ASBPE cancels National Conference and postpones banquet

March 16, 2020 — The American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE) is canceling its 2020 National Conference, which was set to take place May 7 to 8 in Chicago. Conference programming will be reformatted into a webinar series this year. The association also is postponing its 2020 regional banquets.

ASBPE’s Executive Board has been closely monitoring the situation with COVID-19 (coronavirus) as it unfolds within the U.S. As such, ASBPE has decided to postpone the 2020 regional banquets, cancel the national conference in Chicago, and reformat the conference programming into a webinar series.

The organization says it is confident these changes will address any safety and travel concerns of members, while still allowing people to take part in conference programming and celebrate regional and national awards with friends and colleagues later this year. 

Regional Banquets and Azbee Awards
ASBPE anticipates holding the regional banquets in mid-to-late August, and the registration forms will be updated for the following dates within the next few days. It will be announcing the regional Azbee Award winners and the national winners at each regional banquet. Regional winners will be published online after each regional banquet (with Pacific and Southeast regions published after the first banquet). National winners will be published online after all regional banquets are completed.

The following are tentative regional banquet dates:

  • Central Region, Overland Park, Kansas: Aug. 26, 2020
  • Heartland Region, Cleveland, Ohio: Aug. 25, 2020
  • Mid Atlantic Region, Washington, D.C.: Aug. 31, 2020
  • Northeast & New England Regions, New York, New York: Aug. 19, 2020
  • Upper Midwest Region, Chicago, Illinois: Aug. 20, 2020

National Conference
Additionally, the organization will be reformatting the national conference sessions into a webinar series, so we can still glean impactful knowledge from our speakers. The dates for those webinars will be announced soon. 

The 2021 National Conference will be held at Pinstripes Chicago on May 13 to 14, 2021.