With CES A Go, Alabama Broadcasters Axes Annual Conference

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On Saturday, the organizers of CES 2022, in a nod to the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus, decided that closing the event in Las Vegas one day early would be a prudent plan of action — even as more than 200 of the world’s biggest electronics brands pulled out of live in-person events at the conference.


In contrast, a state broadcasters’ association is taking no chances in ensuring the safety and health of their members by canceling its annual affair, scheduled for later this month.

 

In a message shared via Twitter on Monday, the Alabama Broadcasters Association announced that it is cancelling its 2021 Annual Conference.

The event had been scheduled for January 21-22.

The message, from ABA President Sharon Tinsley, explains, “With the Covid Omicron varient spreading like wildfire across our state and already having an impact on many of your stations, we believe it is everyone’s best interest that we not gather in large numbers just yet.”

The ABA will begin contacting its speakers to arrange to provide the content planned for the conference in a virtual setting. This would occur at a forthcoming date to be scheduled between now and mid-February. News, engineering, sales and management topics will be offered via a webinar or by Zoom, the broadcasters’ association notes.

Paid registrants will be receiving a refund. All awards will be presented virtually, at the end of January.

“Please stay healthy everyone!” Tinsley says. “Your communities are counting on you.”

Other events that remain on the calendar for January include the NATPE Miami conference and expo, scheduled for January 18-20, at the Fontainebleau Hotel & Resort; and the much-smaller Matrix Media Ad Sales Summit on January 19-20 at the Nobu Eden Roc, adjacent to the Fontainebleau in Miami Beach, Fla.