LEB conference postponed

Leading Edge Books (LEB) has postponed the upcoming LEB conference, scheduled for 22–24 March, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

LEB said in a statement this morning that it has been ‘closely monitoring and evaluating the situation’ over recent weeks, and has now decided to postpone the event ‘due to the evolving public health risks, travel concerns and other circumstances related to the Covid-19’.

‘Despite the continued support for the conference from members, publishers and suppliers, we believe that the health and safety of all attendees is our first priority and we strongly feel this is the right decision given the current circumstances. We believe that any responsible business would make this same decision given the circumstances,’ said the statement.

LEB said it would begin ‘working on alternate approaches that members will be made aware of shortly, including the potential to conduct this conference later in the year’.

‘We are very aware that the economy will be affected by this Covid-19 and as such retail trade is predicted to suffer as well,’ said LEB. ‘As a result, our team will also be focusing on helping our members through this challenging time, not just the conference in isolation.’

LEB confirmed that conference fees will be refunded.

The announcement comes after Simon & Schuster Australia and Nielsen Book Australia both withdrew staff from the conference last week and a number of other events were cancelled, including the ALIA National Conference, the PANZ International Conference and Clunes Booktown Festival.

Category: Conferences Local news