Dear Members,
A few weeks ago as the COVID-19 situation began to really escalate in most of our communities, the Board of Directors communicated some guidelines to help address questions coming in from chapters on how to proceed with planned events. As the pandemic has escalated even more, now impacting nearly every community in Canada and the United States, your Board of Directors wanted to outline our guidance on events to all members to ensure you know we are being proactive on our position for club events and gatherings.
Each day brings new updates on big event cancellations and company office closures. This means your favorite Audi dealership and local coffee shop is likely closed or under extreme reduced operation. In response to this, we have made the decision to cancel two 2020 club sanctioned events so far:
- The June trip of the R8 Spyder Dolce Vita European Tour in Northern Italy is cancelled. The October event is still scheduled and the situation is being monitored closely as we hopefully come out of this pandemic. Make sure to reach out to our Membership Manager Sally in our central office if you haven’t already worked with her on a deposit refund.
- The “Audi Club National Event” with our Lone Star chapter that was scheduled to take place this October, is cancelled. There is simply too much uncertainty to continue planning this event as a national gathering. The Lone Star chapter is exploring plans on continuing with their usual regional event should restrictions lift in the latter part of the year. We feel that this is the best decision to protect the hearts and minds of the hosting chapter while mitigating what could be significant financial risk.
As you begin to experience more event postponements or cancellations in your region, please keep in mind that the Board of Directors and Central Office are offering your chapter leadership these guidelines:
- We suggest all events now through May 1st, 2020 be cancelled or postponed. This guidance may be extended based on guidance from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO).
- All chapters MUST comply with all federal, state, and local laws, including guidance from the CDC:
- To protect financial health of your chapter, negotiate vendor and venue contracts with COVID-19 specific cancellation contracts/agreements.
- For any event planned for after May 1st, we advise chapter leadership set up strict go/no-go dates and clearly communicate that to members and registrants.
- If the chapter’s event committee approves a “go”, we ask that event staff set up the event cautiously and supply goods that will mitigate any potential infection or spread. This may mean reducing the size of the event, supplying CDC-recommended disinfectant supplies, and a no-tolerance policy on sick attendees.
- For wheels-in-motion driving events, classroom, or tech sessions, the chapter event masters may want to reach out to the Performance Driving Education Committee.
We have a list of event cancellations on our website. We will keep this updated as changes to events come in. If your chapter has events already planned but are cancelling/postponing them, please email Bill Cho with the changes.
These are unprecedented times and we ask for everyone’s cooperation and patience as we all deal with the stresses this has put on every aspect of our lives. In the spirit to stay connected to your Audi-loving community, we ask that you get involved on your chapter’s social media pages and check out our new club forum we launched to help you connect during these “stay and shelter” times: AUDI CLUB FORUMS.
Please stay safe and healthy.
– Troy Sicotte // Audi Club North America President
