CinemaCon Will Take Place as Planned, but Increases Safety Measures Amid Coronavirus
By Rebecca Rubin
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – CinemaCon will take place as planned, but the exhibition trade show held annually in Las Vegas will increase health and sanitation measures in wake of coronavirus.
The National Assn. of Theatre Owners, the organization that puts on , issued a memo Thursday to assure its members and participants that the four-day event will still occur from March 30 to April 2 at Caesar’s Palace.
The yearly confab gives Hollywood studios and theater owners from across the globe a chance to wax poetic about the state of the movie theater industry. NATO says registration remains strong, despite fears of . However, delegations from affected areas including China, South Korea, Italy and Japan will not attend this year’s event.
NATO will continue to monitor the virus and maintain communication with the Center for Disease control to ensure safety practices are updated and implemented, it said. Enhanced measures include extra hand sanitizer, additional trash cans, efforts to reduce crowding at food stations, and on-site medical personnel to assist any guests who might feel ill.
Read the memo in full below:
To: NATO Members and All Other Participants in CinemaCon 2020
From: John Fithian (NATO)
Mitch Neuhauser (CinemaCon)
Re: Update on Preparations for CinemaCon
Date: March 5, 2020
On Wednesday, February 26, 2020 NATO/CinemaCon sent out a memo confirming CinemaCon 2020 will take place as planned from 30 March – 2 April at Caesars Palace. Those plans have not changed and we are committed, focused and hard at work in putting on what we know is going to be an important and successful convention for the motion picture theater industry. The original memo sent last week can be found here.
The safety and productivity of our attendees remains our highest priority. We continue to closely monitor the Coronavirus situation and maintain daily communication with the CDC, Caesars Palace, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, American Society of Association Executives, and others to ensure safety practices are updated and implemented as appropriate for our guests. As of today, the CDC maintains the risk for the majority of the public remains low.
Enhanced Health and Sanitation Measures for CinemaCon 2020 Include:
Although the current risk level remains low, NATO and CinemaCon are committed to the health and safety of our guests and have therefore taken additional steps in partnership with Caesars Palace to enhance health and sanitation measures for CinemaCon 2020.
• Extra hand sanitizers will be available throughout Caesars Palace. As well, we will distribute individual hand sanitizer to each attendee.
• Caesars Palace has implemented enhanced cleaning protocols to ensure the health of guests and all of their employees, including servers throughout the property, including guest rooms and the casino. These include hourly sanitation, increased staff in restrooms, and wellness checks and training before each shift.
• CinemaCon is also working closely with Caesars Palace to reduce crowding, especially at food functions. Some examples include moving Tuesday and Wednesday’s lunches to locations with more space for seating and adding servers to distribute food at buffets and beverage stations. Extra napkins will also be provided at food functions. And wherever applicable, individually bagged/wrapped food will replace open/bowls of snacks. Servers will also wear gloves where possible.
• Extra trash bins will be available throughout the center.
• There will be signage throughout the property with health guidance and reminders.
• Caesars also has dedicated on site medical personnel including EMTs that stand ready to assist any guest that is feeling ill for whatever reason.
CinemaCon 2020 Will be a Strong Show:
Our guests and partners remain committed to a great CinemaCon this year. Some highlights of recent developments or discussions include:
• Our studio partners remain fully committed to the exhibition community with confirmed presentations/screenings set from Focus Features, Lionsgate, NEON, Paramount, Universal (presentation and screening), The Walt Disney Studios and Warner Bros. Pictures (presentation and screening). Please continue to visit the CinemaCon website for updates to the schedule of events.
• The CinemaCon team recently returned from a successful week of planning meetings in Las Vegas with both Caesars Palace and all of our participating studios. The week was productive and exciting.
• With the exception of a few affected territories overseas, registrations remain very strong. Delegates from China, Japan, Korea, and Italy have cancelled, given the effect of the virus on those territories and the travel restrictions therefrom. Those cancellations are absolutely appropriate and those delegates will receive full refunds. For delegates from other international markets and the domestic market, however, registration numbers are consistent with where they were last year at this time.
NATO and CinemaCon have every expectation of a successful and well-attended CinemaCon 2020 celebrating the moviegoing experience.
For further reference points on precaution steps, we recommend reviewing the following links provided by the CDC and LVCVA:
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On behalf of NATO and CinemaCon, we thank you for taking the time to review all of this. Do not hesitate to reach out if you have thoughts or comments.
