Status Update on the SID 2020 Annual Meeting
Thank you for your patience and understanding while SID leadership has closely monitored the COVID- 19 (Coronavirus) situation as it has evolved over the past weeks. After thoughtful deliberation to serve the urgent needs of our membership, and minimize the negative impact to the SID, we are now able to officially postpone the May 2020 SID Annual Meeting.
The decision to not have our meeting this May was made with great regret, but the health, safety and well-being of the global dermatologic community is our highest priority. Recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding cancellation of events with group gatherings of ten (10) people or more, announcements by the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic, various state Stay-in-Place orders, the United States President declaration of a national emergency, numerous university and institutional travel restrictions and ever-increasing numbers of confirmed cases all provide a clear need to take this action. Many of our members also have urgent needs to respond to local COVID-19 emergencies. The combination of these factors has made it impossible to hold the meeting in May.
Please look for additional communications from us in the following weeks that will provide further details on next steps. We continue to work through an enormous amount of details in closing down and potentially rescheduling the meeting this Fall. We will soon communicate about registration fees, abstract publications, and ask for your input on how you would like to see these move forward. You may have also received (or will be receiving communication from the Westin Kierland) regarding your hotel reservation. Please be sure to check for that comm.unication or reach out to the Westin Kierland directly (480/624-1000 or via toll-free reservation center 800/354-5892) to remove your reservation.
We are grateful to everyone who has worked tirelessly with the planning of 2020 SID Annual Meeting … including the members of the Committee on Scientific Programs, the Committee on Education, and the administrative staff.
We ask for your patience as we work diligently to address questions and provide additional information to all who are impacted by this decision.