Event Guidelines

Code of Conduct, Privacy Policy & Cancellation Policy

Updated October 2024

Code of Conduct

Wao aims to maintain a safe environment for all participants, speakers, partners, facilitators and volunteers at our events. This Code of Conduct has been developed with this objective in focus.

Wao promotes great ideas and great questions, interesting analyses and robust, constructive, respectful discussion. Questions and comments at our events should be positive and apolitical where we respect each other and our ideas. 

This code of conduct is in place to protect all participants, our partners, speakers, volunteers and event organisers from language and behaviour that can cause harm. The following ground rules have been set out that we ask participants of Wao events to abide by:

  • Treat the volunteers, event organisers and speakers with respect. 

  • Allow speakers to present their material and speak only when asked to (such as during a question and answer session, and when you have been selected to ask your question).

  • Please ask questions rather than make statements, and ask only questions that are relevant to the session and that are not aggressive or intimidating towards speakers.

Should you, as a ticket holder or participant of any Wao events act in any way that is detrimental to any of our speakers, event organisers, volunteers or other participants then we have the right to ask you to leave the event and ban from future Wao events with no refunds or compensation for your ticket.

This applies to ticketed as well as free events organised by Wao. By choosing to participate in our events, you accept to abide by our Code of Conduct.

Privacy Policy

Wao values your privacy and takes every measure necessary to protect it. We only collect and use your personal information as outlined below.

Who is Wao?

Wao is a community non-profit set up to educate, inspire and enable New Zealand communities to move towards a regenerative future. 

Our website address is: https://wao.co.nz/

Any questions about this privacy policy can be sent to kiaora@wao.co.nz


Media

Your privacy is important to us. If your image is captured as part of a crowd your image may be used in Wao promotional and advertising materials. If your portrait or a close-up image is taken, the photographer will seek your permission for use in Wao promotional and advertising material. You have full rights to deny permission for the use of said images. 

Filming and photography at any Wao events will not be sold elsewhere and will be used for Wao promotional purposes only. These images may be shared in advertising materials to third parties outside of Wao.

If you have any questions or concerns, please get in touch with kiaora@wao.co.nz 

Personal information we collect

We may collect personal information from you, including your name, email address, postal code and telephone number. We may collect this information when you fill in our forms, contact us with an enquiry, respond to a survey, subscribe to our newsletter or otherwise communicate and correspond with us.

How we use your personal information

We use the personal information we collect in order to identify you, respond to your enquiries, provide our services, process payments and for other administrative or communications purposes. You will only receive newsletters via email from us if you opt-in to receive them, and you may opt-out at any time by following the unsubscribe instructions provided in each email.

We only use the personal information we collect for the purposes specified above. We only retain your personal information for as long as we need it to fulfil the purpose for which it was collected or as otherwise required by law.

Giving us personal information is optional

You do not have to provide your personal information to us. But if you choose not to, we may not be able to respond to your inquiries, provide our services or communicate with you.

Other information we collect

We use Cookies, Google Analytics and similar technologies to collect information about traffic patterns to, from and within our website, including number of visitors to our website, number of page views, time spent on our website, browser types and common entry and exit points to and from our website. We use this information to understand the effectiveness of our communications and to improve the functionality, structure and performance of our website. This information does not personally identify you. If you allow them to, we may also use Cookies (and similar technologies) to enable content, store and manage your preferences on our website and deliver targeted communications.

How we share your personal information

We will not sell or rent your personal information to any third parties, ever.

Access to information, and correction and deletion of information

You have the right to ask for a copy of the personal information that we hold about you, and to ask for it to be corrected if you believe it is wrong or deleted if you believe we no longer have a reason to hold it. In order to comply with any of your requests, we may ask you to verify your identity. We will respond to all legitimate requests within a reasonable period of time.

Security of your personal data

We take all reasonable steps in accordance with standard industry practice to protect your personal information and prevent it from being lost, accessed, used, modified or disclosed in an unauthorised way, including storing information on secure servers.

Changes to this privacy policy

We may change this privacy policy at any time by posting changes on our Website.

International privacy laws

If you access our website from outside of New Zealand, please be aware that you are sending information (including personal information) to New Zealand where our servers are located. New Zealand may not have data protection laws as comprehensive or protective as those in your country of residence.

Embedded content from other websites

Articles on Wao website may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

Who do we share this information with?

Personal information collected will not be shared with any third parties without your authorisation or consent.

Cancellation Policy

When purchasing a ticket for one of our events, please familiarise yourself with the event’s cancellation policy in Humanitix, our ticketing platform.