At the Baldrige Program, the safety and wellbeing of our community is a top priority. We have been closely monitoring updates about the coronavirus (COVID-19). Out of an abundance of caution and to respond to concerns by Award recipients and conference attendees, we have postponed until next year the Award Ceremony and Quest for Excellence Conference and all affiliated events planned for March 24-27 at the Gaylord National Harbor Hotel and Convention Center.
This was, of course, a very difficult decision and we want to make sure that our 2019 Award recipients and conference attendees have the full celebration and conference experience they deserve. We’ve learned many Award recipients, speakers, and attendees have organizational travel restrictions, some have increased demands at this time in their local communities, while others are following travel precautions aligned with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Thank you for the work that each of you are doing to keep your communities safe.
We will give all attendees a full refund (no cancellation penalty), including those who canceled prior to us deciding to cancel the event. Please do not take any action yet. We are taking steps to make this easy for you. To this end, you will see an email from our registration and housing bureau vendor (Showcare) in the next day or two that will give you instructions on how to cancel if you made your own hotel reservations.
If the Baldrige Foundation secured reservations for you, then you have nothing to do. If you reserved your own rooms, Showcare will work directly with the Gaylord to cancel your room nights without any penalty. So, you don’t need to take any action or contact the Gaylord.
The 2019 Award recipients are fantastic role models, and they have earned the celebration and the chance to share their story and best practices. We have been in dialogue with them, and they fully support this course of action.
We look forward to seeing you next year and please accept our sincere gratitude for your understanding. Thanks to all of you for your support, and please take good care of yourselves.
Very sincerely,
Robert Fangmeyer, Director
Baldrige Performance Excellence Program
