ALEXANDRIA, VA – The Vision Council and Reed Exhibitions, organizers of Vision Expo, announce the decision to cancel Vision Expo West 2020, which was scheduled to take place in Las Vegas, NV, Sept. 23-26.
Over the past several months, Reed Exhibitions’ Vision Expo team and The Vision Council worked together to plan the event “while closely monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on members of the optical community,” according to a press release from The Vision Council.
“With the health and wellbeing of everyone in attendance at the Show as the show organizers’ primary concern, Vision Expo, along with the Venetian Resort, developed a multi-layered, in-depth plan to ensure the safety of everyone planning on attending.”
The decision to cancel the event came as a result of Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak’s announcement on June 26 that Nevada would “remain in Phase 2 of reopening plans through the end of July due to current trends of the coronavirus infection.”
“While certainly disappointing, the decision to cancel Vision Expo West 2020 is prudent and necessary following the announcement of the extension of Phase 2 in Las Vegas into the end of July,” said Fran Pennella, event vice president, Vision Expo, at Reed Exhibitions. “Without having visibility on when the state of Nevada will be ready to roll into future phases or what the future phases will allow for, coupled with the unfortunate spiking of COVID-19 cases in the region, we know it is in the best interest of everyone in the vision community to not move forward with the Show.”
Attendees and exhibitors who had registered to participate in Vision Expo West 2020 will receive personalized communication in the coming days from the Vision Expo team.
“We pride ourselves on being the industry’s ultimate gathering place and while we recognize and appreciate how important the Show is to the community, we believe this is ultimately the right decision for our customers,” said Mitch Barkley, vice president of trade shows and meetings at The Vision Council. “At the same time, we understand the vision community’s desperate need and desire to get back to business. To meet this urgent need, we are rolling out a comprehensive series of virtual offerings to bring the optical community together in between our physical events. Some of these offerings include our Virtual Connections program, which links our exhibitors with attendees; the Virtual EYE2EYE series, a series of virtual panels and interactive conversations inspired by Vision Expo’s EYE2EYE Educational Series; and the soon-to-be launched Virtual Vision Series, all of which can be accessed via visionexpo.com.”
Vision Expo is launching a robust 365-digital platform dedicated to bringing the optical community together and allowing business to flourish. The platform will include CE education and allow for direct appointment setting, virtual product showcases, service and product sourcing and more. The announcement on Vision Expo’s new virtual platform, its specific offerings and partners will be shared in the coming months.