Managers for Air Conditioning Contractors of America, The International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration (IIAR) and HVAC Excellence Trainers and Educators Conference today announced the cancellation of their respective events due to the World Health Organization declaring the COVID-19 global pandemic.
ACCA
The Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) has officially announced it will cancel the ACCA 2020 Annual Conference and Expo, slated for March 16-18, 2020 in St. Louis, MO, due to concerns around coronavirus.
St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson, and the city of St. Louis have declared a public health emergency and are prohibiting events with attendees in excess numbers until further notice. ACCA is following the mayor’s orders by canceling their annual event.
“We were really hoping to see this year’s conference through,” said Barton James, ACCA president and CEO. We have members and contractors who look forward to this event every year, and while we are disappointed by the events unfolding in St. Louis, the safety and well-being of our members and attendees remain our top priority.”
In order to accommodate event registrants, registration may be transferred over to next year’s ACCA 2021 Conference and Expo to lock-in current pricing, or attendees can contact ACCA directly for a full refund by email at [email protected] or by phone at 703-575-4477, Monday-Friday between the hours of 9am-5pm EST.
HVAC Excellence
The HVAC Excellence 2020 National HVACR Educators and Trainers Conference was to be held March 23-25, 2020, at the South Point Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
"While we would like to re-schedule this event in 2020, not knowing when this pandemic will end, we have decided to postpone this event, until March 29-31, 2021, at the Marriott Marquis, in Atlanta, Georgia.We recognize that this decision is an inconvenience. However, we made this decision out of the concern we have for the health and safety of everyone who participates in this event," said Howard Weiss, executive vice president for ESCO Group, which manages the HVAC Excellence event.
Weiss reports that paid registrants for the 2020 conference will automatically be registered for the 2021 conference, at no additional charge.
Registrants who would prefer to receive a credit toward the future purchase of products or exams, are asked to email that request, with your name and organization to [email protected], no later than June 31, 2020.
IIAR
The IIAR Annual Conference was to be held March 15-18 in Orlando, Fla.
"As you may be aware from the correspondence over the past two weeks, we have been monitoring the events surrounding the Coronavirus crisis closely and communicating with our conference exhibitors and attendees. This morning we noted that the World Health Organization has now officially declared the Coronavirus a worldwide pandemic," wrote Dave Rule, IIAR president, in a press release announcement.
"Given this significant announcement from the World Health Organization, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the conference this year. The health and safety of the conference attendees remains our primary concern. The IIAR Executive Committee will meet later today to review this unprecedented situation and begin developing plans to address appropriate measures moving forward," Rule wrote.
Further information concerning the cancellation of the IIAR 2020 Natural Refrigeration Conference & Heavy Equipment Expo will be available over the course of the next few weeks.