March 27, 2020

Dear IACM Community,

The IACM Board of Directors has continued to gather information regarding the viability of our 2020 conference hosted in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. Unfortunately, given the escalation of events related to COVID-19, the associated knowns and unknowns, and the importance of ensuring the health and safety of our members, we have decided that IACM 2020 will not be hosted in Charleston. Instead, we will be hosting a virtual experience called vIACM for our 33rd annual conference!

We are an organization open to finding new ways to embrace experiences and achieve our mission. Our Board of Directors and Program Chair Greg Paul have been working tirelessly to lay the foundation to develop this virtual experience. For now, the virtual conference will simply be taking the place of IACM 2020. We have no intention of ever displacing the irreplaceable IACM conference, its culture, and its experience. But if there was ever a time to try something new – much like so many of you are accomplishing in your now digital classrooms – now is that time!

We understand that beyond the impact of the virus, subsequent and immediate budget cuts and travel restrictions, as well as a tremendous number of cancelled conferences, have made it difficult to present or attend conferences. Therefore, we have drastically reduced our registration prices for this event. General registration will be only $125, while Student/Emeritus registration is only $75.

If you have already submitted a paper and have been awaiting a decision, you will receive those decisions in the next few days along with additional information regarding your options for presenting.

We hope that you will join us in this first ever vIACM 2020!

Best wishes to you, your loved ones and your communities,

Zoe Barsness, President
Brandon Charpied, Executive Director
Greg Paul, Program Chair

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March 17, 2020

Dear IACM community,

We want to take a moment to update you as to the status of our 33rd annual conference in Charleston, SC given the rapidly developing Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation and impacts it is having on institutions, travel and more immediate conferences in March and April that you may have already seen cancel their events.

Be assured that your Executive team and Board of Directors has been actively watching and discussing the impacts that COVID-19 may have on our conference. We are currently exploring several paths and contingency plans for moving forward. IACM leadership is performing its due diligence and assures all hopeful conference attendees that no option is off of the table.

The highlight of our year is our annual conference. It is where we celebrate and extend our community. It is the annual event that draws us together from all over the world–researchers, practitioners and students alike—to share our ideas, engage in vibrant dialogue with each other, build new connections and collaborations, and celebrate friendships old and new. Just as is the spirit of our annual conference, and why so many find it invigorating and impactful, we anticipate that creativity and growth in our community will be sparked from any constraints and roadblocks we experience this year.

The IACM Executive Committee will be meeting on Friday, March 20th to further discuss the situation before us. We will post an update following that meeting and seek to have a resolution to the current situation on Wednesday, April 1st following a meeting of the full IACM Board when we will come to agreement on the suitable paths we may head down. Given the necessary focus that we have placed on the current unique situation, IACM 2020 paper decisions have been slightly delayed, but we anticipate this information also being provided on April 1st via our manuscript management system. Future notices regarding IACM 2020 and COVID-19 will be disseminated via email, social media, and posted on our website at IAfCM.org at https://iafcm.org/index.php/covid19/.

We thank you for your support of our organization and conference as we continue to do our best in our organization’s support of you.

Zoe Barsness
President