March 5, 2020
Dear AXPONA Community,
JD Events is immensely proud to be the official steward of AXPONA, the largest and most passionate annual gathering of the high-end audio industry in North America. We take this responsibility, as well as the health and safety of all participants, seriously and we are listening to our stakeholders closely.
With that in mind, I would like to reaffirm our prior statement to hold AXPONA as scheduled, April 17-19. I am pleased to report that the overwhelming reaction to this has been supportive and thankful. Thousands of music lovers and audiophiles continue to buy tickets and are looking forward to hearing their favorite music, seeing new products and making equipment purchases. A record number of manufacturers, distributors and dealers are looking forward to meeting buyers, speaking with the press and selling their products – both at the show and over the subsequent 12 months. Are there some jitters being expressed? Yes. But the truth is at this point we have only received 4 exhibitor cancellations, including our only exhibitor from China.
We are truly saddened for those directly impacted by the Coronavirus and we are under no illusion that there will be more cases of COVID-19 diagnosed in the coming days, weeks and months. We are also sensitive to the fact that there are many people with concerns about traveling and community contact. We are following the guidelines put forth by the Centers for Disease Control. The CDC continues to make it clear that the risk level in the US is low, that the American public should go on with their normal lives and that there are currently no restrictions or travel advisories within the US or from most other countries. Of course, should there be a government mandate forcing events like AXPONA to reschedule we would do so immediately.
Several large international tradeshows and tech conferences in the US have cancelled recently and made the headlines. However, the vast majority of consumer and business events in the US have not cancelled. There are hundreds of tradeshows, conferences and meetings in dozens of different industries taking place in hotels and convention centers across the country this weekend and as scheduled for March, April and May, including the Montreal Audio Fest which is still running March 27-29. The general public is still filling up sports arenas, concert halls and political rallies every day and night. Again, we do understand that every person and each company must assess their own risk tolerance related to travelling and exhibiting today vs the risks that we all face in our daily lives, at public gatherings and events.
Please know that we are working diligently with our event production partners, including the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel, to enhance the health and hygiene practices within the venue during AXPONA. Please click HERE for further details along with some additional suggestions. Many airlines are relaxing their change fee policies now which should ease concerns over booking flights over the next few months. We will continue to monitor the situation and promise to communicate regularly and openly with you. AXPONA’s dedicated show team remains committed to making AXPONA 2020 a welcoming and safe place for our wonderful music- loving community to meet and celebrate.
We are best served by clear, honest and transparent dialogue. Please contact your favorite AXPONA team members with any questions or feel free to contact me directly with your feedback.
Sincerely, Joel Davis
President & CEO, JD Events [email protected]
