NAWEOA

The World Health Organization has classified COVID-19 as a pandemic, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advised Americans that attendance at events with large numbers of people is a risk factor for COVID-19. Consequently, a majority of state, provincial, and federal governmental authorities have prohibited their employees from travelling and attending conferences throughout the months of April and May.

The NAWEOA Board will exercise an abundance of caution as we move towards our July Conference in Nashville.  We are monitoring this closely as the situation changes, but currently we do not feel that it is necessary to cancel the Conference.  We feel that over the next two weeks we will be able to get a better idea of where the situation is heading.

The safety of our members and attendees is our first concern.  With that said, we must also take into consideration the financial cost to the organization.  If we were to cancel now, we would have to pay a substantial cancellation penalty to the host hotel.  In the event of a complete travel ban or other state of emergency imposed by the government, we would not incur the cost of cancellation.

We will continue to keep you up to date as more information is obtained.  In the event that we feel that it is necessary to minimize the risk of exposure to our members and their families, or if the Conference would not meet our normal standards and be a financial loss, we will exercise the right to cancel the Conference.   If we would make that decision, information concerning refunds and future dates of rescheduling would be provided.

The NAWEOA board and Conference Committee thank you for your understanding during these uncertain times.

The NAWEOA board would also like to thank the Conference Committee for all the hard work and time they have put in to organizing the conference, especially with the demand of dealing with the recent tornado.