We’ve updated this letter to reflect new changes:
VIRTUAL CONVENTION, REFUNDS AND RESERVATION CANCELLATIONS
*Virtual Convention: The new dates for our virtual convention are August 5-9, 2020. We will have 85 plus sessions including meal events and online networking events. There are costs associated with a virtual conference so there will be registration fees offered at the best rates possible for our members and attendees. You will get more information next week on specifics of the conference including workshops and other programming offerings.
*Registration Refunds (3 options)
-You will be able to get full conference registration refunds by emailing the national office at yaneth@NAHJ.org
-You can apply it to next year’s conference
-You can donate it to fund student registrations
*Hotel Registration Cancellations
Although NABJ/NAHJ is not involved in the hotel cancellation/hotel refund process, we know hotels have skeletal staffing because of COVID-19 so your experience could be a bit frustrating. That’s why we are talking to the hotel so that we can advise you on the most efficient way to get it done. You will be able to get a full refund and we will provide details next week.
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Dear Members,
Please read. If you skim instead of reading, you are likely to miss important information.
We are happy to report a successful outcome of our negotiations with our convention host hotel that helps keep our members and partners safe while avoiding a major detriment to organization finances.
We can now share more information with you about our joint NABJ/NAHJ conference following sensitive negotiations completed on Tuesday. We will have a virtual convention instead of the in-person NABJ/NAHJ conference at the Washington, DC Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in July. The new convention dates for the virtual conference are August 5-9. You will get more details next week on how this exciting opportunity works. We’ll also give you details on registration costs, refunds, and sessions offered.
If we had officially decided and then publicly announced a final decision pulling out of the in-person conference regardless of a binding contract we had with the Marriott and Omni Hotels, we would have owed approximately 1.3 million dollars in liquidated damages. Proactively breaking such a contract is a terrible business decision. That obviously would not have been in the best interest of our organization, especially since we had the opportunity to avoid such damages. Timing, legal requirements, and tough negotiations on the part of NABJ/NAHJ and Marriott were all essential parts of getting to a final resolution.
Thank you for trusting us. Leading our negotiating team to do what was in NAHJ’s best interest was paramount. We were not free to share components such as our contractual obligations, scheduling, and legalities because it would have compromised our negotiations and unnecessarily exposed us to undesirable legal consequences. Please know we will always act in the best interest of our members even if those decisions are unpopular. In service to our association, we are fortunate to have leaders willing to take on the tough choices.
Fully anticipating in late February and early March that an in-person conference might be prohibitive, we began early on exploring what a virtual conference would look like in case we needed to go down that route.
Summary Facts:
- We began preliminary discussions of a possible virtual conference the last week in February and, in the first week of March, began reviewing virtual models, including one from a respected member in the academic arena.
- For weeks, we have been talking with a few partners/sponsors about the possibility of a virtual conference, and those talks have helped shape the virtual options.
- While the virtual option exploration was underway, we were also looking for alternate dates for an in-person convention, but as previously disclosed, none were available because of the size of our conference. Additionally, it was apparent that the feasibility of an in-person had dramatically diminished.
- Total cancellation was not a good option because it was not necessary and certainly not in the best interest of the organization, especially when there were other options.
- Legal counsel validated what we already knew. The only ways out of our contract to avoid the $1.3 million in damages were:
- a forced cancellation brought on by the government or other restrictions triggering force majeure circumstances
- negotiations with Marriott to release NAHJ from this year’s contract
A government forced cancellation could have required us waiting possibly up to mid-June before informing members and partners of the status of the convention. That would not work for members, partners, or staff on several levels.
Negotiations finally prevailed though Marriott Wardman Park was motivated to hold us to the contract for reasons it thought were in the best interest of Marriott.
Parallels with Journalism Investigations
Imagine you are doing a story that requires significant investigation. Although you want to deliver the story to anxious managers as soon as possible, it would be reckless, irresponsible, and high litigation risk if you run with the story before making sure all components were airtight and would withstand legal challenges. It could cost your company significant money if not properly executed. It could also cost you your job. As you know, a sequence of steps come before that story can air.
It is also likely that while you are putting your story together, the creative services department is pressuring you to give them information so that they can schedule promotional material for online, print, and broadcast distribution. Despite pressure for more details, they too are required to wait until your investigation is complete and negotiating with interviewees about disclosures. The promotional arm of your organization must also be careful not to trigger a response that would put the company in legal jeopardy. At the same time, they are dealing with timelines of when to get all required information to dissemination platforms by those individual entities that are trying to meet their own set of deadlines.
Here’s the bottom line. We are proceeding with a virtual convention, and we will inform members and partners of all the details very soon. We expect to answer most of your questions at that time. We are excited that NAHJ will still be able to provide workshops, panels, training sessions, some meal events, and yes, even networking opportunities. Stay tuned!