Members of the association Executive Committee held their meeting online to discuss this years planned Conference in Thessaloniki and the impact of COVID-19.
As most of our members will already be aware, the biennial EGPA conference was due to take place between 24-26 June 2020 in Thessaloniki, Greece.
Over the last month, the Executive Committee has been monitoring the situation in Europe following the devastating spread of Coronavirus. Our conference was also due to coincide with Thessaloniki Pride (which was also this years Europride) - this event has now been postponed.
Organising our conference requires a considerable amount of pre-planning and the EC meeting was joined by our representative from Greece, Michael Lolis, who is also leading the organisation and planning of the conference.
At this time, it is impossible to predict where Europe will be in terms of the Coronavirus spread and restrictions that are currently in place in terms of social gatherings, travel etc. Also our primary concern is the health and safety of delegates. As such, the Executive Committee unanimously agreed, following advice from Michael Lolis, the postpone the planned conference until June 2021. This will also coincide with Thessaloniki Pride.
The organisers of the conference will contact those who have already registered with an option to either hold your booking or receive a full refund.
The planned AGM which was due to also take place at the conference will be held later in the year.
The Executive Committee would like to thank Michael Lolis and his team for all the hard work that they have already done to plan the conference and that we fully support having the conference in Greece next year.
We also wish to extend our gratitude to you all for the risks that you are personally taking at this time in order to keep people safe and limit the spread of this virus. Stay safe and we will come together next year. Thank you for your understanding and support.
Alan Sneddon
Executive Committee
Communications