COVID-19 Statement regarding ASIS Europe 2020

ASIS EUROPE POSTPONED TO 1-3 MARCH 2021

THURSDAY 26 MARCH – 16.00 CET

 

ASIS International is pleased to announce the new dates for ASIS Europe: the event will be held on Monday 1 to Wednesday 3 March 2021 at the Prague Congress Centre.

 

All registered participants have received an email with more information and the ASIS Europe team remains available for any question at [email protected]

 

We know that you are struggling with other priorities at the moment so, instead of a live virtual session on the morning of 2 April, we will share a recorded video message.

 

ASIS International is here to support you and continues to provide updated resources related to the COVID-19 outbreak on its dedicated page or through ASIS Connects for a dialogue with your peers around the globe.

 

We wish you much strength in these difficult times and hope to see many of you in Prague next March, if not before.

 

Thank you again for your support,

The ASIS Europe team

FRIDAY – 6 MARCH 10.30

 

ASIS International deeply regrets to announce that after careful evaluation of the impact of COVID-19 on the ASIS Europe 2020 event over the last week, the decision has been taken to postpone the event.

 

As the COVID-19 outbreak continues to spread, companies around the world have imposed restrictions on business travel and/or event attendance. This directly impacts the availability of many of our confirmed speakers and the onsite networking experience. This event was going to be an exceptional one – both because of the education on offer and the knowledge exchange foreseen amongst participants. If we cannot deliver the quality our attendees, exhibitors and sponsors signed up for, then we believe it is better to wait until that intended experience can be provided properly.

 

Additionally, we are aware that many of our attendees are directly involved in managing their organisations’ or their clients’ crisis response plans, and we have to acknowledge that now is not the right time for them to invest several days at our event – regardless of how good the programme was going to be.

 

We hope you understand that this decision is not taken lightly and results in another set of questions being raised. Given the continued uncertainty and the many stakeholders involved in running the event, we are requesting that you give us 45-60 days to evaluate the best way forward. If you are a registered delegate or exhibitor and your company cannot wait that long, please contact us directly and we’ll review options together. ASIS is committed to customer service and to the promise of “satisfaction guaranteed, or we’ll make it right.”

 

In the meantime, please do keep the morning of 2nd April in your agenda – we would still like to get our community together virtually – more information will follow as soon as possible.

 

Lastly, just as you support your organisation and community during turbulent times, ASIS International plays an important role in supporting you. Over the past six weeks, as COVID-19 has spread, ASIS has actively curated useful resources security professionals can use to become more informed about this threat. Visit the dedicated page here or login in to ASIS Connects to exchange directly with your peers around the globe.

 

Thank you again for your understanding and support,

 

The ASIS Europe team

Thursday, 27 February 2020, 10:30 CET

 

ASIS International is obviously concerned by COVID-19 situation and we are monitoring this closely. With over 4 weeks to go to ASIS Europe, we hope that the situation can be contained and/or managed in Europe prior to the event dates. In terms of this specific event, we understand that there are no cases reported in the Czech Republic, nor do we have large groups attending from China, Korea or Italy.  

 

Therefore, given the current status, we do not plan to modify, postpone or cancel the event. 

 

We understand that many of our participants are deeply involved supporting their organisation’s own crisis response plans and hope you are coping successfully with this challenging and unpredictable situation.  

 

Given the daily developments, we ask for patience and continued commitment to the event as we continue to monitor and evaluate the situation. We have set Friday 6 March as the next status review date and will communicate further then.     

 

In the meantime, we continue our work to make this a vital and valuable gathering. Health and safety considerations permitting, we believe the knowledge exchange and support network it provides are more important than ever.  

 

Indeed, the WHO document Public Health for Mass Gatherings: Key Considerations, states “As well as challenges, Mass Gatherings can present significant opportunities to strengthen the health system for the host country and should be a key determinate of the sustainable legacy and a significant benefit”. With so much security, risk and crisis response expertise under one roof at ASIS Europe, we are sure there will be great ideas shared and generated.   

 

Our preparation work of course includes specific risk mitigation actions which will be taken onsite. We are referring to the WHO guidelines in Key planning recommendations for Mass Gatherings in the context of the current COVID-19 outbreak plus relevant event industry associations for best practice examples.   

 

Given the outstanding support so far from security professionals as delegates and speakers, plus our exhibitors and sponsors, we sincerely hope the event will go ahead as planned.  

 

If you have any questions in the meantime, please don’t hesitate to contact us at [email protected].