Exhibitor Booth Health and Safety Guidelines

ASTRO is facilitating measures that seek to ensure optimal health and sanitary conditions in all environments where in-person interactions take place during the 2021 ASTRO Annual Meeting. To assist in ensuring the safety of all attendees and exhibitors ASTRO will be requiring all attendees and exhibit booth personnel to attest that they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 prior to their attendance. In cases of a valid medical or religious exemption, a negative PCR COVID-19 test within 72 hours of arrival to the convention center will be required.  In addition, all attendees and exhibitor booth personnel will be required to wear a mask while in the convention center, Exhibit Hall and on shuttle buses, except while eating or presenting. The following are recommendations and/or mandatory requirements for your exhibit booth planning. As conditions continue to evolve in Chicago, ASTRO will monitor CDC guidelines and federal, state and local recommendations and will update these Exhibitor Booth Health and Safety Guidelines and/or implement additional guidelines and/or health and safety measures, as appropriate. The most up-to-date guidance can be found online at www.astro.org/safety and www.astro.org/boothsafety.

ASTRO Annual Meeting Health and Safety Protocols and Measures
For anyone attending the ASTRO Annual Meeting in Chicago, it is imperative that they adhere to all safety protocols to ensure the health and wellbeing of other registrants attending the event. All attendees, including exhibitor booth personnel, will be required to agree to and abide by the ASTRO Attendee Policies,  and the ASTRO Annual Meeting Health and Safety Protocols and Measures, including the below COVID-19 Assumption of Risk, Waiver and Compliance Commitment. Exhibitors should share this important information with and oversee compliance of all booth personnel and exhibitor appointed contractors in advance of the meeting to ensure all who are attending and/or working on behalf of the exhibitor are aware of and comply with all policies, including the health and safety protocols for the event.

General Venue Protocols
The McCormick Place has received GBAC STAR^TM Service accreditation from the Global Biorisk Advisory Council, a division of ISSA – the leading trade association for the cleaning industry worldwide. GBAC STAR accredited facilities have demonstrated that appropriate work practices and procedures are in place for cleaning, disinfecting and infection prevention. Visit the McCormick Place website to learn more about cleaning procedures and other safety and health protocols that have been implemented.

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General Exhibit Hall Protocols
In addition to the above convention center protocols, ASTRO seeks to take the following additional steps inside the Exhibit Hall in an effort to provide a safe environment to conduct business while facilitating physical distancing, minimizing aisle congestion and promoting healthy hygiene amongst all who visit the show floor.

• COVID-19 vaccinations are required for attendance. In cases where an attendee or exhibitor has a valid medical or religious exemption, a negative PCR COVID-19 test within 72 hours of arrival to the convention center will be required.
• Masks are required to be worn while in the convention center, Exhibit Hall and on ASTRO shuttle buses. Attendees and exhibitors should bring their own mask. A limited number of masks will be available on-site.
• The Exhibit Hall layout has been reconfigured with wider aisles and space between inline 10 x 10 ft. booths to assist with traffic flow, mitigate congestion and facilitate physical distancing while on the show floor.
• Signage will be placed at entrance of Exhibit Hall and in key traffic points to promote physical distancing and healthy hygiene reminders.
• Hand sanitizing stations will be placed throughout the Exhibit Hall.
• A dedicated Exhibitor Lounge will be located in the rear of the Exhibit Hall for exhibitor booth personnel.
• Exhibitors will also have the option to order enhanced cleaning and disinfection services for their booths from GES.
• Exhibitors may institute additional appropriate and legal health and safety measures within their own booth.

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Physical Distancing within Booth
ASTRO is committed to following physical distancing requirements in order to facilitate safe interaction between attendees and exhibitors. Current physical distancing guidelines recommend that individuals maintain a 6-foot space from one another. This physical distancing guideline equates to approximately 28 square feet (2.6 square meters) per person. Please use the following formula to determine the maximum number of attendees recommended within your booth, when physical distancing is required:

 
Example for a 10 x 10 foot booth: 100 sq. ft. ÷ 28 sq. ft. = Maximum of 3.5 people within booth at any given time.

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Booth Design Considerations
ASTRO recommends that exhibitors consider the following when planning their booth design: 

• Design your booth with one-way traffic flow in mind. Consider the attendee journey and provide floor directional signage to assist with booth flow, queues and physical distancing reminders.
• Position a host counter at key entrance points within your booth, so host can advise attendees of safety protocols, direct attendees to appropriate booth personnel and monitor booth traffic density.
• Designate additional space within your booth where attendees gather for product demonstrations or presentations to help attendees feel comfortable and at ease when visiting your booth.
• Limit attendee handling and/or self-testing of products. In instances where attendees may need to touch or engage with an exhibitor’s products, allow for adequate time between use for cleaning and sanitization of products.
• Restrict the operation of electronic and interactive displays solely to exhibit booth personnel if such displays cannot be properly cleaned and sanitized between attendee use.
• Include plexiglass dividers or other types of partitions in areas where individuals will be in close contact, e.g., a host desk.
• Select furniture that allows for upholstery and surfaces to be easily cleaned.
• Consider developing electronic marketing materials that utilize QR codes for easy sharing at your booth based on attendee’s interests.
• Provide one-time use pens that are individually wrapped as a giveaway in case attendee needs to take notes.

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Booth Cleaning and Sanitation
While ASTRO seeks to implement the protocols outlined in the above section titled, “General Exhibit Hall Protocols,” it will be each exhibitor’s responsibility to maintain a clean and sanitized booth area for safe attendee interaction. Per McCormick Place’s cleaning procedures, exhibitors are responsible for the following recommended or mandatory cleaning practices within their booths: 

• Hand sanitizer must be available in each exhibitor’s booth. Exhibitors may also want to consider leaving disinfectant wipes or spray in each touchable area of their booth to facilitate and encourage visitors to wipe down all surfaces and equipment. 
• Furniture and high touch points (e.g., handrails, door handles, trash/recycling containers) should be disinfected each day and throughout the day. Exhibitors may want to consider eliminating some attendee touch points to minimize areas that will need to be routinely cleaned. 
• Floor cleaning and disinfecting for hard surfaces and carpeting is recommended. Exhibitors must order cleaning services for vacuuming, mopping, waxing or shampooing floor surfaces via GES. 
• Exhibitors are encouraged to leave time in between planned presentations to thoroughly clean the presentation/theater space. 
• Exhibitors will have the option to order enhanced cleaning and disinfection services for their booth through GES. 

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Booth Personnel Training and Etiquette
As the Annual Meeting may be the first in-person event that many ASTRO members attend since the onset of COVID-19, a new form of etiquette will be key to ensure that both attendees and exhibitors feel comfortable interacting safely without overstepping personal boundaries. It will be important that all exhibitors educate and train their booth personnel on how to engage attendees in a safe manner while adhering to physical distancing and other safety protocols in effect at the time of the meeting. Below are some suggested topics that we recommend you incorporate into your booth personnel training: 

• All booth personnel should read and be familiar with the ASTRO Annual Meeting Health and Safety Protocols and Measures that ALL attendees must adhere to while attending the meeting. 
• Train your personnel on safety protocols, such as no hand shaking or other physical contact, prior to the event without consent. 
• Conduct daily briefings with booth personnel on physical distancing protocols and attendee engagement etiquette, such as no shaking hands without consent, exchange of business cards, etc.
• Assign a host at the entrance to your booth to greet and direct attendees to specific areas within your booth. This will make attendees more comfortable and set the tone for what one can expect in terms of physical distancing, safety protocols, etc. while exploring your booth. 

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On-site Operational Recommendations
Below are some on-site operational recommendations that exhibitors may want to consider.

• Begin each shift and/or each day with a safety briefing and reminders about meeting safety protocols.
• Clean and disinfect shared equipment, tools, etc., prior to it changing hands and at the end of every shift.
• Consider staggering schedules for booth personnel to limit the number of booth personnel taking breaks, lunch, etc. at any given time.
• Exhibitors may want to stagger labor calls in order to limit congestion within booths.

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Exhibitor Rules
In addition to these Exhibitor Booth Health and Safety Guidelines, exhibitors are reminded that they must abide by the Exhibitor Rules, Regulations and Policies and requirements and specifications provided in the Exhibitor Prospectus, the Exhibitor Resource Center, the Exhibitor Service Manual and by any amendments that may be put into effect by ASTRO.

Last updated: 5/13/2022 2:17:45 PM