Dear all, First and foremost, I want to assure you that the health and safety of our community and our staff is at the top of our thinking as we make our event plans in light of the COVID-19 situation.
Our website contains information on the events we organise and we will update this page to inform about relevant updates. And we will of course let the RIPE community and members know of important updates using this mailing list and the lists of other affected communities: https://www.ripe.net/participate/meetings/coronavirus-update Last week, the decision was made in consultation with the Bahraini government and local hosts to postpone the MENOG 20 meeting. This decision was not made lightly, but we feel it was the right decision to make to ensure everyone's safety. If similar decisions need to be made for future events, they will be made in consultation with all relevant parties including the RIPE Chair, local government, hosts, sponsors and organising teams. At the moment, all our upcoming events are scheduled to take place as normal. We understand that this situation could change quickly, and we may be forced to cancel or postpone a meeting at very short notice depending on developments in the host country, in the Netherlands or around the world more generally. And we will not compel organising staff to travel when there might be a risk to their health or to the health of staff in our offices. So giving exact timelines or decision deadlines is difficult to do. There are many considerations with both continuing with events and with postponing them. We have set up internal task forces and consulted health experts to look at issues around COVID-19 generally and, more specifically, at contingency planning for events such as RIPE 80 should they need to be postponed. We do understand the logistical and cost issues at play for people planning to attend RIPE 80 and other events. We will ensure decisions are made in as timely a manner as possible to minimise any costs or disruption to people's plans. We also have a wider social responsiblity to ensure we do not in any way contribute to the problems that COVID-19 has brought about. Again, we will make decisions in consultation with relevant parties but always with the health and safety of staff and community in mind. We hope we will still be able to run a great RIPE 80 Meeting in May, but we do ask you to keep in mind that the situation is changing daily and we are working hard to ensure we are as prepared as possible for any eventuality. Kind regards, Fergal Cunningham Marketing and Communications Manager RIPE NCC
