By registering for GSA 2024 Annual Scientific Meeting, attendees agree to GSA’s terms and conditions as listed below.

GSA 2024 Annual Scientific Meeting Terms and Conditions

Payments
Registration online or onsite in Seattle, WA must be completed with a credit card only. No purchase order, cash, or billing accepted.

Early Bird Rate
To qualify for any “early bird” rates or discounts, booking and payment must be received before the deadline date of September 1, 2024, 11:59 PM ET.?

Cancellation Policy
Cancellation requests received by October 13, 2024, will be refunded minus a $25.00 nonrefundable cancellation fee. After October 13, 2024, no refunds will be issued for any reason (e.g., COVID-19, illness, etc.). Refund requests for the cancellation fee will not be considered regardless of the registration category, amount paid, or when requested. GSA registration is non-transferrable. No-shows to the GSA 2024 meeting will not be refunded regardless of the reason, including conflicts that arise with a registrant's schedule, (e.g., late arrivals or early departures) does not constitute a reason for a full or partial refund. A submitted online registration serves as acknowledgment, acceptance, and agreement of this cancellation policy. All cancellation requests will be processed within 15 business days of receipt and back on the original form of payment.

Photographs and Videos
The taking of photographs, videos, or audio recording is prohibited during all GSA sessions.

Conference Anti-Harassment Policy
Gerontological Society of America (GSA) is the nation’s oldest and largest interdisciplinary membership organization devoted to research, education, and practice in the field of aging. GSA assembles professionals from around the world at its conferences and its Annual Scientific Meeting to foster collaborations and support its mission to cultivate excellence in interdisciplinary aging research and education to advance innovations in practice and policy.

GSA embeds diversity, equity, and inclusion as fundamental principles and practices across the Society. GSA is committed to providing a safe and welcoming environment for all participants, regardless of actual or perceived gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, ability, socioeconomic status, age, or religion. “Participant” refers to anyone present at a GSA conference, including staff, contractors, vendors, exhibitors, venue staff, GSA members, and all registered attendees.

Expected behavior:

• All participants of any GSA conference will be expected to abide by this safety plan in all meeting venues including ancillary events and official and unofficial gatherings.
• All participants of any GSA conference will be expected to abide by the norms of professional respect necessary to promote conditions for free and open academic interchange.
• If potential harm to a meeting participant is witnessed, all conference participants are encouraged to be proactive in helping to mitigate or avoid that harm.

The following behaviors will be considered harassment and will not be tolerated:

• Words, signs, jokes, pranks, physical contact, epithets, slurs, negative stereotyping, or intimidating acts;
• Written or graphic material circulated or posted in the venue that shows hostility toward people due to their Protected Category;
• Use of threatening reprisals after a negative response to sexual advances;
• Visual conduct such as leering, making sexual gestures, or displaying sexually suggestive objects, pictures, cartoons, or posters;
• Verbal conduct such as making derogatory comments, sexually explicit jokes, or comments about an individual’s body or dress;
• Verbal abuse of any kind, graphic verbal commentary about an individual’s body, sexually degrading words describing an individual, or suggestive or obscene letters, notes, or invitations;
• Physical conduct such as touching, assault, or impeding or blocking movement;
• Retaliation for reporting harassment or threatening to report harassment.
• Offensive and unwelcome sexual invitations, whether or not the individual submits to the invitation;
• Offensive and unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature, including sexually graphic spoken comments, offensive comments transmitted by e-mail or other messaging system, offensive or suggestive images or graphics (whether physically present in the venue or accessed over the Internet), or the possession of or use of sexually suggestive objects;
• Offensive and unwelcome physical contact of a sexual nature, including the touching of another’s body, the touching or display of one’s own body, or any similar contact; and
• Improper use of e-mail, voice mail, and other electronic messaging systems, or the Internet, including any message or graphic that may be offensive based on any Protected Category, sending or forwarding so-called humor containing items that could be offensive, especially in terms of any Protected Category.

Procedure on how to confidentially report alleged violations of the expectations of behavior:

GSA’s procedures for addressing alleged violations of the expectations of behavior applies to all participants of any GSA conference, for the duration of, and after the meeting, and its associated events. All reports will be handled confidentially. Participants will be encouraged to reach out to our meeting organizer, Eugenia Bachaleda at 202-587-2844 or ebachaleda@geron.org, and the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) (https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/filing-a-complaint/index.html) if they have any questions, concerns or complaints related to alleged violations of the aforementioned expected behaviors. Participants will be provided with contact information and instructions via our communication plan.

GSA is dedicated to a harassment-free experience for all meeting participants. GSA staff will not tolerate harassment of meeting participants in any form and will review and respond to reports of harassment. GSA strongly respects an individual’s interest in confidentiality and will handle all reports with sensitivity. Information related to a report will only be disclosed on a need-to-know basis for investigation. The consequences for alleged violations will be determined by factors including the immediacy of the threat to annual meeting attendees and the severity and frequency of the alleged violation.

Participants are not required to file a complaint with the meeting organizer before filing a complaint of discrimination with HHS OCR and seeking assistance from the meeting organizer in no way prohibits filing complaints with HHS OCR. At NIH’s Find Help webpage, participants can report concerns of harassment, including sexual harassment, discrimination, and other forms of inappropriate conduct.

Websites & Links
The GSA2024.org and associated GSA websites may link to other websites and networking tools provided for the convenience of the users. The contents of these websites are maintained by their owners, for which GSA takes no responsibility. GSA shall have no responsibility or liability for the contents of or use of information contained in any website linking to this website.

Insurance
It is the responsibility of the attendee to arrange appropriate insurance they may desire in connection with their attendance at the conference. GSA shall not be liable for any loss, liability or damage to personal property.

Photographs, Publicity Material, Radio, Television, and Print Media?
GSA reserves the sole right to use any photographs, recordings, electronic images or publicity material received by or obtained by GSA in the course of the event, for whatever use deemed proper by GSA. GSA has the exclusive right to include photographic, video and other visual portrayals of Attendees, Sponsors, Exhibitors and their Exhibits including its contents, in any pictorial medium of any nature whatsoever for the purpose of trade, advertising, sales, publicity and otherwise, without compensation to the Attendee, Speaker, Sponsor or Exhibitor, and all rights titled and interest bearing (including all worldwide copyrights therein) will be GSA’s sole property, free of any claims of Attendee, Speaker, Exhibitor or Sponsor or any persons deriving any rights or interest from the Attendee, Speaker, Exhibitor or Sponsor.

Hotel, Meetings and Hospitality Functions
Attendee agrees that Attendee will not, nor will Attendees, employees or representatives conduct any type of function in the Facility or any participating hotel’s meeting rooms, public areas, hospitality suites, or suites during GSA events such as The President's Opening Plenary Session, GSA Business Meeting, the Donald P. Kent and Robert W. Kleemeier Award Lectures, and Exhibit Hall hours without the prior written consent of GSA, which may be withheld in GSA’s sole and absolute discretion.

Visa Requirements / Invitation Letter
It is the Attendee’s sole responsibility to take care of visa requirements. If you require an entry visa, you must allow sufficient time for the visa application procedure. Your registration details might be shared with the immigration authorities to assist in the immigration process. However, GSA will not contact embassies and consulates on your behalf. To receive an invitation letter for the conference, you must first register and pay the registration fees in full. Once registered, contact meetings@geron.org to request an invitation letter.

Admittance
In its sole discretion and without refund, GSA reserves the right to refuse admittance to or expel from the conference anyone that it determines is behaving in a manner that could be disruptive to the conference or any other Attendee. Attendee consents and agrees that in such event, it shall not be entitled to a refund of any portion of the amounts paid.

While onsite, Attendee agrees to comply with all health and safety regulations regarding current public health guidelines. You acknowledge the health risk associated with a virus outbreak, and the risk of exposure or infection. By attending the event in-person you acknowledge these risks and assume all associated liabilities.

Disclaimer?
GSA may at any time, with or without giving notice, in its absolute discretion and without giving any reason, change, cancel or postpone the conference, change its venue or any of the other published particulars, or withdraw any invitation to attend. In any case, neither GSA nor any of its officers, employees, agents, members or representatives shall be liable for any loss, liability, damage or expense suffered or incurred by any person, nor will they return any money paid to them in connection with the conference unless they are satisfied not only that the money in question remains under their control, but also that the person who paid it has been unfairly prejudiced, about which the decision shall be in their sole and unfettered discretion and, when announced, final and conclusive.

Force Majeure
GSA shall not be held responsible or liable for any delay or failure in performance of its obligations hereunder to the extent such delay or failure is caused by fire, flood, earthquakes, hurricanes, unseasonably extreme inclement weather, strikes, labor disputes, inability to secure sufficient labor, civil, governmental or military authority, government requisitions, restrictions or regulations on travel, facility availability, commodities or supplies, civil disturbance, transportation, acts of God, acts of terrorism or threats of terrorism, acts of war, accidents, epidemics, disasters, the unavailability of the Venue or any other cause beyond its reasonable control. In any such event, GSA may postpone, reschedule or cancel the event without liability on the part of GSA. In the event the conference cannot be held or is postponed pursuant to this section, GSA shall not be liable to attendee for any damages, costs, or losses incurred, such as transportation costs, accommodations costs, or financial losses.

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