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Update: 2020 AAW Symposium in Louisville

Kim Rymer

Communications & Marketing Director
AAW Staff
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Mar 7, 2014
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Dear Members and Partners:

I am writing to you on behalf of the AAW Board and staff to provide you with a current update regarding the status of the 2020 AAW Symposium in Louisville, KY.

Like other businesses nationally, AAW is following the advisories and mandates coming from the federal and state governments, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the medical science community. These groups all emphasize it is essential to follow all mitigation recommendations if we hope to contain and flatten the COVID-19 virus transmission curve.

So why hasn’t the AAW Symposium been cancelled yet?

In so many ways, this course is uncharted. AAW expects to announce a formal and final decision soon. In the meantime, we ask for your continued understanding and patience as we pursue all options, including a potential forced cancellation decision. You may expect another update within the next two weeks.

AAW simply needs additional time to work with the venue and other local parties in Louisville to resolve many legal and contractual complexities. We’ve devoted nearly three years of event planning with the expectation of presenting you with an outstanding symposium experience in Louisville. Now we face the unprecedented challenge of possibly unwinding all our previous work and plans. Cancellation of the symposium without a structured and orderly exit from all our commitments could expose the AAW to substantial financial penalties.

We understand that you need clarity, certainty, and assurance from AAW that your health and safety concerns are being represented in this process. The health and safety of our members, demonstrators, trade show vendors, partners, and other event attendees is AAW’s utmost priority.

Thank you for your patience, understanding, flexibility, and support as AAW navigates the unknown impact of this challenging and evolving situation.

We send our well wishes for health, safety, and care to each of you, and to those you care about.

Sincerely,

Phil McDonald on behalf of the AAW Board and Staff
 
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Phil -- I want you to know that I support the Board in delaying making a final decision for a reasonable length of time. Our family is in a similar situation. We have reservations for a week's stay in Orlando at the end of April. Our children and grandchildren have all made flight reservations. Naturally, if Disney and the other parks do not reopen by then, we'd prefer to not make the trip. Today, I called the resort and asked about their cancelation policy. Normally, it's 30 days. They were willing to waive that policy under the circumstances. Otherwise, we would have had to cancel now and plan the trip after things 'return to normal'.

Our family can afford to wait and see for a few more weeks. I hope that AAW, its sponsors, vendors, and members, are in much the same situation. With warmer weather, new infections from the virus should decline dramatically. Again, let's hope so. By the first part of June, it may be 'safe' to hold the Symposium as scheduled. What's to be gained by calling it off sooner than you have to?
 
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