So many of our friends and work colleagues have been affected by the fires in LA, with many being evacuated from their homes and some losing their homes with their lives impacted forever. My heart goes out to them all.
If you know music supervisors, coordinators, artists, or anyone else that you work with or want to work with, please send them a note wishing them well and asking them if they are okay. They’ll appreciate it.
And with winds still affecting LA, our friends and colleagues in Southern California have yet to receive any relief from this crisis.
Now, with this said, from a business perspective, the fires in LA are affecting everyone (the studios are shut down for example), and that includes Sync Summit and our plans for our upcoming virtual/in-person LA event on February 4-6.
Over the last week, I’ve been discussing with our friends, our partners and thought deeply on what the best course of action should be in regards to whether we should move forward with the in-person portion of our event as scheduled, and the clear answer is no.
Why? I believe there are three important reasons.
First and foremost, many of our friends and event speakers are dealing with the direct impact the fires had on their lives outside work. I feel we must respect that. Asking them to take time out of their schedules to travel to a venue and speak at an event in person isn’t the right thing to do right now.
Second, other than the wildly inappropriate decision to move forward with the Grammys, everyone’s either postponed their events or canceled them entirely – this includes all the major label Grammy parties, the Clio Music Awards and a separate event we’re co-hosting with A2IM, among many others planned for Grammy Week. It just doesn’t feel right nor is it sensitive to our community or the LA community at large. It’s not a time for partying or pitching music in person.
Third, there are hundreds of thousands of people displaced and right now, the infrastructure of the city should be prioritized for housing and essential services not our event.
So that’s why we’re postponing the in-person version of LA Sync Summit, but what exactly are we doing to take care of all of you that signed up to attend, sponsor or partner with us on the event?
My goal is to make sure that your needs and concerns are addressed, that we provide those of you who will join us as part of what we have planned for this year online and LA the best possible experience, and, to give people who cannot take part options to receive a refund or apply their purchase to one of our other events or services. Here’s some specific details.
1. The in-person event: We are changing the dates of the in-person portion of the LA Sync Summit from February 5-6 to April 15-16, and it will be at El Cid in Silverlake. By moving the in-person dates of the event to April, we hope this will give our friends and the community some time to recover and come back to normal. All of you who bought tickets to the in-person part of the event are automatically registered for the event on its new dates. Additionally, if you registered to attend only online, as we will be broadcasting the in-person event live, you’re automatically registered for the new dates as well.
2. We’re going to hold an online-only version of the Sync Summit this February 5-6. Since we can hold an online event without anyone having to travel – and this means everyone, attendees and speakers, we have the option to hold the online portion of the event during the originally scheduled dates, and that’s what we’re going to do. And everyone who has purchased a ticket to attend online or in person can take part in the online sessions on the 5-6. This version of the event will feature workshops as well as some panels and keynotes, with a special portion of the online event devoted to conversations with charities that are helping people on the ground in LA.
3. We’re extending full credits or refunds to anyone who cannot attend. If the new dates for the in-person LA event do not work with your schedule, you have the option to apply your ticket to our New York Ad/Brand and music event, which is taking place online and in NYC on April 9-10 , use your purchase for a credit for one of our online courses or listening sessions or ask for a full refund. Just let us know how you’d like to proceed and we’ll help you out.
I really do hope you’ll join us on the new dates for the in-person event in April, and for the online-only event in February. If you can join us, I’ll have daily updates to you in regards to the speakers and agendas for both versions of the event.
And if you cannot join us, we’ll work with each of you to make things right. I’ll be in touch either way. Thank you for all you do, for taking the time to read this – please keep our friends in LA in your thoughts.
Best,
Mark
