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SPE cancels Florida conference over Hurricane Irma threat

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Hurricane Irma has forced the Society of Plastics Engineers Thermoforming Division to cancel the 26th annual SPE Thermoforming Conference, which had been scheduled for September 11-13 in Orlando, Fla.

Hurricane Irma has forced the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) Thermoforming Division to cancel the 26th annual SPE Thermoforming Conference, which had been scheduled for September 11-13 in Orlando, Fla.

“As Hurricane Irma continues to make its way toward the United States, we recognize the serious threat that the storm poses to the State of Florida, its residents, and surrounding areas in the storm’s projected forward path,” Division chair Bret Joslyn said in a statement. “As as a result, we announce the cancellation of the 2017 SPE Thermoforming Conference in Orlando. If you made a hotel reservation within the SPE Thermoforming Division’s official conference room block at the Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld Hotel, the hotel will automatically cancel your reservation.”

SPE has also decided not to reschedule the event. “Thermoforming Division officers quickly realized the impossibility of securing a new 2017 date and venue at the last minute,” Joslyn said. “We decided to announce the permanent cancellation of this year’s conference as soon as possible so as not to prolong the uncertainty facing our registered attendees and exhibitors, who would be coming from locations across the Americas and overseas.”

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Registrants are requested not to contact SPE or the Thermoforming Division about refund options. They will instead be contacted by SPE. Options for registered attendees are:

1)      Request a registration fee refund. Those who joined or renewed their SPE membership as part of their conference registration will be enrolled for one year at no charge. Refunds will be made to the original form of payment.

2)      Credit the 2017 registration fee to the 2018 SPE Thermoforming Conference.

3)      Donate the registration fee to Hurricane Irma Relief. The Division will contribute those funds to the American Red Cross.

Sponsors or exhibitors have similar options—request a refund, apply their fee to participation in next year’s conference, or donate the fee to hurricane relief.

 

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