Dear Colleagues,

I hope you are all doing well, given the challenging environment we are addressing. As we each seek to establish a productive home office, which likely has the benefit of more distractions (in my case a near-by refrigerator) but a decidedly shorter commute, I want to thank each of you for continuing to find ways to contribute to our mission, under very difficult circumstances.

Over the course of the last several days, it has been increasingly obvious that it was not in the interest of our members in Asia Pacific nor in the Americas to hold either the Asia Pacific Summit scheduled for late May in Tokyo, or the Spring Meeting scheduled to start on May 12 in Toronto. The rapid increase in the number of cases of coronavirus makes it very clear that we all have to implement separation practices if we want to stop the spread of the virus, and the various advisories or edicts against travel and meetings confirm it would be impossible to continue to plan and hold a conference in May.

As you would expect, we have significant exposure under the terms of the myriad of contracts that have been executed in connection with holding these events. As I sure all of you can appreciate, it was critical that we take the time to address these risks as we made decisions about each of the meetings.  Over the course of this week, our event teams in both regions have been working hard and creatively to limit ULI’s exposure under the contracts.   I am pleased and impressed to report that both teams have made significant progress toward accomplishing this objective, which also included providing the option of rescheduling the meeting in each location for a subsequent year.

Last night, the Asia Pacific Executive Committee approved postponing the Summit until May of 2021.  Late yesterday, we conducted a Global Board meeting, which approved our recommendation that we cancel the 2020 Spring Meeting, and agree to return to Toronto in 2023. Communications with respect to the Summit were sent out early yesterday morning, and we will distribute the email below to all members in the Americas shortly. Details with respect to options regarding refunds (full refunds will be available, but we also want to offer other options, such as applying the registration fee to the following Spring meeting, etc.)  hotels and other items will be finalized and distributed next week.

I want to thank all of you for both your input and patience as we worked through this process.  As an organization, we now need to turn our focus to finding other methods, including virtual venues, to connect and educate our members.  In times of crisis, there is a thirst for good information – and ULI, through all of your efforts, is incredibly well-positioned to provide it.

I hope you have a safe and enjoyable weekend.

Edward Walter
Global Chief Executive Officer
Urban Land Institute