For the past two weeks we have been closely monitoring the Coronavirus pandemic in consideration of the impact it might have on our conference. A few days ago, I made the difficult decision to cancel XOJO.CONNECT. We had been preparing that announcement when last night the United States government banned flights from Europe. Given how many of our attendees are in Europe, the necessity to cancel the conference is all the more clear.
My primary concern is for your health and safety as well as that of the Xojo team and, of course, all of our families and friends that could be impacted by this very serious threat. The United States Center for Disease Control, the World Health Organization and others are recommending that we avoid unnecessary travel, in-person meetings and use social distancing. This excellent advice, unfortunately, makes conducting the conference impossible.
It is our moral obligation to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. Cancelling the conference is the only solution that will accomplish that. I know this is as disappointing for you as it is for us. We were looking forward to seeing you in Nashville but I think we can all agree that canceling is the right thing to do.
We have many exciting announcements and in-depth sessions on Xojo that we were planning for this year’s conference. Instead, we will be making those available via Youtube in the coming weeks. We will let you know as soon as they are ready. For several months now we have been planning next year’s conference which will take place in London, England on April 21-23.
It is our hope that this pandemic will pass quickly and that it will not be as severe as many experts have predicted. For those of you who can make it, we look forward to seeing you in London.