GSOC President Sheila Alfsen has decided to cancel the Banquet due to the risks that the coronavirus poses for our attendees.
This decision was quite difficult. Over the last few days, Sheila spoke with David Montgomery, our planned speaker, several times. His travel plans for the trip from Seattle to Portland for the event changed last week - from flying to driving (to minimize risk by not going through airports). However, David lives in Seattle, he has flown recently, and he teaches classes daily at University of Washington, so his potential for exposure is relatively high. Sheila and David spoke last evening and both felt that the risk to attendees outweighed the benefit of having him come to Portland. We are hopeful that David will be able to reschedule with GSOC, perhaps in the fall.
Registrants will receive full refunds, to be processed over the next week.
Sincerely and with the wish for all to remain healthy,
GSOC Board members