SSA Spring is Cancelled
SSA Spring Conference in San Antonio Cancelled
Due to rising health concerns regarding the spread of the COVID-19 Coronavirus, the SSA Spring Conference in San Antonio has been unfortunately cancelled this year.
Originally scheduled to take place this March 17th-19th, the decision to cancel comes in the wake of 8 confirmed cases of the pneumonia-like disease found in Houston, Texas. Those who already purchased tickets to attend the conference should receive an email with directions on choosing between either a refund or a credit for the Annual SSA Fall Conference in Las Vegas.
The official statement was released on the Self Storage Association’s Facebook page on March 5th and can be read below:
“Today the Self Storage Association (SSA) made the difficult decision to cancel its annual Spring Conference & Trade Show scheduled for March 17th-19th, 2020 in San Antonio, Texas. The determination to take this unprecedented step has been made by our Board of Directors and staff in consideration for the health and safety of all participants and in light of the impact of the Coronavirus outbreak (also known as Covid-19).
As you might imagine, our top priority will always be the well-being of all those associated with SSA activities. Unforeseen consequences that could unduly jeopardize the productivity of our member companies is also a determining factor.
We understand that the planning and financial investment for attendees, sponsors, exhibitors and presenters is significant. We are grateful for the remarkable confidence you place in us as your host and the loyalty you demonstrate to the SSA and the self storage industry. The SSA team will work to minimize inconveniences presented by this unavoidable circumstance, including full refunds for your registration and exhibit fees or a credit applied towards our next conference this fall in Las Vegas.
Obviously our team has worked hard to create another tremendous gathering and now we must switch our focus to the administration of the canceled activities. Your patience as we work to meet these challenges is greatly appreciated. Each registrant can expect to receive an email with guidelines to help you choose between a refund or credit for the Fall Conference & Trade Show.
In addition to the conference and trade show, the spring event is an important setting for a number of groups that meet under the umbrella of the national Self Storage Association, including the SSA Board of Directors, SSA Foundation Board of Governors, Large Operators Council, SSA Women’s Council and SSA Youth Leaders Group. While gathering is essential to all of these groups, the seriousness of the situation leaves us no choice but to take the responsible course of action.
Our entire board and team are disappointed that we will not be in San Antonio this month, a great town with much to offer, and that we will miss the opportunity to co-host an event with the Texas Self Storage Association for the first time, the SSA Economic Summit.
All of us would like to thank TSSA for their collaborative effort and we look forward to a long, productive relationship. Our expectation is that this eventuality is unique to this spring and look forward to resuming our regular pattern of fall conferences in Las Vegas and the spring conferences planned for Nashville, Orlando and New Orleans in 2021 – 2023, respectively.
Thank you,
Timothy J. Dietz, SSA President and CEO”
As unfortunate as cancelling a major event such as this is, I personally applaud the association for making this difficult decision and putting the health and safety of the attendees first. With the Inside Self Storage World Expo in Las Vegas to be the next big conference on the horizon in April, we’ll have to hope that containment measures show improved results and allow continuation of the trade show season in 2020.