MicroConf COVID-19 Update

(Updated: 3.12.2020)

Since 2011 we’ve shipped 19 MicroConfs despite major struggles in year 1, Hot Sauce Gate in 2011, and the great sprinkler flood of 2016. Today, I regret to say that we cannot ship MicroConf US 2020 in Minneapolis.

Given the current state of affairs, hosting MicroConf in April has the potential to expose to Coronavirus the community we’ve cultivated, advocated for, and sought to protect for nearly a decade. And that is simply a non-starter.

We started talking about the potential impact of COVID-19 on MicroConf back in January. The cancellation of Mobile World Congress in early February spurned us to create a list of contingency plans and we set a few benchmarks to help us measure the factors driving leaders in the conference and event space.

We watched everything that events like SaaStr, SXSW, Pro-Sports and small scale events had to say in the lead up to their dates. We read nearly everything that was being published by leading experts and agencies on how to respond and how to prepare. We spoke with local health agencies in MInnesota, and gave ourselves as much time as we could to assess what is actually happening. Sadly, our time is up for an April event. 

At this point, we’re postponing MicroConf Growth and Starter, with plans to reconvene later this year. Trust me when I say this was a very, very difficult decision. But it’s the right thing to do.

And of course, we will honor your existing tickets at the rescheduled event.

Many of you have already booked your travel. We hope that postponing the event well over a month in advance will allow for flexibility in hotel and flight costs. Hyatt Regency Minneapolis will offer a refund to attendees who cancel 72 hours in advance. Many of the major airlines are waiving change fees and some are offering refunds for travel within the next two months.  

Over the next few weeks we’ll be solidifying what the next 6 months look like, but in the short term, it's your turn to do the right thing. We all are living in times that are filled with fear, but should be filled with information, facts, measure, and preparedness.  Be careful and don’t make risky choices when it comes to you, your family, and your community’s health.

We’ll be huddling for the next few days as we get a better scope of what this decision means for everyone involved, and will provide an update on what next steps look like next week.

We expect to be able to bring everyone back together for Growth and Starter in Minneapolis later this year, and we are still moving forward with our plans to host MicroConf Remote, MicroConf Locals (UK, Portland, Boston, and Austin), MicroConf Europe and MicroConf Asia.

These are challenging times, but we’re going to continue shipping MicroConf in whatever form we can. I’m  already seeing brilliant conversations in MicroConf Connect, and we’ll be releasing talk videos from MicroConf 2018 and 2019 for free on our YouTube channel very soon.

We will miss you in April. But the community lives on.

Rob Walling
Co-Founder
MicroConf