would you go to a conference that hasn't been canceled?

[delsur]

I am scheduled to present a paper at a major conference in late March in D.C.
A few days ago, the conference organizers posted on their website that there is no reason to cancel the conference but that everyone should make individual decisions on their health.

On the one hand, I don't want to let down the colleague who put a lot of work in organizing the panel. On the other hand, it's obviously not the best time  to travel to another city to participate in a big conference.

What would you do? I'm torn.

[mamselle]

The K'zoo conference in W. MI. is saying that because there are to date no cases of c'virus in the state they're going forward with the early May Intrnat'l Medieval conference (well, as of yesterday, when I looked, anyway).

But....hunh?

The issue isn't "is anyone there sick now?" but "who might bring a little freeloading virus with them from elsewhere?"!

And it's a huge 4-day event, with thousands of international scholars attending annually.

I'm trying to decide whether to prep my talk to be given live, or do a WordThread file, or Zoom, or....???

Time still to decide, but the basis for their thinking, after the Biogen mess (and those people were mostly bench scientists, what gives there?) is hard to fathom.

So...in answer...I dunno yet.

M.

[zyzzx]

They might say now that these conferences aren't cancelled, but I'd bet some money that they will be. They're just procrastinating on making a painful decision. This will be financially devastating for organizations that have already paid a lot (or all) of the costs for a conference. I expect this will make a difference in the timing of decision making - if organizations can get out of some contracts by cancelling earlier, that's strong motivation to make an early decision. A conference I'm involved in is currently scheduled for September, but is already looking to push back to 2021 because their contract with the venue allows them to do this at no cost this far ahead of time. But if there's no benefit to cancelling early, then I can see why they wait and see, on the off chance that it'll work out.   

Over here in Europe, the pace of developments is staggering. Two weeks ago, who would have predicted that the entire country of Italy would be locked down? Or that Europeans would be facing travel bans from an increasing number of countries? That large gatherings would be banned in most countries? Late March sounds close, but so much can change between now and then. May is so far off as to be completely unpredictable.

I've got a big conference in early May that I've put a ton of work into. They haven't cancelled it yet (they say that they'll make a decision by the end of March), but they almost certainly will. I had already booked my train and hotel, so between now and the cutoff date for free hotel cancellation, there's not much point in making a decision - I'll just wait and see. But I certainly would not book anything non-refundable at this point.

[adel9216]

I was supposed to attend this UN Women conference this week in New York, United States. It got cancelled 5 days before the start of the event. I have lost money, but I had a bursary to attend, so it's not too bad. I just wish they had announced that earlier...

It would have been my first time attending a UN event. I hope it will be an opportunity that will come again in my life, especially as a young scholar.

However, I have decided that I am still listing that on my CV/resume (with a note that it got cancelled due to COVID-19) because I was selected after a competitive process to attend it.

In terms of going to a conference that has not been cancelled, I probably wouldn't go. I think they will cancel it soon, many many academic conferences and international conferences have been cancelled, so it's a matter of time in my opinion.

[apl68]

Not an academic conference, but we have a statewide professional meeting scheduled for this Friday.  Here's hoping it won't be canceled at the last minute now that there might be a confirmed Covid-19 case in the state.

[professing]

If I were you, I would speak to my dept chair or dean and get their feedback. I know some institutions may have policies in place urging faculty or others not to travel, and some may even fully or partially reimburse, regardless of cancellations, whereas others may not.

One conference set for June was just cancelled, and they stated that, though they were uncertain whether the events would extend that far, it was important to give people time to make arrangements. They also listed that a major reason for the change was the growing list of folks requesting virtual accommodations, which they were not certain they could provide at that scale.

Another thing to keep in mind is how fast COVID-19 is spreading. One state nearby went from 1 possible case last week to several dozen confirmed cases in less than 2 days. Last week, I did not want to be alarmist, so, when someone asked me if they should travel, I was cautious. By the next day, airlines were canceling flights out of the city he needed to travel from.

A colleague involved in conference organizing mentioned that one reason they decided to cancel was not so much that there were active cases, but that people could be stranded out of state (or even out of country).

So, yes, this is a tough decision, and I was happy that my field conference decided to cancel, because it made the decision easier. However, if I were in your shoes, I would first talk to the chair to see whether they can provide policy insights, and then I would ask for a virtual arrangement for the panel. If they cannot accommodate that, I would ask if they would consider publicizing the livestreaming site for in-person and distance attendees. You could suggest that it would not need to be setup in a room, and you could host the video stream in a virtual room, or find other ways to minimize the burden on them.

Bottom line, with how things are around me now (which are escalating with cancellations and closures rapidly), I would not travel. I hope this helps.

[Parasaurolophus]

At present, I would, and actually still plan to. But Canada is in good shape, and Canadians are well-covered

I'm organizing a conference in Philly in mid-April, however, and we've had a lot of cancellations already, including one of the keynotes. At this point, cancelling is still more expensive than holding the thing with just a few participants, so it's going ahead. If the city restricts group meetings, however, then we can cancel without financial penalties. And probably will, given expected attendance.

[dismalist]

Here is something to help everyone make a personal decision about how much risk s/he wishes to take, from Tyler Cowen's blog, Marginal Revolution

https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2020/03/what-is-the-risk.html#print

Looks like the probability of getting infected is low at small functions so long as the population of infected people is small. We shall see.

[Hegemony]

I'd bet it will be cancelled. But if not, don't go. The future of this thing will be determined by hundreds and thousands of individual decisions to limit contact and travel. I'd even bet that if you withdraw, the other folks will be relieved — they're also wanting to withdraw, but don't want to seem like the party poopers. Go ahead and withdraw. Stay home. There will be many more conferences.

[Wally]

One of my big concerns would be - what if I am unknowingly a carrier?  Given that people can be asymptomatic carriers of covid-19, I would be very hesitant to bring it to a large conference -- especially to a city/state/country where there are few to no cases.

[delsur]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, everyone. For now the conference is still on but they are supposed to reassess in a couple of days. Hegemony has a great point—containing this might depend on the accumulation of  thousands of individual decisions. So even if they don't cancel I've decided to withdraw.

[pgher]

I'm on the steering committee for a conference that was supposed to have begun Sunday. Here's a brief window into our process.

Last week, one guy on the steering committee said, "Let's take it as given that we will eventually have to cancel. What should we do?" Several others jumped all over him and said they weren't seeing any indication that was the case. In retrospect, he was spot on. Eventually, the steering committee decided that we could not hold the conference because nobody would show up (between the various travel bans and general fear). From that time until the formal announcement was almost two business days. We had to convince our sponsoring organization, which has an internal chain of command that's overwhelmed right now.

We're looking at a potential multi-million-dollar loss. As far as we know, there is no insurance coverage. We are going to try to do a virtual conference to recover some of that loss.

There are too many unknowns right now. For a conference in the next couple weeks, I'm sure either the conference will be canceled or many attendees will be restricted from attending. Late April, May? Who knows? This whole thing could play out, or not. COVID-19 has been circulating around China since late October and is now on the decline. That's still more than 4 months, and they are still under travel restrictions globally. If we take mid-February as the US start, we're looking at mid-summer before things settle down. On the other hand, we're being much more aggressive much earlier than China was, though not as aggressive as some other countries.

[mamselle]

Well, the April conference I was working towards has been cancelled.

So, to turn the OP's question around, I 'won't' go to a conference that 'has' been cancelled...!

The May K'zoo conference has changed their online message to say that they're waiting to hear from the state government what they'll be expected to do.

So....I'm going to guess that will be cancelled as well, although it's not confirmed.

Mixed feelings...I was just starting to think about the work needed to finalize those papers...need to do them anyway; sorry not to have the audience, but it's less pressure in the present moment.

M.

[spork]

I was recently at a conference in Boston that should have been cancelled given what happened at the Biogen meeting there the week before. I have withdrawn from a conference scheduled for California in June and am waiting for the refund of my registration fee. I doubt the left coast will be clear by then and don't want to go through the hassle of buying airplane tickets that I might need to try to get a refund for. I'm supposed to attend another conference in June -- within driving distance -- that will have a heavy international presence. So far no known Covid-19 cases in that city but I won't be surprised if some are identified between now and then. If that happens I will probably cancel.

[apostrophe]

I'd bet it will be cancelled. But if not, don't go. The future of this thing will be determined by hundreds and thousands of individual decisions to limit contact and travel. I'd even bet that if you withdraw, the other folks will be relieved — they're also wanting to withdraw, but don't want to seem like the party poopers. Go ahead and withdraw. Stay home. There will be many more conferences.

This is the correct take, and not just for conferences.