With attendance down from coronavirus fears, this Charlotte convention is cancelled
SNAXPO 2020, originally scheduled for March 22 – 24 at the Charlotte Convention Center, has been canceled.
Author: Ashley Daley, WCNC
Published: 8:41 PM EST March 6, 2020
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte’s conference scene is starting to see the impacts coronavirus is having on travel, business and the economy.
SNAXPO 2020, originally scheduled for March 22 – 24 at the Charlotte Convention Center, has been canceled. The expo, which claims it is the most comprehensive event devoted exclusively to the snack industry, cited significantly reduced anticipated attendance related to recent corporate travel restrictions.
“It has significantly increased,” says Vanessa Vaughn Mathews, Founder and CEO of Asfalis Advisors, a Charlotte-based crisis management advisory firm, when asked how business has been.
Vaughn Mathews says her days now start at 4 a.m. as her clients, which include national companies look for answers as how to best adapt and prepare for the virus.
“What they are concerned about is an operational impact. What happens if my employees get it? What happens if my customers get it? Because an operational impact can instantly become a reputational impact,” says Vaughn Mathews.
Nationally, companies have begun to react; Google, Microsoft, Wells Fargo and others restricting travel. Those restrictions trickling down, affecting airlines and hospitality.
“The risk is getting through the airport and you know we live in Charlotte one of the top 10 busiest airports in the country,” says Vaughn Mathews, “Its ingress and egress. When you have too many people in one location at one time, from a risk, safety, security perspective that’s what we look at.”