Over the past several months, I have wrestled with a difficult decision: whether or not we could safely hold #SpotLAX2020 in September. With different parts of the country experiencing the crisis brought on by COVID-19 differently and at different times, it was not an easy decision to make.
Initially, I was hopeful that we could somehow manage to sneak it in. Early projections were that an initial wave in the spring and early summer would subside and that by September it might be possible to hold an event with the roughly 50 people who attended last year. Additionally, I knew we had the chance to do our part to help the travel industry, albeit in a very small way.
Alas, things have not gone as we had initially hoped in many parts of the country. The chance to avoid other parts of the country becoming hotspots like New York was in March and April have been squandered. The results have been predictable. We’ve watched as other states have had to pause reopening plans or even roll them back. Here in New York, we’ve seen the government impose mandatory quarantine rules to those who have visited a number of states. As of yesterday, that list includes California.
Our decision to cancel was made after consultation with our sponsor JetTip.net and the other members of our board of directors. The call was unanimous: it would be irresponsible for us to hold an event this year where we ask people to travel from across the country to a single location. In the end, what started as a difficult decision became quite easy.
We are going to begin looking into our 2021 event soon. However, I expect that we won’t make an announcement about it until significantly later than we have the past couple of years. There are far too many unknowns about how this virus will continue to affect us over the next 15 months.
We hope to be able to see everyone in Los Angeles in the fall of 2021. In the meantime, get out to your local airport and watch some planes in a safe, socially distanced way. And please, wear a mask. It is the only way that we can stay on top of this awful virus in the short term.
