Contact Conference Postponed Due To Corona Virus

Listeners, on Feb. 23, 2020, our guest was Jim Funaro and we talked about the return of the Contact Conference at NASA Ames for early April. Due to the Corona Virus outbreak, the conference has been postponed and will be rescheduled. Below is the note Jim sent out late lastt night:

"I wanted to give you this news as soon as it broke, to allow you to accommodate your plans.  The Corona crisis (which seems to affect even the beer) is becoming daily more serious, and the epidemiology and rate of spread of the disease are still uncertain.  The numbers of those diagnosed positive in the Bay Area and elsewhere have risen alarmingly, often without symptoms.

Last week I got a disconcerting message via our NASA associates.  Ames is discouraging conferences at their facility and may be considering cancelling current conferences.  It now turns out that a case was just discovered on the base last night and Ames has closed down.  So our spring CONTACT must be cancelled.

The Ames news is clearly sobering.  But, regardless, I strongly feel that CONTACT has an obligation to protect its members.  We should not be responsible for exposing our ever-loyal but increasingly vulnerable attendees to what has become a dangerous health hazard.

So, we will have to postpone CONTACT 2020 until later in the year, when the situation may have resolved itself more clearly.  All of you know how happy I was to return to NASA Ames as our natural home.  I have therefore asked our conference coordinator to explore the availability of future dates. 

Save  your presentations!  CONTACT shall not perish from this Earth.  I am sorry for the inconvenience.  We have no choice.  More instructions regarding your registration and lodging to follow..

Thanks for your continuing support.

Jim

-James J. Funaro"