Conferences across industries are being postponed. The search marketing industry is no exception. Pubcon Florida 2020 announced they are postponing. What about other search marketing conferences?
Pubcon Florida Postponed
Pubcon Florida 2020 cited the fact that various parts of Florida have experienced coronavirus (Covid19) infections as the reason to postpone the search conference.
Pubcon Florida was scheduled for March 24, 2020. Pubcon has not yet rescheduled the conference but intends to announce it on their blog when they do.
According to the official announcement:
“The situation deteriorated rapidly with the virus turning up in numerous parts of Florida. Florida, and other places declared states of disaster or emergency.
Then about midweek many tech firms began limiting employee travel. Google, Microsoft, and several others canceled all unnecessary travel.”
The response to the postponement was supportive and understanding:
Certainly not an easy decision to make. Knowing you ladies and gents, it will be even better than it was already bound to be when it takes place at a later date. We’re a tight knit community and it’s great to see so much support and understanding.
— Akvile DeFazio (@AkvileDeFazio) March 7, 2020
SMX Munich Postponed
SMX Munich just announced that they were postponing the conference. The reason given was guidance issued by the Federal Minister of Health that forbids events larger than 1,000 participants.
According to the announcement:
“It is therefore no longer possible to hold the event – as originally planned – on the planned date.
SMX Munich 2020 will be postponed, a virtual edition will be held on the planned dates next week.
…Information on the virtual edition of SMX Munich 2020 will be available this week.”
So according to the announcement, it appears that the decision to postpone SMX Munich was made for them by the Federal Minister of Health.
Portland Conference Rescheduled
SEMpdx has rescheduled their conference to August.
According to their announcement:
“After many discussions with our partners, vendors, and health professionals, the Board has moved to reschedule this year’s Engage Marketing Conference to August 2020.
This decision was not made lightly, but as a non-profit and a strong member of our community, SEMpdx felt this was the correct decision for the health and safety of everyone involved. We explored all potential options, and we believed the only acceptable option was to reschedule.”
SMX Advanced Seattle
Washington State is currently the hardest hit area for Covid-19. Some Washington state schools have closed and are implementing distance learning programs.
Of all the search marketing conferences, SMX Advanced currently scheduled for June 2020 is in one of the hardest hit areas of the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
At this point, SMX is still scheduled to proceed.
SMX has instituted a strict no-handshake policy and have banned travelers from Level 3 nations, nations with high infection rates.
“We are working with our partners at the Bell Harbor Conference Center to ensure as safe an environment as possible.
…if you have shown any signs of illness, including but not limited to coughing, sneezing, sore throat, fever, chills, etc. within the two weeks prior to the event, we ask that you not attend for your safety and the safety of others.”
June is still many months away, things can change between now and then. But we’re at the beginning of this virus event, it’s unknown what the situation will be like the closer we get to June.
YoastCon 2020 Postponed
Yoast announced that they were postponing YoastCon and will be announcing a new date in the future.
Digital Olympus Conference in Poland Postponed
The Digital Olympus conference tweeted an announcement that they too were cancelling their upcoming conference. It will be held in September 2020.
❌Digital Olympus Event 2020 ❌
Friends and attendees of our conference, we are sad to announce that due to the Coronavirus situation in Poland, we are forced to cancel the event in April and reschedule it for September. 1/2
check some details👉https://t.co/udobh1A2dg pic.twitter.com/JgiyrugKcc
— Digital Olympus (@DigitalOlympus) March 10, 2020
Official Announcements of SEO Conference Postponements
Official Pubcon announcement here:
Official SMX Munich announcement
SMX Munich 2020 will be postponed
