CinemaCon to Take Place as Planned Despite Coronavirus Fears

CinemaCon will take place as planned despite fears surrounding Coronavirus. Variety is reporting that the convention will proceed, but with some added health and sanitation precautions. CinemaCon is facilitated by The National Association of Theatre Owners and they issued a memo today about the four-day event. All of this is to put visitors and participants at ease heading into the convention. NATO reports that registration is still going strong, despite the rising fears around the virus, Still, some people from territories in and around China, Italy, South Korea, and Japan will not attend this year's iteration.

The Center for Disease Control has remained in contact with NATO throughout the process. They're focused on increasing health measures like hand sanitizer, trash can availability, and keeping the food stations under control. Add some increased visibility for medical personnel on-site and you have a recipe for a lot more caution this year. No one wants to take any chances with this right now because more information is coming to light about the Coronavirus daily. Their commitment to the task at hand is reflected in the memo they sent out today:

On Wednesday, February 26, 2020 NATO/CinemaCon sent out a memo confirming CinemaCon 2020 will take place as planned from 30 March – 2 April at Caesars Palace. Those plans have not changed and we are committed, focused and hard at work in putting on what we know is going to be an important and successful convention for the motion picture theater industry. The original memo sent last week can be found here.

The safety and productivity of our attendees remains our highest priority. We continue to closely monitor the Coronavirus situation and maintain daily communication with the CDC, Caesars Palace, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, American Society of Association Executives, and others to ensure safety practices are updated and implemented as appropriate for our guests. As of today, the CDC maintains the risk for the majority of the public remains low.

Enhanced Health and Sanitation Measures for CinemaCon 2020 Include:

Although the current risk level remains low, NATO and CinemaCon are committed to the health and safety of our guests and have therefore taken additional steps in partnership with Caesars Palace to enhance health and sanitation measures for CinemaCon 2020.

• Extra hand sanitizers will be available throughout Caesars Palace. As well, we will distribute individual hand sanitizer to each attendee.

• Caesars Palace has implemented enhanced cleaning protocols to ensure the health of guests and all of their employees, including servers throughout the property, including guest rooms and the casino. These include hourly sanitation, increased staff in restrooms, and wellness checks and training before each shift.

• CinemaCon is also working closely with Caesars Palace to reduce crowding, especially at food functions. Some examples include moving Tuesday and Wednesday's lunches to locations with more space for seating and adding servers to distribute food at buffets and beverage stations. Extra napkins will also be provided at food functions. And wherever applicable, individually bagged/wrapped food will replace open/bowls of snacks. Servers will also wear gloves where possible.

• Extra trash bins will be available throughout the center.

• There will be signage throughout the property with health guidance and reminders.

• Caesars also has dedicated on site medical personnel including EMTs that stand ready to assist any guest that is feeling ill for whatever reason.