Hello all. It is our sad duty to let you all know that CoCoFEST! 2020 is officially postponed until further notice.
We tried to stick it out, but on 3/9 the governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker, declared a state of emergency. On 3/10 he recommended all events over 250 people be cancelled. He went on to recommend that all events that will draw out those over aged 50 and those that are in poor health, even if the events are under 250 people, are to be cancelled. As of 3/13 (Friday the 13th) president Trump has also declared a national state of emergency. Because well over half of our members in our database are over 50 years of age, and because it is the only sensible and responsible choice, we are left with no other option than to reschedule.
Our hotel has informed some of our guests that they will be refunding all booked rooms even on non-refundable tickets. We have not heard this through official channels, but it is time now to call and cancel and request refunds on your rooms. We have contacted them to request CoCoFEST! be rescheduled, and they have offered a time slot in November. We will explore that and other options, particularly we are exploring options to celebrate during the end of the summer season to give us the most time to understand this virus affecting all of us while still enjoying some warmth.
We will by request move all payments made for this fest to our next scheduled event, whenever that may be. We will inform you soon, hopefully within a month or two about our new plans. Refunds will be issued by request or for those we cannot reach.
When you attend CoCoFEST! you also become a member of the Glenside Color Computer Club. Therefore all of you who do not request a refund of your base ticket price will become full members of the club effective immediately and effective until CoCoFEST! 2021. I invite you to attend our next scheduled meeting online on 3/19. I urge those that regularly attend physically to do so online instead. We will discuss new dates and venues for CoCoFEST!
The 40th is going to be a special year for the CoCo. With this delay we will be able to do everything we couldn’t get done so far this year! Stay tuned!!
With a little sadness and a lot of hope,
Eric Canales
PS. To receive a refund or to move your payment to our next scheduled fest, please send an email with your wishes to our treasurer (https://dev.color-computer.com/about-us/) and we will make sure we process your requests.