On Monday, February 15, CORSA President Mike Hall called an emergency meeting of the Board via Zoom to discuss circumstances surrounding plans to hold the 2021 CORSA International Convention in San Diego. The convention was scheduled to take place there during the last week of July. These were the circumstances we confronted at that time:
Convention activities were not permitted in San Diego County per a directive issued by the State of California. Hopefully, that will be relaxed before the end of July but we don't know when. To see the directive, see: https://covid19.ca.gov/safer-economy
The Crowne Plaza was closed to all but local health workers. Although it is scheduled to reopen to the public on July 1, it was not possible to book a room reservation there, even for our convention.
Furthermore, the Crowne Plaza would not or could not commit to when reservations would open. Potentially, the reservation system would be inoperative right up to the day when the hotel reopens to the public, which would be July 1st at best. This would leave only three weeks for CORSA members to book a room.
The possibility of holding the convention at another hotel in San Diego was considered. Prior to the meeting, calls were made to two other hotels in the area. The room rates were well above $200 and the facilities had limited parking.
We also considered travel. Many of us would travel by air to attend. By increasing the number of seats available to passengers, airlines are lowering the social distancing requirements and there's no assurance that passengers will be masking themselves throughout the flight. I have similar concerns about airline terminals, airport restaurants and rental cars. So even if the Crowne Plaza is sanitized and open in time for our convention, there remained a plausible risk of contracting some strain of COVID-19 for those of us traveling long distances to get there.
Finally, there is the financial aspect. Even if we went forward with the convention, attendance would likely be much lower than originally expected. Several of the expenses for running a convention are fixed and must be paid irrespective of the number of attendees. So, it's likely that expenses would exceed revenues. As provided in CORSA's convention policy, CORSA is required to backstop any losses that the local chapter would otherwise incur.
After discussing these circumstances, a vote was taken to decide whether or not the 2021 CORSA International Convention should be held in San Diego. The Board members in attendance were unanimously in favor of cancellation. There remains a possibility of upgrading the Springfield mini convention, but it's unlikely the local chapter could meet all the requirements spelled out in the CORSA Convention policy.
As is the case with other Board meetings, the CORSA Secretary's notes for the February 15th meeting are available on the CORSA website. To read them, CORSA members can go to www.corvair.org, log-in and, using the navigation menu, click on "Official Documents" and then "Board Meeting Notes". You'll find them there in the 2021 folder.
Allan Lacki
CORSA Director & Corporate Secretary
Search CorvairForum
Calendar
Birthdays
Newest members
Corvair Vendors