AEI canceled due to coronavirus concerns

From Bob Goldberg, CEO of the National Association of REALTORS:

“Dear Colleagues,
 
Many of you have had questions and concerns about attending the AE Institute in San Diego following reports of the coronavirus spread, specifically in California.  After weighing various options and consulting with many in the AE community, the National Association of REALTOR® leadership has made the difficult decision to not hold the 2020 AE Institute as previously scheduled.  However, we know how much you value the educational and networking opportunities at AEI, so we are making plans to deliver these resources to you in other ways.  NAR staff will collaborate with the AEC AE Institute Advisory Board on the next steps and share that information with you as soon as it’s available. 
 
In the meantime, your AE Institute registration and hotel fees will be refunded in full.  Regarding airfare, contact your air carrier as soon as possible and seek a refund or credit. Given the State of Emergency declared in California yesterday, we hope for cooperation by the airlines.
 
Although we are sincerely disappointed in this outcome, we cannot overlook our primary focus, which is the safety and well-being of our REALTOR® association community. 
 
We thank you for understanding and look forward to the next opportunity to gather and collaborate in order to help strengthen our members’ business practices. More information to come on that front!”

Earlier this week Inman News postponed their “Inman Disconnect” conference in Palm Springs, which was set to start on March 30.

I can certainly understand Bob’s concern here and it must have been a difficult decision. I can imagine other industry conferences are watching as things develop. That being said I was speaking at “The MLS Summit”, an event held by Annie Ives of The MLS, in Los Angeles yesterday and the attendance was great. Lots of fist-bumping though.

The reading I’m doing says that this is not a containment strategy now, it’s about slowing the spread. What we don’t want to see happen is what can be described as a DoS attack on our hospitals and health care centers.

Time will tell on how many other conferences will either be postponed or canceled. My guess is local events will suffer less, while some larger events bringing people internationally are the most at risk.

Wash your hands people.