REGISTRATION POLICY

The Registrar, appointed to a two-year term by the President with the approval of the Executive Board, is responsible for managing New England Archivists’ (NEA) online, in person, and manual registration requests for meetings, workshops, and other events that require registration, and for maintaining relevant attendance statistics.  

Registration takes place in three parts: sign-up, payment, and check-in. In conjunction with the Treasurer, the Registrar manages cash, check, and online payment systems for all on-site registrations.  Additionally, the Registrar works closely with the following committees to ensure that all registration and payment (online, in person, and mailed) activities and transactions are working efficiently and are properly recorded and that deadlines are communicated as needed.

With the Program Committee	sets registration dates, collaborates with Chair to finalize rates, ensures that Plenary speakers are manually registered, communicates meeting needs re: registration, works with Chair to set up volunteer desk staffing for meetings.
With the Education Committee	sets registration dates, collaborates with Education Coordinator to finalize rates, provides updates on registration statistics and waitlists, provides attendee lists for stand alone workshops
With the Communications Committee	works to ensure registration information is communicated to the membership, on the website and via communication channels, provides registration statistics in order to enhance communication strategy, collaborates with graphic designer to ensure all attendees have name badges
With the Vendor Coordinator	manually enters vendor representatives into the database for meeting statistics, ensures that each vendor receives a name badge
With the Treasurer	shares up to date information about outstanding payments, refunds and exceptions, submits receipts for Registration related purchases

For answers to questions regarding how to register please see our Registration FAQ or contact the NEA Registrar at registrar@newenglandarchivists.org.

NEA Sponsored Registration Events

Sign-up for attendees:

All individuals who intend to attend an NEA event requiring registration are expected to sign-up online¹.  This includes any members of the board, Program Committee members, and other NEA volunteers whose attendance is required to support the meeting and excluding individuals who are paid by NEA for their attendance (i.e. plenary speakers and workshop instructors.)  Members are furthermore required to log-in to the membership portal of the NEA website in order to receive the lower member or student member rates to which they are entitled.  

SIGN-UP FOR VENDORS:

Vendors do not sign-up or register to attend NEA events in the same manner as attendees. All arrangements with vendors are handled exclusively by the Vendor Coordinator, including payment for attending or otherwise promoting their products and services to attendees.

In order to maintain accurate attendee records, the Vendor Coordinator will provide the Registrar with a list of all vendors present at NEA events. These names are manually entered by the Registrar into the event’s registration module under the hidden, no charge, category of “vendor.”

SIGN-UP FOR PRESENTERS:

Session presenters, both members and non-members, are required to register (i.e. sign-up, pay, and check-in) to attend the meeting².  As a courtesy, NEA extends the Early-Bird member rate to all presenters, who are expected to complete their registration prior to the expiration of the Early-Bird rate.  Additionally, workshop instructors at three-day meetings may register at the presenter rate if attending the meeting.

A special “Presenter” category will be publicly available on the website for both one- and two-day registration options at the member rates.  Presenters who are eligible for the student or bridge rate may contact the Registrar, if they are not able to access these rates as a member, to be registered manually at the lowest rate for which they are eligible.

Exceptions to the presenter policy will be made at the discretion of the Program Committee chair and the Registrar. Past exceptions have included waiving the fee for individuals who were added to the program last minute, individuals attending only their session or, more rarely, individuals from non-archival fields for whom attendance would be a financial hardship but whose participation will greatly enrich the program.  All exceptions must be agreed upon prior to registration opening.

The Program Committee chair is responsible for providing a list of those whose registration fees are waived to the Registrar and Treasurer. All plenary speakers (i.e. those being compensated by NEA for their participation in the meeting) and any other individuals for whom registration fees will be waived with the approval of the Program Committee will be signed-up manually by the Registrar.  More detailed information on the honoraria policy is contained within the Meeting Manual.

ATTENDEE LIST/MEETING DIRECTORY POLICY:

Upon request, NEA will share contact information (first and last name, organization, email and mailing address) of attendees at semi-annual meetings with the vendors who sponsored those meetings. Attendees may specify on their meeting registration forms that they do not want their contact information shared with vendors.

Per NEA’s privacy policy all external organizations and companies that receive personal information of members must have an appropriate privacy and confidentiality policy in place and agree to neither repurpose nor sell members’ personal information.  

A limited number of paper copies of the meeting attendee list will be available at the registration desk for attendees to view.

WAITING LISTS:

For meetings and workshops that include attendance caps, the Registrar will initiate an online waitlist through Wild Apricot.  This waitlist is first come, first served and will be available to anyone who signs up.  

When a space becomes available, either by another registrant canceling or the attendance cap being raised, the first individual on the waitlist will be offered the open seat, and so on until the cap is once again reached.  The rates charged for registering off the wait-list are those that were in effect when the individual signed up to be placed on the waitlist.  The amount of time each individual is given to accept a seat from the wait-list will be determined by the Registrar based on the depth of the wait-list and proximity to the event in question.

REMITTING PAYMENT:

All individuals planning to attend an NEA event requiring registration are expected to sign-up online and pay the appropriate fee as indicated by the board-approved rate schedule. Exceptions to the categories and set rates may be determined at the discretion of the Registrar and typically are the result of a personal appeal due to financial hardship.

One’s place in a capped meeting or workshop is not considered secure until payment has been received. If payment is not remitted, or other arrangements are not made within two weeks (14 days) of signing up, an email reminder will be sent by the Registrar; a second reminder will be sent the following week (after 7 days). If the registrant does not respond to payment reminders, after an additional week (7 days), the event registration will be canceled.

If payment is received with no corresponding online registration, the Treasurer will coordinate with the Registrar to ensure registration is completed.

Electronic

Upon completion of the online sign-up form registrants will be prompted to pay securely online via PayPal. A PayPal account is not required for this transaction.

Mail-in

Upon completion of the online sign-up form, should registrants choose not to pay securely online via PayPal, they will be provided a prompt to be invoiced.  Registrants can then print out a copy of the invoice and mail it, with a check made payable to New England Archivists, to the current NEA Treasurer's mailing address.

In-person

Walk-in registration is available, during regular registration check in hours³, for any event which does not have an attendance cap or for a capped event which has not reached its attendance quota. NEA can accept all major credit cards, personal and employer cut checks, and cash in-person at the meeting.  For electronic payments made in-person, registrants will have the option to receive an emailed receipt via PayPal, or for check or cash payments an email receipt can be manually generated upon request by the Treasurer.

SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS:

Any NEA member who is awarded a scholarship to attend will be notified by the Award Committee.  Each awardee will receive a check prior to the meeting, from the NEA Treasurer, for the amount awarded. Each member is responsible for registering to attend at the Early-Bird rate.  Should the Early-Bird rate expire prior to the recipient registering, they may be manually registered by the Registrar at the lower Early-Bird rate.

CANCELLATION POLICY:

Member-initiated

NEA will issue a refund minus a $25 cancellation fee for up to 10 days prior to the three-day meeting. For workshops and the fall meeting, NEA will issue a refund minus a $10 cancellation fee for up to 10 days prior to the workshop or meeting. Should a registrant change their registration without cancelling (i.e. reducing their attendance from two days to one day) a full refund of the difference will be offered. All refunds will be sent out within two weeks or in-person at the event, whichever comes first.

Exceptions to the cancellation policy will be made at the discretion of the Registrar.  Past exceptions have included waiving the fee for individuals who have experienced a death in the family, a serious unforeseen illness of the attendee or a dependent, and loss of employment.

NEA Executive Board initiated

On occasion, workshops are canceled due to low registration numbers or if the instructor is no longer able to attend.  In this event the NEA Education Coordinator, with approval from the Executive Board, will cancel the workshop and all registrants will be issued a full refund.

All efforts will be made to hold the spring and fall meetings as planned. However, should the NEA Board be forced to cancel a meeting due to the meeting location defaulting on their agreement to host the meeting or due to the inability of a core number of speakers, NEA Board members, and Program Committee members to attend due to acts of God, government, or the weather, all registrants will be issued a full refund.

CHECK-IN:

Upon arrival at an NEA-sponsored event all registrants are expected to check-in at the registration desk. Any attendee materials, including name badges, programs, and venue maps, are presented at this time. Any outstanding registration issues should also be addressed at this time.

1. Any individual, member or non-member, requiring technological accommodations may contact the Inclusion and Diversity Coordinator or the Registrar directly to be manually registered by the Registrar.
   

2. Per the "Speaker Agreement" signed by all presenters upon acceptance of a session proposal.

3. The Registrar is also available during this time to enroll new members or renew old memberships, and accept donations.

REGISTRATION RATES

WORKSHOPS:

The registration rates of workshops are set according to the following formulas approved by the Executive Board on 06/2014. All registration rates and the dates they are in effect will be published on the NEA website.

For Early-Bird registration non-members pay $15 more than members; student members pay half the member rate rounded to the nearest whole dollar.  For Advanced registration, $20 is added to each Early-Bird rate. There is no bridge rate option for workshops.

Formulas:

Member Rates	Full-day	Half-day
Early Bird	W	w
Advanced	W + $20	w + $20
Student Member Rates	Full-day	Half-day
Early Bird	W/2	w/2
Advanced	W/2 + $20	w/2 + $20
Non-Member Rates	Full-day	Half-day
Early Bird	W + $15	w + $15
Advanced	W + $15 + $20	w + $15 + $20

In the above formula for workshop rates the variables “W” and “w” represent the full- and half-day base rate respectively.

Examples:

Member Rates	Full-day	Half-day
Early Bird	$85	$45
Advanced	$105	$65
Student Member Rates	Full-day	Half-day
Early Bird	$42	$22
Advanced	$62	$42
Non-Member Rates	Full-day	Half-day
Early Bird	$100	$60
Advanced	$120	$80

The current base (Early-Bird member) rate approved by the Executive Board is $85 for a full-day workshop and $45 for a half-day workshop. The base rate may change due to special circumstances but every effort will be made to ensure the rate structure follows the above formula.

Timing:

Workshops generally offer both Early-Bird and Advanced registration rates.  On rare opportunities on-site registration is offered at a nominal increase to the base price, at the discretion of the Education Coordinator.  

Registration (Early-Bird and Advanced) typically opens on a Monday and closes on a Friday or Sunday, Advanced closes at least 4 days prior to the meeting.  In order to avoid opening or closing on major holidays, the registration window may be shortened and/or registration may open on an alternate day of the week.  The total window of time for registration for a stand alone workshop should be 8 weeks, split evenly between Early-Bird and Advanced (or more heavily weighted to Early-Bird if necessary to avoid beginning or ending on a holiday.) Workshops associated with a three day meeting may have a longer registration window in order for the registration dates to match those of the meeting.

Meetings, Three Day

Rates:

The registration rates for three day meetings are set by the Program Committee Chair in conjunction with the Treasurer and according to the following formulas approved by the Executive Board on 06/2014. All registration rates and the dates those are in effect will be published on the NEA website.

For Early-Bird, non-members pay $30 more than members; students pay half the member rate; and bridge members receive a 25% discount from the member rate. The one-day member rate is set at 65% of the Early-Bird member rate.

Formulas: 

Member Rates	2-days	1-day
Early Bird	X	Y
Advanced	X + $20	Y + $20
On-site	X + $30	Y + $30
Member Bridge Rates*	2-days	1-day
Early Bird	X (x) .25 (x) 3	Y (x) .25 (x) 3
Advanced	X (x) .25 (x) 3 + $20	Y (x) .25 (x) 3 + $20
On-site	X (x) .25 (x) 3 + $30	Y (x) .25 (x) 3 + $30
Student Member Rates	2-days	1-day
Early Bird	X/2	Y/2
Advanced	X/2 + $20	Y/2 + $20
On-site	X/2 + $30	Y/2 + $30
Non-Member Rates	2-days	1-day
Early Bird	X + $30	Y + $30
Advanced	X + $30 + $20	Y + $30 + $20
On-site	X + $30 + $30	Y + $30 + $30

* Bridge-rate registration is for NEA members who self-identify as un- or under-employed.  This special rate was an initiative of the membership committee on the behest of the membership, voted on January 13, 2012.

In the above formula for three-day meeting rates the variables “X” and “Y” represent the two-day and and one-day base rate respectively.

Examples: 

Member Rates	2-days	1-day
Early Bird	$115	$75
Advanced	$135	$95
On-site	$145	$105
Member Bridge Rates	2-days	1-day
Early Bird	$86	$56
Advanced	$106	$76
On-site	$116	$86
Student Member Rates	2-days	1-day
Early Bird	$58	$37
Advanced	$78	$57
On-site	$88	$68
Non-Member Rates	2-days	1-day
Early Bird	$145	$105
Advanced	$165	$125
On-site	$175	$135

Timing: 

The three-day meeting offers Early-Bird, Advanced, and on-site registration rates.  

Registration (Early-Bird and Advanced) typically opens on a Monday and closes on a Friday or Sunday; Advanced closes at least 4 days prior to the meeting.  The total window of time for registration for a three-day meeting should be between 11 and 12 weeks, split evenly between Early-Bird and Advanced (or more heavily weighted to Earl-Bird if necessary to avoid beginning or ending on a holiday.)  The on-site registration rates are only available in-person via the Registrar at the time of the meeting during open registration hours.

Meetings, Fall

Rates:

The registration rates for Fall meetings are set by the Program Committee Chair in conjunction with the Treasurer and according to the following formulas approved by the Executive Board on 06/2014. All registration rates and the dates those are in effect will be published on the NEA website. For Early-Bird, non-members pay $15 more than members; students pay half the member rate; and bridge members receive a 25% discount from the member rate. There is no Advanced registration rate for Fall meetings. If on-site registration is enabled, a small increase to the base rate (such as $5) should be added.

Formulas:

Member Rates	Symposium
Early Bird	Z (where Z ⋜ X)
On-site	Z + $5
Member Bridge Rates	Symposium
Early Bird	Z (x) .25 (x) 3
On-site	Z (x) .25 (x) 3 + $5
Student Member Rates	Symposium
Early Bird	Z/2
On-site	Z/2 + $5
Non-Member Rates	Symposium
Early Bird	Z + $15
On-site	Z + $15 + $5

In the above formula for Fall meeting rates, the variable “Z” represents the base rate (which should not exceed 40% of the Early-Bird member rate “X” for the average three-day meeting).

Examples:

Member Rates	Symposium
Early Bird	$35
On-site	$40
Member Bridge Rates	Symposium
Early Bird	$26
On-site	$31
Student Member Rates	Symposium
Early Bird	$17
On-site	$22
Non-Member Rates	Symposium
Early Bird	$50
On-site	$55

Timing:

The Fall meeting offers Early-Bird, and if appropriate, on-site registration rates.  Since Fall meetings typically have an attendance cap, on-site registration will be made available during open registration hours only if the cap has not been reached.  

Early-Bird registration typically opens on a Monday and closes on a Friday or Sunday (at least 4 days prior to the meeting).  The total window of time for registration for a Fall meeting should be between 6 to 8 weeks, to avoid opening and closing on a holiday(s).