STATEMENT RE: OMICRON VARIANT AND OVERALL RE-OPENING OF EXHIBITIONS AND CONFERENCES
“The pandemic has been a constantly changing landscape for show organizers and attendees and we are always updating our policies and procedures to keep our events safe. We are closely monitoring news and data from overseas regarding the new Omicron variant, just as we did with the Delta variant over the summer.
Throughout the reopening process, we have remained vigilant about the health and safety of attendees and all stakeholders at our events, subscribing to strict health and safety protocols guided by both local regulations. We have also developed and implanted our own industry-specific best practices tailored to the business of public meetings and events which often exceed local guidelines.
ECA has also partnered with Epistemix, a computational modeling software company to create dashboards that simulate whether and how COVID-19 might spread at gatherings, based on a number of factors, including vaccination rates, infection rates and the use of specific protocols such as masking and distancing.
Epistemix had decades of experience building epidemiological models to combat smallpox, measles, HIV, SARS, MERS, the opioid crisis, and other epidemics. For Covid-19, Epistemix compiled data to custom-build models for individual cities and events, so organizers could develop informed strategies on when, where and how to hold safe gatherings amid ever-evolving Covid-19 concerns and guidelines.
In fact, from June through October 2021, more than 1,000,000 people – exhibitors, small and large business owners, and other attendees – have flocked to hundreds of events held in dozens of major cities across the United States. This overwhelmingly successful return has seen only isolated cases of Covid-19 reported. As we continue to monitor reports about Omicron, we remain committed to providing the safest environment possible to our trade shows and conventions, a nearly $400 billion industry that is vital to the existence of small and mid-sized businesses, and arguably the entire U.S. economy.”