The 2021 Wine Media Conference, August 5-7 in Eugene, Oregon, will take place as scheduled.
At least we are planning on that at the moment! We are still in the midst of the pandemic and, in fact, things could get even worse if the new virus variants take hold in the US. We urge everyone to stay home and stay safe during this dark time. And if we still happen to be in too risky a situation in August or if the Oregon governor has not opened up the state sufficiently to allow us to proceed, we naturally will not.
However, we are confident by August things will be different and we will be able to hold the conference in person.
- We have an array of safety procedures in place for COVID-19.
- If necessary, we will use an outdoor tent in the parking lot of the host hotel to hold the wine tasting events, which are inherently more dangerous since people cannot remain masked.
- It is possible everyone in the United States will have access to a vaccine before the conference, which should dramatically decrease the spread of the disease.
- Airline travel has proven to be quite safe already thanks to airline practices and will get safer with continued testing and the onset of vaccinations.
- Testing has improved dramatically, including at-home testing, which we can potentially employ at our conference.
- We will require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test from all attendees.
Our capacity at this conference is limited to 220 people, which is lower than in recent years. Please join us for what should be a momentous event as we thrive in the wine scene of the Willamette Valley, rejoice in seeing old friends again, and look to the future with an excellent array of content and speakers.