Moke Round Up COVID update - please read

[Newie]

IMPORTANT UPDATE - PLEASE READ!!!

With the announcement of further relaxing of the COVID restrictions today, it is looking very much like the 2020 Tamowrth Moke Round Up may well be going ahead!

We are of course mindful that things can still change unbelievably quickly in the current climate, but we are certainly proceeding with the planning optimistically and on the assumption that the event will happen.

Naturally, we will still need to make some concessions to the "new normal" and at a minimum, the following will apply:

1. We will only be going ahead with the event if we are able to do so fully within the letter of the law at the time (should go without saying, but we're saying it anyway). That said, IF WE CAN LEGALLY RUN THE EVENT AT THE TIME, IT WILL BE GOING AHEAD!!

2. We will expect all attendees to respect whatever hygiene, social distancing and other measures which may be recommended at the time, especially during the times when large numbers are congregating such as morning musters, lunches etc.

3. We are in the process of organising merchandise at present, and will have details up on our web site and on here as soon as this is finalised and will be accepting orders from that point on. We will however be delaying placing the orders with our suppliers as long as possible to minimise the risk of people being stuck with merch for an event that was called off at the last minute. We will not be asking for payment until we need to either, but there will be a deadline set (probably October 1st) where we need to place orders and unfortunately once we are past that deadline, all orders will be non-refundable in the unfortunate event that we have to cancel at the last minute.

4. We will also not be asking for registration fees until later than usual. We are currently checking with public liability insurer regarding their policy if event gets called off, but we're hopeful at this stage that at least the majority of the registration fee would be refundable if it was called off at the last minute. We will clarify this before asking anyone for any money.

IN THE MEANTIME, PLEASE REGISTER HERE IF YOU THINK THERE IS A CHANCE YOU MAY BE ATTENDING!  https://www.mokeroundup.com.au/registration.html
Registering does not mean that you are obliged to attend, but if you think there is a fair chance that you will be there, it does assist us greatly with the organisation if we have some idea of the numbers. Registration also means that you will receive email newsletters (starting soon) with updates so that you don't have to worry about missing update posts on here.

Apologies for the long winded post, but hopefully that answers some of the questions people have at the moment. Please feel free to post below or PM KMC or myself if you have any other concerns we haven't covered.

Newie

[Drakman]

Hi Newie, 

We have already registered before this Covid virus happened, do you need us to re register or do the initial registrations stand?

Cheers
Dave

[Newie]

Hi Dave,

Good question!

No, if you have registered pre-Covid, there is no need to re-register.

Of course we opened registrations in February, so if you're not sure if you've registered or not, you can either check our "Cool Kids List" thread for your name https://www.mokeforum.com.au/index.php?topic=13981.0  or by all means, PM either myself or KMC if you're unsure or have any other questions.

Newie

[Newie]

Firstly, please accept our apologies for the lack of updates on this event. As many of you will probably recall, we are normally much more annoying with regular updates and hassling of people to register etc.

The reason for the unusual lack of communication this time around is solely the uncertainty that the Covid 19 situation has caused. It's difficult to get excited about promoting an event that you really don't know if you'll be allowed to run.

We have been steadily working away in the background though and are still quite capable of running the event in some form or other if the Covid restrictions allow it.

We have had very little feedback though from the registered attendees or the greater Moke community in general, so we're starting to think we may be a little out of touch with what people expect or want us  to do.

If we are going to run it, a few things have become clear:

1. Numbers will be considerably down on past years. Most if not all interstate Mokers will be out of the running, either due to border lock downs or unworkable quarantine requirements. We would imagine that there will also be a reasonable percentage of NSW attendees that will either need or want to pull out due to various Covid related reasons.

As unfortunate as this is, particularly for the ones who are destined to miss out, a smaller group will actually make it much easier to comply with restrictions such as group numbers, dining group sizes, cleaning and social distancing.

2. There will be a Covid plan in place and it will need to be strictly adhered to. The last thing we want is for anyone's health to be affected and the second last thing we want is for anyone either locally or online to have valid cause to complain that the Mokes were doing the wrong thing and putting the fun of their event above the greater good of containing the pandemic. We believe that we can do it safely, but we will need everyone's co-operation and understanding to achieve it.

Part of this plan will mean excluding acceptance of any Mokers who reside in a Covid hotspot during the period leading up to the event.


We would genuinely appreciate everyone's feedback on this. Certainly anyone who is registered or thinking about joining in, but we would also welcome thoughts from everyone else as we try to gauge what we should do and how we should do it.

If you are registered to attend, you will receive a newsletter within the next few days asking if you still plan to attend, and also asking for thoughts and feedback on the running of this year's event.

Newie & KMC

[Newie]

A quick update for those who are wondering.

We have received quite a few replies over the past couple of days to our call for feedback and most are keen to go ahead, while still being understanding of the possibility that it may have to be cancelled if things deteriorate.

We're still keen to hear from as many people as possible, so please feel free to either post up here, or PM myself or KMC.

We would still like to run the event if we can manage it safely.

[KMC]

The latest newsletter was emailed this afternoon to all those who are registered for the Round Up.

Please let us know if your copy doesn't arrive, and we'll look into it straight away.

..KMC