[Coco] COCOFEST Postponed

[Jason Reighard]

This was posted on the Glenside FB page by the Glenside President Eric
Canales...

Hello all. It is our sad duty to let you all know that CoCoFEST! 2020 is
officially postponed until further notice.

We tried to stick it out, but on 3/9 the governor of Illinois JB Pritzker
declared a state of emergency. On 3/10 he recommended all events over 250
people be cancelled. He went on to recommend that all events that will draw
out those over aged 50 and those that are in poor health, even if the
events are under 250 people, are to be cancelled. As of 3/13 president
Trump has also declared a national state of emergency. Because well over
half of our members in our database are over 50 years of age, and because
it is the only sensible and responsible choice, we are left with no other
option than to reschedule.

Our hotel has informed some of our guests that they will be refunding all
booked rooms even on non-refundable tickets. We have not heard this through
official channels, but it is time now to call and cancel and request
refunds on your rooms. We have contacted them to request CoCoFEST! be
rescheduled, and they have offered a time slot in November. We will explore
that and other options, particularly we are exploring options to celebrate
during the end of the summer season to give us the most time to understand
this virus affecting all of us while still enjoying some warmth.

We will by request move all payments made for this fest to our next
scheduled event, whenever that may be. We will inform you soon, hopefully
within a month or two about our new plans. Refunds will be issued by
request or for those we cannot reach.

When you attend CoCoFEST! you also become a member of the Glenside Color
Computer Club. Therefore all of you who do not request a refund of your
base ticket price will become full members of the club effective
immediately and effective until CoCoFEST! 2021. I invite you to attend our
next scheduled meeting online on 3/16. I urge those that regularly attend
physically to do so online instead. We will discuss new dates and venues
for CoCoFEST!

The 40th is going to be a special year for the CoCo. With this delay we
will be able to do everything we couldn't get done so far this year! Stay
tuned!!