Attendance and Payment:

1. All persons attending the banquet must pay full price for admission (either member or non-member, as applicable). If an attendee does not plan to eat a meal, he/she is still required to select a meal (1), and pay the full attendee price (2). Adding a comment that he/she does not plan to eat will not avoid a full admission fee. 
2. The “Flex Firm Membership” discount does not apply to banquet admission (3). Non-members pay the non-membership price, and members get the discounted membership price. No other discounts apply.
3. After the published registration deadline, the meal order will be placed with the venue, and there will be no refunds (4).
4. Registrants who register but do not pay prior to the published deadline run the risk of not being included in the meal order, and of not being admitted to the banquet (5). If a registrant is included in the meal count sent to the venue, and as a result the organization incurs a cost, efforts will be made to collect that cost, regardless of whether or not the registrant is able to attend (4).
5. If a registrant is unable to attend after making timely payment for the meal and the meal has been ordered, that registrant can send another attendee in their place if they give notice to PWC prior to banquet check-in time. If a non-registered attendee appears claiming to be a replacement for a paid registrant, the registrant’s consent, or that registrant’s failure to appear, must be confirmed prior to meal service.
6. If a registrant appears who has not previously paid, they will be admitted so long as a meal is available, and a specific arrangement is made with a Board member for payment to be made within a week following the banquet.

Door prizes and promotions:

1. Promotional material distributed at the banquet is limited to the following (6):
   1. Pre-approved door prizes
   2. Business cards or other small cards or tokens associated with an accepted (by BOD) “in kind” donation, such as table centerpieces, speaker, caterers, etc.
   3. Business cards or flyers associated with sanctioned banquet vendors (e.g., background musicians, speakers, etc.).
   4. Emerald or Diamond sponsors will be provided with table space to place promotional materials.
2. All promotional material or displays must be approved by banquet chair person, and are also subject to approval or disapproval by a majority vote of the Board (6).
3. Business cards of each attendee may be distributed person-to-person by that attendee, as a function of networking.
4. Door prizes for the banquet must be of a value of $50 or greater, and arranged with the banquet chair person or committee in advance. We try to limit door prizes to three for the evening (7).

Footnotes – Explanations/Rational:

1. Selection of a meal is required as opposed to “no meal” in order to avoid confusion, and to avoid people assuming that signing up for attendance only, in an attempt to get free or discounted admission, is an option. This is because the venue has to set up space for that person, whether they are served a meal or not, and a cost is incurred to the organization. Additionally, if that option is opened up to one, even at a deeply discounted price, the organization would need to open up that option to all who wish to attend under those conditions, resulting in decreased compensation for the organization to offset other banquet costs. There would also be a “checker board” of eaters and non-eaters throughout the room, causing additional work for serving staff. It would also require policing of our guests to ensure that food is not consumed without full payment. There are also webform programming considerations associated with this requirement.
2. Allowing a “no meal” option would significantly reduce the revenue generated to off-set the minimum cost of the venue, including seating, appetizers, speaker, etc., and would not sufficiently address the cost per attendee for the event.
3. We have traditionally excluded the banquet from the Send a Co-worker discount in order to preserve the banquet discount as a privilege of membership.
4. Once the order is placed with the venue, usually the close of business of the registration deadline, PWC is obligated to pay for all meals ordered; therefore refunds cannot be issued after this time.
5. It would be preferable to collect all admission fees beforehand, so that no uncovered cost is incurred by the organization. Should payment not be received, and the organization discovers this before placing the final meal order, the organization preserves the right of not incurring that expense by eliminating that meal order from the final count. Should this not be discovered until after the meal order is placed, the organization preserves the right to request payment for this expense, even after the event.
6. This is to allow the organization to control use of the rented space, and to avoid the banquet from being overrun by flyers, posters, etc.
7. This is to avoid constant disruptions throughout the evening for door prizes of varying value.