COVID-19 – Policy and Information Updates

08 March 2021

COVID-19 is impacting the way in which events are able to be run. It’s important that you understand the precautions that we are taking to ensure your safety and what may happen should circumstances change.

What measures are being taken to ensure the safety of participants and to reduce the risk of the spread of COVID-19 at one of our events?

First and foremost, the event will comply with all bio-safe measures being put in place by both federal and state governments to ensure the safety of participants. As well as any regulations and venue policies, the event will look to maintain social distancing, increase sanitisation, decrease congestion in all areas, food service will be altered to minimise contact and to ensure hygiene, attendees will be asked about their health and those with flu-like symptoms may not be permitted to attend. These measures may change in line with the most up to date health advice.

Rest assured, the safety of our attendees, speakers and staff is paramount and as an organisation we will work to ensure the safest environment possible.

What happens if government regulations or restrictions related to COVID-19 limit or prohibit me from attending in person? 

If your ability to attend the event live is impacted by government restrictions and you decide that you do not want to experience the event virtually, or if the event is postponed and you are unable to make the new dates, you will be able to transfer the full value of your registration to a colleague or to a future event.

We recognise there is uncertainty around registering for live events right now. You want to be able to plan ahead, register and benefit from the Early Bird savings but you are cautious in case borders shut, local lockdowns mean the event is postponed or other government regulations impact your attendance.

We understand. And whilst we can only run events in the current climate according to the information we have at the time, we can give you a Book with Confidence value guarantee that will ensure the value of your investment is fully realised.

As an organisation we strongly believe that face-to-face is yet to be replaced by virtual and our preference is to be able to run events live. However, at the time of the event, if government regulations/restrictions related to COVID-19 restrict or prohibit the ability of certain delegates to attend in person, where possible, we will either postpone the event or run a hybrid event (both live and virtual) to facilitate the virtual attendance of impacted attendees. The virtual experience would include a live stream and a recording of the sessions, made available to impacted attendees. If the live component is prohibited and a postponement is not viable, the event will run fully virtually.

Our Book with Confidence value guarantee:

If your ability to attend an event live is impacted by government restrictions and you decide that you do not want to experience the event virtually, or if the event is postponed and you are unable to make the new dates, you will be able to transfer the full value of your registration to a colleague or to a future event.

We appreciate your understanding and flexibility during this challenging time for the events industry and we look forward to continuing to connect organisations and provide critical business content to our community.

If you require any additonal information, please don't hesitate to contact us:

E-mail: info@questevents.com.au
Customer Service Hotline: +61 (0)2 9977 0565

05 May 2020

Further to earlier advice below, all events scheduled to take place between now and 31 August 2020 have been moved online (to be delivered as virtual events) or postponed to a later date.

If you have booked on to an event originally scheduled within this timeframe, you (or your booking contact) will have been sent further information regarding these changes via email. Keep updated with our rescheduled dates and format changes by visiting our homepage, where the details of all events are listed.

If you require any additonal information, please don't hesitate to contact us:

E-mail: info@questevents.com.au
Customer Service Hotline: +61 (0)2 9977 0565

We appreciate your understanding during this challenging time. We are closely monitoring developments and we will provide further updates as things change.

25 March 2020

As the situation with COVID-19 worsens, we have taken action and either changed the delivery method and/or postponed all of our events scheduled to take place between now and 31 May 2020. 

We are taking this action not only for the health and safety of our customers, but for our team members, venues and partners.

If you have booked on to an event originally scheduled within this timeframe, you (or your booking contact) will have been sent further information regarding these changes via email. Keep updated with our rescheduled dates and format changes by visiting our homepage, where the details of all events are listed.

If you require any additonal information, please don't hesitate to contact us:

E-mail: info@questevents.com.au
Customer Service Hotline: +61 (0)2 9977 0565

We appreciate your understanding during this challenging time. We are closely monitoring developments and we will provide further updates as things change.

13 March 2020

Quest Events has been constantly monitoring the evolving situation in relation to the impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Due to concerns regarding the spread of COVID-19, its implications for corporate travel and the recent ban on gatherings of more than 500 people, certain events may be rescheduled. Further information on each event will be posted on the event's homepage. Please visit these sites regularly for updates and we will also send updates via email to all registered attendees.

11 March 2020

With the Federal Health Minister advising business as usual, Quest Events’ events are very much open for business.

We will continue to closely monitor developments and directives regarding COVID-19 from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the relevant Australian authorities to ensure the safety of all our event attendees and staff.

Event attendance guidelines:

• Do not attend the event if:
o You have travelled to mainland China, Italy, Iran or South Korea within the last 14 days
o You have been in direct or indirect contact with a confirmed (Coronavirus) COVID-19 case in the past 14 days

• In line with official advice, we are not recommending that face masks need to be worn at event venues
• In line with official advice, we advise against handshakes and hugs at the event

Safety is our priority – any attendee who does not meet the criteria for entry in regards to Coronavirus (COVID-19) will be denied access. Attendance can be transferred to a colleague who is well enough to attend.

In following the advice from the Australian Department of Health and the World Health Organisation, Quest Events has implemented many measures to help mitigate the spread of (Coronavirus) COVID-19 and is continuing to add other actions as advised. Quest Events has many years’ experience staging live events and has an effective crisis management protocol in place. We will remain vigilant and continue to monitor the situation daily, responding appropriately to protect the health and safety of our attendees and staff.

Note: where it is an organisation’s policy to not allow their employees to attend, Quest Events is unable to offer refunds.

At the event

We are working closely with all of our event venues to ensure all precautionary health and safety measures are taken. Enhanced measures in place at our events include:
• Contactless health and travel screening of attendees at our events (delegates, sponsors, exhibitors, speakers, media etc.) via verbal health and travel screening upon entry
• Increased cleaning and disinfection programme across all high-volume touchpoints, e.g. catering areas, surfaces, handrails, WCs, entrances/exits etc. along with the use of correct cleaning/sanitising materials and products
• Awareness campaign via online and onsite info-share
• Provide hand sanitiser in communal areas within the venue
• Awareness and training to all staff on standard personal preventative measures, e.g. personal hygiene, frequency of use of sanitising/disinfection products etc.
• Work with the venue to ensure all surfaces are regularly sanitized
• Sanitise all microphones and lecterns after each use
• Request that any attendee who starts to experience cold or flu-like symptoms at the event lets a member of staff know and seeks medical attention as soon as possible. Attendance can be transferred to a colleague who is well enough to attend

What if I have concerns about development of symptoms onsite?

Our central point of contact will be at the registration desk, which is always staffed during event hours. In the case of a potential symptomatic individual, once detection has occurred, venue staff (in consultation with Quest Events) will escort the individual to an isolation room. The individual will then be asked to contact their doctor for further advice. Attendees from overseas may also be referred to the nearest hospital for further assessment.

Recommendations to help prevent the spread of respiratory diseases like (Coronavirus) COVID-19

The following guidelines are set out in accordance with the WHO and the Australian Government:
• Frequently clean hands by using alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
• When coughing and sneezing, cover mouth and nose with flexed elbow or tissue – throw the tissue away immediately and wash hands
• Avoid close contact with anyone who has a fever and cough or is sick
• Stay home if you are sick
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces
• If you have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing seek medical care early and share previous travel history with your health care provider

We urge our attendees to refer to the guidelines and protocols as suggested by The Australian Department of Health and the World Health Organisation.

Further resources on COVID-19 and attending events:
https://www.ufi.org/industry-resources/coronavirus/ 
https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/alerts/Pages/coronavirus-faqs.aspx#sec1

CONTACT INFORMATION
E-mail: info@questevents.com.au
Customer Service Hotline: +61 (0)2 9977 0565