Wouldn't Be Safe to Meet, TPI Says as It Cancels Event Previously Postponed to Fall

It likely wouldn't be safe to hold a meeting indoors, even in October, a tech think tank announced Thursday afternoon. The Technology Policy Institute in mid-April canceled its annual summer event for Aspen, Colorado, because of COVID-19. At that time, it planned to hold the rescheduled event Oct. 16-18 in person but in Charlottesville, Virginia.

In the spring, "it seemed plausible that COVID-19 had peaked in the US and would begin to decline, at least enough that a carefully planned in-person event could be safe by October," emailed TPI President Scott Wallsten. "Given recent trends, that is unlikely to be true." He cited exhaustive research.

Now, the group is planning "a series of substantive and fun virtual events at the time we would have held the conference," Wallsten said.