National Service Regional Training Conferences Postponed to 2021
Dear Friends,
We continue to think of you and our partners in service as our nation adjusts to the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although we had planned to celebrate the many accomplishments of AmeriCorps programs and state service commissions over the past 25+ years during the National Service Regional Training Conferences, the logistical limitations of doing so in a way that would protect our attendees' health and well-being have proven to be challenging.
Due to a variety of factors related to COVID-19, and our commitment to your health and safety, we have made the difficult decision to postpone all three 2020 regional training events taking place in Albuquerque, Milwaukee, and Burlington to next year (spring of 2021).
We did not come to this decision easily and know this impacts each of you in different ways. Some of you may be relieved; others disappointed. Whatever you are feeling, we are right there with you! Nonetheless, we remain hopeful that we can come together as fellow "service nerds" in 2021 to learn and recognize the amazing work national service is accomplishing to serve our nation right now.
Here are three important logistical items you need to know:
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All registrations will be cancelled and registration payments will be fully refunded no later than July 31. We thank you in advance for your patience as we work to refund payments for everyone involved.
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If you paid via credit card, you will see a full refund credited to the original credit card in the coming weeks.
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If you paid by check, you will receive an email from us asking to confirm who the refund check should be made payable to and the correct mailing address. If you do not respond to this message, we will assume the check should be made out to and mailed to the organization on file connected with the registrant.
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Our official hotel partner, DF Meetings & Events, is working closely with ASC to facilitate automatic hotel cancellations for all rooms reserved through our official hotel room block. If you reserved your hotel room through our official reservation link (through DF Meetings & Events), your reservation will be cancelled automatically and without penalty. There is no need to email or call DF Meetings, the hotel, or your credit card company to cancel your reservation(s). By May 29, you will receive confirmation of your cancellation. The cancellation will be sent to the email provided at the time the reservation was made. No charges related to hotel room reservations have been incurred by any attendees who booked through our official block, nor will they be. However, if you made separate hotel arrangements on your own, you are responsible for cancelling those on your own.
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You are responsible for cancelling your flights or other travel-related reservations. It is our understanding most airlines are issuing refunds or providing credits for an extended period of time. As a reminder, CNCS has FAQs related to cancelled conference travel due to COVID-19. These costs incurred are allowable costs. (General Questions FAQ #8).
We know some of you may be wondering why we are not moving these events to a virtual format. While we think that option makes sense for many conferences, ASC already facilitates frequent web-based trainings for both commissions and AmeriCorps State programs, and we do not feel adding a virtual conference at this time would be a value-add. We also know many state service commissions are already busy working to move their summer training activities to a virtual or hybrid format. You may see some additional web-based content available from ASC in the coming months to supplement content that otherwise would have been available during the regional trainings, but we will not be transitioning the entire conference to a virtual setting.
If you have suggestions regarding new web-based content you would like to see from us throughout the rest of 2020, please don’t hesitate to send us a note with your suggestions.
Meanwhile, we are working quickly with our event partners in Albuquerque, Milwaukee, and Burlington to reschedule these events to 2021. We will make a future announcement as soon the 2021 event dates are confirmed so you can mark them on your calendars and plan accordingly.
Thank you for your patience and understanding as we navigate this change in our plans. We send a special thank you to the state service commissions and national service members who are on the front lines serving communities during this global pandemic. We are incredibly inspired by the surge of national service response efforts taking place across the country to combat the COVID-19 crisis locally -- leveraging AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and community volunteers to meet critical needs through food distribution, call centers, distance learning support, childcare for families of first responders, and even contact tracing. Thank you for all you are doing.
Be safe, and we look forward to seeing you at the National Service Training Conferences in 2021!
In Service,
-2020 National Service Training Conference Planning Committee
Questions? Contact us at [email protected].
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