The Board of Directors of Virginia Rural Water Association has decided to cancel the 2020 VRWA Annual Conference and Exhibition scheduled for July 13-15 in Roanoke at the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center. This was a difficult decision in these unprecedented times dealing with the effects of COVID-19. The decision to cancel centered on protecting our members’ physical and economic health.
The uncertainties surrounding the logistics of hosting an annual conference with attendance of over 600 people in our exhibit hall, general sessions, and at meal functions led the board to make the decision to cancel. As of now, gatherings are greatly limited in Virginia and we do not know when those restrictions might be lifted.
Thank you for your membership and understanding during these times. Please know that we always try to make decisions in the best interests of our members and their people! If you paid for conference registration, we will be reimbursing your credit card or sending you a check over the next few weeks. Or if you prefer to donate your payment to VRWA, please let us know as soon as possible at email@vrwa.org or 540-261-7178.
If you registered under the VRWA block at Hotel Roanoke, your money will automatically be reimbursed; there is no need to call them. If you registered at another hotel, please contact them concerning your reservation.
Also during the board meeting held June 2nd, a motion was made and passed to extend the current term of those Board Members whose terms expire in 2020 until VRWA's next conference in April 2021. Todd Kilduff (At-Large), Mark Estes (Region V), Nathan Carroll (At-Large), and Tom Delbridge (Corporate) will have their terms extended until April 2021.
Since many of you depend upon our conference for your CPEs, we will be reaching out to those presenters who had been scheduled for our conference to determine if they will be able to present over the next few months via webinars or other class settings. Please check out our class schedule and watch for future emails concerning upcoming classes.
Although our conference has been cancelled, we still greatly appreciate everyone's efforts now and in the past. We will be announcing winners of VRWA's annual awards in the near future.
We would also like to give a special thank you to all of our corporate sponsors who supported VRWA's Conference preparations - Southern Corrosion, Munilink, Tencarva, Heyward, B&B Consultants, Dorsett, Hydrostructures, ESS, The Lane Group, Delta Systems, CLA-VAL, Timmons, Garrison Enterprises, Potesta & Associates, Dewberry, and Bowman Consulting Group. All sponsorships will be applied to our next annual conference. Once again thank you!
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me or anyone else at the VRWA office at 540-261-7178 or mritchie@vrwa.org. Check out our website at https://www.vrwa.org/EventsTraining/Conference/Conference2020.aspx for complete details. VRWA is here for you.
Mike Ritchie, VRWA Executive Director