Santa Clara tech event cancelled because of coronavirus fears
Directions Conference, which had been scheduled for March 4, dropped by technology giant IDC
Another tech conference scheduled for the Bay Area was cancelled due to concerns about the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Technology research giant IDC pulled the plug on its Directions conference, which was scheduled to be held on Macrch 4 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. In a statement, IDC said it chose to cancel the event as more details have emerged about the reach of COVID-19 in and around the Silicon Valley region.
“We have made this choice out of an abundance of caution and believe it is the correct decision given the evolving public health concerns in the Bay Area,” IDC said in a statement about cancelling the Directions event. “The potential risk to the well-being of Directions attendees and our staff is something IDC takes seriously.”
Concerns about the virus in the Bay Area have grown following the disclosure that a woman in Solano County spent 11 days in a local hospital before test results confirmed she had contracted the disease.
IDC said it is still planning on going ahead with its other Directions event on Tuesday in Boston.
IDC’S cancellation came on the heels of Facebook saying on Feb. 27 that it cancelled its annual F8 developers conference, which had been scheduled for May 5-6 in San Jose, due to concerns about the virus. Last month, Facebook cited the virus as the reason it cancelled a marketing summit it was set to hold in San Francisco this month. Facebook, Microsoft, Sony and some other gaming-related companies have also withdrawn from March’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco because of virus fears.
Officials with GDC and the upcoming IOT World conference, which is scheduled to be held in San Jose, in April, have so far said they have no plans to cancel their events, but are monitoring the situation and putting extra sanitary and cleaning protocols in place to help ensure the health of attendees.
Contact Rex Crum at 408278-3415.