In light of the latest COVID-19 developments, The Brain Injury Association of Maryland has made the difficult but necessary decision to cancel
BOTH Brain Injury Awareness Day in Annapolis next week
and
the BIAMD Annual Conference “Your Impact: Making the Invisible Visible”
planned for Thursday, March 26th through Friday, March 27, 2020 at the Turf Valley Resort in Ellicott City, Maryland.
On March 5th, the governor of the state of Maryland declared a state of emergency, calling the epidemic “a public health catastrophe and public emergency” and stating that “COVID-19 poses an immediate danger to public safety”.
Since then the state of Maryland, most universities in the region, the NBA, the NCAA, many hospitals, organizations and associations have also suspended travel and canceled upcoming classes, meetings, conferences, and contests based on health officials’ most recent recommendations.
We also anticipate further restrictions and protocols being announced at Governor Hogan's newly scheduled press conference this afternoon, March 12th.
Due to the extreme circumstances of this event, BIAMD will be refunding all conference registration fees for attendees, exhibitors, and sponsors less any membership dues that were paid. Those refunds have already been triggered. However, given the huge numbers of conference and meeting cancellations worldwide as a result of the ongoing crisis, cVent, our online registration software provider, has notified us that the normal 24-48 hours time-frames will likely be extended.
The BIAMD Annual Brain Injury Conference is one of our largest sources of revenue, canceling not only deprives survivors, family members, and professionals an important opportunity for community engagement, but will also have a negative impact on BIAMD's financial resources.
We are, therefore, asking everyone who believes in the importance of brain injury efforts in the state of Maryland to consider either joining BIAMD as a Member or supporting BIAMD’s ongoing initiatives by making a donation.
The last thing we would ever want to do is disappoint our wonderful brain injury community or fail to meet its needs. In fact, this is the first time in over 30 years that circumstances outside our control have caused us to cancel the Annual Conference which has always been the high point of BIAMD’s year.
We know how many of you, like us, were looking forward to this experience, and as always, we remain ready to serve and deliver.
Despite these cancellations:
March is Still Brain Injury Awareness Month
!
- We plan on continuing to educate the Maryland General Assembly during the remainder of this legislative session about ongoing issues important to all Maryland families living with brain injury.
- We are continuing our educational mission by working to make use of the some of the wonderful volunteer breakout session speakers we had assembled for the conference by creating webinars or podcasts of their brilliant and informative messages.
- We also ask that you continue helping BIAMD:
- raise important awareness about brain injury,
- de-stigmatize the injury,
- empower those who have survived, and
- promote the many types of support that are available.
We appreciate your graciousness, understanding, and flexibility as we all deal with these unique circumstances together.
Your Brain Injury Association of Maryland Board and Staff
