The following email was sent to all members of Region 15 on March 19, 2020
Dear Fellow Members of Region 15:
We hope this note finds you and yours doing well - staying in, staying healthy, and staying safe.
We’re excited by all of the creative ways that choruses are “getting together” virtually, and how people are uniting (with proper social-distancing, of course) amidst all of the adversity. It’s heartening in uncertain times to be part of such a special community.
Thank you all for the questions and concerns you have shared, thus far, regarding the cancellation of our regional contest in Albany, and the potential Sweet Adelines International 2020 contingency competition. We are all anxious to hear about this plan, and I am sure SAI is working as hard as they can to get this information out to us. But the COVID19 situation is ever-changing these days and is surely influencing these discussions.
Many of your questions were expressly regarding what a contingency competition might look like - and on that score, we will need to wait for SAI to issue their plans. There were also numerous questions related to contest finances, but without specific information from international regarding any revised competition format, the RMT cannot speculate what the financial implications will be for our regional membership.
Know that all of your questions regarding the competition contingency plan are being passed along to the appropriate contacts at Sweet Adelines International.
At the local level, your Regional Competition Committee has been working diligently to handle all of the particulars related to cancelling our Albany contest. Lots of contracts to negotiate, deposits to wrangle back, etc. And your Regional Management Team is working hard to get timely, accurate answers to your questions.
Despite all of the unknowns, here are a few things we can tell you with certainty:
* Chorus hotel deposit checks mailed to the region will be returned.
* Regional program advertising payments will be reimbursed.
* International Chorus and Quartet Competition Entry Fees will be reimbursed by SAI, if: A) there is no contingency competition, or B) a chorus/quartet chooses not to participate in the contingency competition.
* Your health and well-being are paramount to us! And this truth will factor squarely into all of our discussions and recommendations.
The RMT will meet again immediately following any statement from SAI, to evaluate the news and communicate further on related implications for our regional membership.
In the meantime, please keep the questions coming! (The poll shared earlier will remain open for the foreseeable future, and we will continue to monitor for responses regularly: Region 15 Competition Cancellation Questions Poll)
Be safe and be healthy!
Beth
Beth Fulton
Team Coordinator, Region 15 Management Team
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