Due to the continuously evolving circumstances surrounding COVID-19, the IAEM-USA Annual Conference, scheduled to be held in November in Long Beach, California, will be produced as a virtual event.
IAEM members offered input for this decision by the survey. Further, IAEM-USA Board carefully analyzed the current state and projections for the coronavirus pandemic.
Barriers to attend the event
“This was a difficult decision, but one that made sense given current events,” stated IAEM-USA President Teri Axman, CEM, CPM.
“We took into consideration the various responsibilities that many of our members, speakers, and attendees have related to COVID-19. Additionally, the Board acknowledged that increasing travel restrictions (state-to-state and international) created barriers for many traditional attendees to participate in-person in California this year.”
Virtual Conference – IAEM Reimagined
The 68th Annual Conference & EMEX is being reimagined as a virtual event to be held Nov. 16-18, 2020, to include all the bells and whistles of an in-person event.
IAEM’s new plan will actually give attendees access to more content than they are able to attend in-person
“Our goal is to make the IAEM 68th Annual Conference as close as we can get to our premiere in-person event,” stated Mike Gavin, Conference Committee chair. “We have much work to do to make this happen, but with the best staff and dedicated Conference Committee volunteers, I expect this event to exceed the expectations as currently envisioned.”
“While nothing can replace the live experience of a professional gathering, IAEM’s new plan will actually give attendees access to more content than they are able to attend in-person,” explained IAEM CEO Elizabeth Armstrong, MAM, CAE. “Recordings of every session after the event will allow review at each individual’s own schedule.”
Event details
IAEM has been planning for a potential change to a virtual conference and the following event details have
been finalized:
- The Annual Conference will still be held November 16-18, 2020. Please continue to save those dates
- The theme of the conference is IAEM 2020: Visioning the Future of Emergency Management
- The schedule for the conference will remain as consistent with previous years as possible, with the addition of a COVID-19 focus throughout the breakout, spotlight, and plenary sessions
- IAEM will continue to provide top-notch speakers with the latest information to share in an emergency
management and allow for extended live question and answer sessions - There will still be plenty of opportunities for networking with colleagues, friends, and prospects in
the virtual platform - EMEX, IAEM’s exhibit hall, will be virtual with live meeting rooms and dedicated show hours
- Exhibitors will have individual branded video conference rooms, to show presentations, products and even jump into one-to-one private discussions
- IAEM’s EMvision Talks will still go on! This featured event has become a mainstay as it continues to engage and educate our audience
- The Poster Showcase will be presented on the virtual platform with interactive features
- CEUs for IAEM’s Certification program will be offered for those participating
- Registration fees have been significantly reduced to help with the budget cuts we all are experiencing and to allow for multiple people participating from every organization