For the past several weeks, the SPE leadership team has been closely monitoring the issues regarding COVID-19 (the “Coronavirus”) and its potential impact on ANTEC® 2020. Our primary concern is the safety and well-being of our volunteers, attendees, staff and plastics-industry stakeholders at-large.
We have been in touch almost daily with our host hotel, The San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter, and through them with the San Antonio Texas Mayor’s Office, Visit San Antonio and Meetings Mean Business Coalition. We have consulted with them and with our other vendor-partners to understand the implications, our options and the reality of this evolving situation.
- Letter from the San Antonio Mayor’s Office
- An Open Letter to the Meetings Industry from Meetings Mean Business®
The current Risk Assessment issued by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that, “…most people in the United States will have little immediate risk of exposure to this virus. This virus is NOT currently spreading widely in the United States…”
ANTEC® will be held as scheduled.
With attendee health being our top priority, the following additional measures are in place to minimize the potential transmission of illnesses during ANTEC®:
- All registered ANTEC® attendees from travel-restricted regions have been given a full refund.
- Speakers from Asia unable to attend may present via video conference to ensure the quality of the ANTEC® technical program is unaffected.
- Any hotel staff showing symptoms of illness will not be permitted to work, regardless of their position or role in the hotel.
- Food preparation workers will strictly adhere to all of Marriott’s highest level of sanitary practices.
- All buffet food stations will be staffed by gloved servers, preventing attendee contact with serving utensils.
- Individual hand sanitizer stations will be placed in all meeting rooms and in open areas throughout the hotel.
- Each attendee will be issued individual bottles of hand sanitizer for personal use.
- The Marriott “Make a Green Choice” program will be suspended during ANTEC® to ensure the highest level of cleanliness and daily sanitization of sleeping rooms.
- Disposable, one-time use plasticware, plastic straws, plastic cups and wrapped plasticware will be used throughout the hotel wherever practical.
- Any regular silverware used will be served securely wrapped in sanitized cotton napkins.
- SPE has published Keeping Healthy @ ANTEC® with practical tips to support our attendees’ well-being.
In addition, SPE has established an ANTEC® 24-HOUR HEALTHCARE HOTLINE. If attendees need medical help of any kind, or wish to report a health issue of concern, they may call +1 203.740.5425 at any time during the conference.
I recognize that this is an unusual, evolving situation with implications for the people and the companies in the plastics business. If I were not confident that the measures in place were sufficient, I would have postponed the event already. But with the diligent work of the staff team and the support of the Marriott Rivercenter, I look forward to seeing y’all in San Antonio!
