Due to circumstances arising from the ongoing spread of COVID-19 and the continuing danger it poses to public health and safety, the NACE International Board of Directors announced that the CORROSION 2020 Conference & Expo will not take place in Houston, Texas, USA. The event had most recently been scheduled for June 14-18, 2020.
Originally scheduled for March 2020, the association postponed its conference based on guidelines available at that time from the U.S. government, Centers for Disease Control, and World Health Organization. Since then, the COVID-19 outbreak has escalated worldwide.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently issued an executive order which does not change prior orders prohibiting mass gatherings and events. The executive order also includes protocols which direct all Texans to minimize social gatherings and in-person contact with people who are not in the same household.
“As difficult as this is to accept, we simply cannot safely host our annual conference this June,” says Bob Chalker, CEO of NACE. “No one worked harder to make this event happen than the staff and member leaders of NACE. Up until today, we have been working to ensure our 2020 event in Houston would be our best yet. However, we understand these circumstances are beyond our control and this is the best way to protect our attendees, staff, and Houston community.”
Over the coming days and weeks, NACE will work with event venues, registrants, exhibitors, and sponsors to process all changes, refunds, transfers, and more. All questions can be directed to NACE International’s First Service team at firstservice@nace.org or by phone at 1-800-797-6223 (United States, Canada) or +1-281-228-6223 (worldwide).
“We want to thank our exhibitors and attendees for their patience and enduring support,” Chalker says. “NACE staff is already working on creating an incredible event for 2021 in Salt Lake City, and we look forward to reuniting our corrosion community next April.”
For more information, please visit NACE’s Frequently Asked Questions page.
About CORROSION 2020
CORROSION 2020, NACE’s annual flagship five-day event, is known worldwide as the industry’s “can’t-miss” opportunity to meet with and hear from influential corrosion professionals, announce new technical information, and release new products. CORROSION offers something for every industry sector and job level involved in corrosion prevention, including numerous industry-specific and technology tracks and more than 400 exhibiting companies. More than 6,000 attendees from 61 countries were expected to attend the 2020 conference.
Source: NACE International, www.nace.org.