2022 Virtual Conference News – Canceled
Sadly, we have come to the decision as an organization that we must cancel the option to attend our upcoming conference virtually. We will still be hosting our in-person event as planned. The only change to this year’s conference is that there won’t be a virtual option.
As an organization, we are always trying to reach more people and to deliver educational content in new ways. This year, for the first time ever, we had planned to host a live broadcast of our traditional in-person conference. Doing so would have allowed people from anywhere in the world to attend from the comfort of their homes or offices.
Like with any new venture, there was uncertainty regarding the success of what we were planning. Although we did our best to make sound decisions, there was no past history to draw from and it was difficult to know if our decisions would lead to positive outcomes. One thing that we now know is that we overestimated the interest there would be in attending our conference virtually.
After nearly a month of zero registrations for the virtual event, we asked that individuals interested in attending either register or let us know of their intentions to register. Our purpose in doing that was to learn how many people were planning to attend. Unfortunately, the response we received to that request fell short of what we were hoping for.
Unless you’re involved in the business of conference planning, you probably don’t realize that the costs of live broadcasting an in-person event are substantial. The tech hardware that’s required, the staff needed to set-up and manage that hardware, and the high-speed internet necessary for a smooth broadcast (for five simultaneous workshops, over the course of three days) carries an exorbitant price tag. Based on the high costs associated with the event and the very limited interest, we determined that it would not be fiscally responsible to move forward with it.
Balancing the fulfillment of our mission with financial responsibility is not a science. There is no road map to follow or formula to utilize. Decisions like this are made by caring people who only want what’s best for NBA and its members. Please know that the decision to not have a virtual conference was not an easy one to make. The last thing we wanted to do was disappoint those few of you who were planning to attend. Our hope is that by making these types of tough decisions we are helping to ensure that NBA will be around to carry out its mission for a long time.
Although NBA would love to be presenting its education to a hotel full of attendees, while people from all over the world tune-in, for now we will be sticking with what we’ve always done. From this point forward, we will be putting all of our full efforts into delivering the best possible in-person Professional Development Conference to all those who can make it. We hope to have many more more of you register in the coming weeks and we can’t wait to come together in a few short months.
If You’ve Already Registered
If you are one of the few who have registered and paid, we’ll be issuing you a refund this week. We’ll take care of the canceling of your registration, so there’s nothing you’ll need to take care of.
If you’re able to, we’d love to have you join us in San Antonio!