do not accept any responsibility for any loss (including, without limitation, theft) of any property occasioned on our premises or at external venues save for any damage caused by our negligence in which circumstances our liability shall be limited to the amount of our insurance for such losses.

We will not be responsible to you or any third party for any business loss (including loss of revenue, profits, contracts, anticipated savings, wasted expenditure, data or goodwill) or any other loss or damage which does not result directly from our actions.

Nothing in these online event booking terms and conditions excludes our liability to you for personal injury or death caused by our negligence.

14. Events Outside our Control

The Royal Microscopical Society shall not be liable for the delay or cancellation of an event, if the delay or cancellation is caused by circumstances or events outside our reasonable control. A Force Majeure Event includes any act, event, non-happening, omission or accident beyond our reasonable control and includes (without limitation) the following:

  • Strikes, or industrial action;
  • Riot, terrorist attack or threat of terrorist attack, war;
  • Fire, explosion, storm, flood, earthquake, subsidence, epidemic or other natural disaster;
  • Impossibility of the use of railways, shipping, aircraft, motor transport or other means of public or private transport;
  • Impossibility of the use of public or private telecommunications networks; and
  • The acts, legislation, regulations or restrictions of any government;

Our performance under any Contract is deemed to be suspended for the period that the Force Majeure Event continues. We will use our reasonable endeavours to bring the Force Majeure Event to a close or to find a solution by which our obligations under the Contract may be performed despite the Force Majeure Event.

15. Written Communications

We will contact you by e-mail or provide you with information by posting notices on our Website. For contractual purposes, you agree to this electronic means of communication and you acknowledge that all contracts, notices, information and other communications that we provide to you electronically comply with any legal requirement that such communications be in writing. This condition does not affect your statutory rights.

16. Privacy 

Our Privacy Policy explains how we will use the information which you have provided to us.

17. Publicity

We may use photographs taken at Events in publicity and marketing materials, including use on our Website. Your attendance at an Event may mean that you are featured in such photographs and you are deemed not to object to the taking of such photographs as detailed above. If you do not wish to be included in any photograph, please notify the RMS representative at the relevant Event prior to the photographs being taken.

18. Our Right to Vary these Terms and Conditions

We have the right to revise and amend these terms and conditions from time to time to reflect changes in technology, changes in payment methods, changes in relevant laws and regulatory requirements and changes in our system's capabilities.