Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Academic Venues Solutions has postponed its annual showcase, due to take place on Thursday 26 March.
“It’s a postponement – we are not cancelling. It’s very disappointing but as matters progressed we consulted as a board and it became clear that it was not viable to go ahead,” Marcus Wilson, head of commercial marketing at the University of Liverpool told M&IT.
It was a particular blow as the event, had it proceeded as usual, would have been “one of the biggest turnouts,” Wilson said.
“We are in uncharted territory. But, as a plus, we have had great support from the industry. When we told exhibitors we were going to postpone, they said they were happy to support us and everybody has been really positive.”
The only costs incurred were in marketing which were “relatively minimal” Wilson said.
After consultation with the venue Senate House, there was leniency in the terms and conditions. “There was no cancellation fee from Senate House,” according to Wilson.
All the exhibitors were contacted with the following message from Rachael Bartlett, director of sales & membership at Academic Venue Solutions.
“I am extremely sorry to advise you that we will be postponing the Academic Venue Solutions Showcase event on 26th March at Senate House in London.
“During this week client numbers have reduced along with increasing uncertainty in many academic venues, as to whether staff are able to travel and attend the showcase due to the COVID-19 virus outbreak. After consultation with the board, we do not feel it will be viable to go ahead with the situation unlikely to improve.
“As you can imagine we are very disappointed as the team and the host venue has worked so hard on the event and had initially received a fantastic turnout from clients.
“I do hope we are giving everyone the chance to change their travel plans. If you have couriers planned to send any stands/collateral please cancel these.
“As mentioned this is purely a postponement and we will be looking to run the event later in the year, subject to less disruption and we will be discussing future provisional dates with our venue host partner shortly.
“Thank you for your support in making this very difficult decision and we will be back in touch when we have the new dates.”
For the latest on how the meetings and events industry is affected by the coronavirus outbreak, read our daily report.
