Open Letter to Joel Davis Re: Axpona 2020
- Thread starter Ron Resnick
- Start date
Well written letter
To me this is the honorable way to go....cancel the show completely and refund all the vendors' monies
To me this is the honorable way to go....cancel the show completely and refund all the vendors' monies
I don't want to cause harm to JD Events or Axpona as I don't know the situation there however having the show will cause harm to all of us who have invested our time and money in this event. It can't be what we expected and paid for ! That right now is impossible. This will not be a gathering and celebration of High End audio when we can't gather and we can't enjoy. How will this even work? what about elevators? restaurants? attendance? how many allowed in each room and where can they sit to listen correctly? It makes no sense...period.
For my company I don't want to be forced to spend additional thousands to attend because I am going to loose the thousands already paid for. How can my room partners attend from Germany and Spain and around the U.S.?
IMO we need as an Industry to try to help each other and there is much to learn from others. I was never consulted about the August dates when they decided to move the show. I have spoken to many about the show and even started a thread here about who was going to attend with no positive replies.
It is always important to listen to your customers needs when you run a business and I hope that Axpona will do something that is equitable for all.
We need to accept for the near future at least that the world has changed. It has already happened and we ned to adapt.
FOr example Clair Brothers who are IO believe the largest sound reinforcement company in the U.S. ( they do most of the concert tours we see) has already told their crews that they will not be doing any shows in 2020. All the sports leagues are at best going to be holding games without fans if at all. Major tourist attractions are shut down. 1.8 million Casino employees in Las Vegas are home , and maybe for a very long time. The World Series of Poker cancelled for 2020. These are just a few. They are all large scale businesses with millions and billions of dollars at risk. If they can't then Axpona can't either. IMHO
FOr example Clair Brothers who are IO believe the largest sound reinforcement company in the U.S. ( they do most of the concert tours we see) has already told their crews that they will not be doing any shows in 2020. All the sports leagues are at best going to be holding games without fans if at all. Major tourist attractions are shut down. 1.8 million Casino employees in Las Vegas are home , and maybe for a very long time. The World Series of Poker cancelled for 2020. These are just a few. They are all large scale businesses with millions and billions of dollars at risk. If they can't then Axpona can't either. IMHO
Leif, We are going to need to cooperate and help each other in ways we never did before. I believe we will have to do small and local things for quite a while and should form an Industry council to find ways to grow our business in the world that exists NOW. There IMHO will be no shows for a while and I doubt anything in 2020. I do believe there are opportunities from any crisis but they require hard thought, choices and actions that are not the same as the past. Best to you,
Elliot
Dear Alan,
No one asked me to post the letter. It is explicitly denominated as an "open letter," so I felt it should be okay to post the letter publicly here.
Hello Elliot,
I completely agree. Even before this current situation, I think our industry was in need of change. IMHO, we allowed the way we present the highly unique, memorable and at times emotional experiences our products are capable to become calcified. We became introverted.
Working together, perhaps we can discover our way through the current challenges and I would hope move on to expand the market to more music lovers by identifying the barriers of entry and removing those we can while flattening the curve on those we can't. I think we should include manufacturers, critical press, marketing experts, etc. Clearly increasing the brain pool as well as our collective resources could lift all boats
I would be highly interested in participating, all the best!
Damon
I don’t know the individuals involved however there could well be a back story to this, along the lines of the venue owners holding the organiser’s feet to the fire about refunding costs. Adam / Elberoth would be best placed to explain how these things typically work
Anyhow, something similar happened with the Baselworld watch show and it didn't end well.
Anyhow, something similar happened with the Baselworld watch show and it didn't end well.
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Yes I would be surprised if the organizer has not already given out some funds to the venue and others. So I assume the refunds process will have to be a chain of refunds
wear masks, limit number of people in rooms. not that difficult. these aren't mass gatherings.
I hope RMAF figures it out in October.
Pandemics are typically regarded as ’force majeure’ events, which can be cited to nullify contractual obligations.
After SARS, most insurance companies here would not insure against pandemics. I'm pretty sure if companies in the West still do, they are now removing the clauses from future contracts...
You're missing the point about how what you've described weren't the conditions under which any manufacturer expected the show to be held when they signed their contracts - limited attendance, minimized experiences, a cloud of fear, and muzzled interaction - to name a few. They are within their rights to back out of any contract that can no longer deliver the original promised experience they signed up for. Afterall, they are doing this to broaden exposure to their products.
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That's certainly already happening with travel insurance policies over here Howie, though I was referring to contracts in general.
oh please. if you want to kill the industry further, be my guest. by October for RMAF, we should be mostly reopen - heck it's starting this weekend in Colorado. Axpona and the summer shows are goners, but its 6 months until RMAF!
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