I wonder how many more days until they cancel as well.
We have booked a stand and are planning to show a demo. Flights and hotels are booked. It feels slightly weird working on the demo, with the very high chance of it not happening after all.
> NAB has been monitoring the evolving situation on coronavirus both in the U.S. and around the globe. Due to the public health emergency we are currently facing, we believe that it is not possible to move forward with NAB Show as planned. Please see below for a message from NAB’s president and CEO Gordon H. Smith, along with some FAQs about the decision.
So I guess 0 days!
> An Update On 2020 NAB Show
> NAB Show will not take place this April in Las Vegas
For a media event they really need to work on their messaging.
If they don't keep up a happy face until they are ordered to cancel, they could in turn be sued by contractors who end up holding the economic bag and argue that the event organizers chose to upset the applecart when they didn't have to. .
[1] https://nabshow.com/2020/attend/onsite-services/coronavirus-...
I'm in the industry. Many of our most important customers have already announced they are not going. The company I work for has pulled out of the show, along with many others.
The company I work for believes the show will be cancelled, so better to cancel flights and hotels now than later.
My bet is that like a lot of shows, they have a ton of money on the line. Their insurance/cancellation policies only kick in if the government steps in a says "you may not do this," so they are waiting for that to happen. Nevada is tourist-driven, so they don't want to do it. We need some leadership from the Executive Branch.
It was both a feeling of relief and disappointment
Pretty sure none of those are going to happen. Neither is the wedding I got invited to yesterday - or probably the dinner invite for 3 weeks from now.
I'm not sure what to say to people who are involving me in their plans for April and May...
It's the sensible thing to do
Months of planning and hundreds of thousands of dollars goes into an NAB vendor booth.
Several major events have 'cancelled' this year by 'postponing' it until next year, giving no refunds. I wouldn't count on that being true.
E3 is different because the big companies can choose to eat or write off the loss, or give money more starting capital to organizers for next year. For smaller events like say, a dance weekend or puppet festival, a lot of those are labour of love type events that have been built up slowly over the years. Those will be the groups hardest hit.
Every day delayed is more hassle for would-be attendees to deal with.
But I don't envy your position, I know these are tough calls to make.
If we cancel the show it'll be devastating in other ways, and our group is overall conservative and fiercely advocates personal responsibility. Needless to say, if we cancel it will possibly implode the group or cause similar clubs to take over a 30 year tradition.
What do I do?
News will be way worse than now, which allows you to excuse yourself better.
It's irresponsible to hold events right now.
At worst, it'll give you more hindsight, and at best time will help people see reason.
Ask yourself if that's a risk you're welling to take having been associated with that conference.
I think event organizers are in a particularly brutal position. I know that the credibility and finances of a lot of events are on a thread, and that cancellation can crush the event (even in the future). It's a tough decision.
Were it me, I would cancel, because I think it's the responsible thing to do.
[1] https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/11/health/coronavirus-massachuse...
This seems to be as if making a choice between what actually might be good and how something might impact you personally (psychologically or otherwise).
It's the difference between thinking 'I could never live with myself if that carnival amusement ride killed a child' vs. 'I'd hate to have a child killed on that carnival ride'.
Not criticism of what you are saying - just pointing this out.
I didn't want to come across as saying "You will have blood on your wants if you do this", but I think there is a risk that there will be blood on the hands of event organizers.
I guess I didn't know how to frame it other than "are you willing to risk this outcome?"
I really don't want his blood on my hands. If it's decided to push forward, I'll do what I can to stop people from taking unnecessary risks.
"I feel it is my personal responsibility to maintain the sanctity of our group and ensure the safety of everyone involved, especially those who are most vulnerable among us. It is important that we all understand the risks involved: should we decide to proceed, there is the possibility that our group will be directly responsible for knowingly facilitating the spread of a virus with a mortality rate estimated to be around 3%. Should this virus surface at our event, the likelihood of someone we all know succumbing to the infection is quite high.
Given the gravity of the situation and potential implications to our personal lives, are we certain that we wish to proceed?"
Good luck and stay safe.
Ask for updated RSVPs, and when you see 0 plan to attend your event nor any alternative, cancel this year's live event.
But where I stand on that is that's their problem, not mine. At the same time as the lead organizer I don't want their blood on my hands. It's a conundrum for sure. I liked one of these other posters that said to wait for things to get worse and then cancel haha.
If you're in a major corporation and your coworkers fly all over creation - then yeah, time to start feigning a cough and taking a few sickdays to work at home.
Which puts you, the employee, in the position of deciding whether you are going to defy them, or not.
But traveling to conference is worse than just going to your office.