Hi Alan,
The Axpona 2020 contract terms are public, as mentioned in both the Stereophile
report, and in the Strata-Gee
report, and have been discussed at length.
The Axpona
contract terms are public, and the various cancellation scenarios are covered specifically, in clauses 13, 14 and 15.
This is what all the uproar is about - as we see from all of the various discussions about this online.
From all of this, as well as the world news, it is becoming more and more apparent that the show, and indeed all shows, are pretty much a foregone conclusion for 2020.
Even if Axpona insists on going ahead this year, it cannot possibly be anything like last year, or what it was sold as this year when it was slated to be in April.
It seems pretty clear that all there is now is to see what JD Events will do for the exhibitors, and whether there will ever likely be another Axpona that is supported by the whole audio industry.
To get an idea of how this might all come out, we can read what Joel Davis of JD Events wrote to Steven Rochlin last week,
posted at enjoythemusic.com where he writes (
emphasis mine):-
"April 23, 2020
Hi Steve. It appears you sent the original email to an info@ address vs to me directly which is why I never received.
I have been planning all along to get a communication out to all exhibitors in late April to address all the questions we are receiving. I don't think it is necessary for me to be immediately reactive to a petition letter. Nor does it make sense to provide answers to a few select questions to be published without the opportunity to elaborate on the full context of the current situation...which is complicated and changes daily.
I hope you can appreciate how much blood, sweat and tears go into producing AXPONA from the JDE team every day. And I hope you can also appreciate, like so many other businesses in this world today, our event management company is being totally devastated by the bans on large gatherings and we are fighting for our own survival.
We are working on details, various scenarios, and contingency plans on a daily basis. I hope you will support JDE and AXPONA in a positive way during this extraordinary time of crises for so many people, businesses and industries. Meanwhile, we will continue to do the best we can to support the audio industry and help it bounce back just as we've done for last 7 years.
Thank you. Joel.
Joel A. Davis
Founder & CEO
JD Events"
To get an idea of JD Events' business model, there are some
interviews with Joel Davis that are revealing.
The list of signatories to the original letter is up to 85 now, and it will continue to be updated as we go, but in all this talk of legal terms and insurance, what is not covered is the exhibitors' and attendees' health and safety, and potential liability for us and the show organizer if even one person gets infected at, or in traveling to and from, the show - that surely also needs to be factored into all of this.
It is highly doubtful that anyone would have sufficient coverage for that, and there is nothing that could possibly be worth risking getting infected by this terrible virus.
Luke Manley
