<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Hi everyone,<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Here are a couple of ideas for a statement about the conference being postponed. Please reply with feedback as soon as you can, we’d like to get this out there yet this afternoon if possible. This may not be as concise as other organizations’ statements, but we tried to capture the sentiment that our conference has been a special Spring kick-off for gardeners in the past.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><span style="font-family: AvenirNext-Regular;" class=""><u class="">Idea 1</u></span></div><div class=""><span style="font-family: AvenirNext-Regular;" class="">In light of the rapidly changing situation with the novel coronavirus, we are postponing our 8th Annual Conference scheduled for March 21, 2020. We are supporting the guidance of Mayor Lightfoot and the Chicago Department of Public Health in doing all we can to minimize the impact of this virus on our community. </span></div><div class=""><span style="font-family: AvenirNext-Regular;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div class=""><span style="font-family: AvenirNext-Regular;" class="">Our annual conference has always been a celebration of Spring, a gathering of the beautiful community of gardeners in Chicago. Hugs are always plentiful and ideas flow freely. We are so grateful to those who registered, to the presenters who created an incredible line up of workshops, to our sponsors, and to our exhibitors and vendors. Please stay tuned as we reimagine the conference and make plans for a future event. Even though we won’t be gathering to kick off the gardening season together next Saturday, know that we are all connected by our passion for planting. </span></div><div class=""><span style="font-family: AvenirNext-Regular;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div class=""><span style="font-family: AvenirNext-Regular;" class="">Be well everyone! In solidarity - CCGA</span></div><div class=""><span style="font-family: AvenirNext-Regular;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div class=""><span style="font-family: AvenirNext-Regular;" class=""><u class="">Idea 2 - mentions people who paid online</u></span></div><div class=""><span style="font-family: AvenirNext-Regular;" class="">In light of the rapidly changing situation with the novel coronavirus, we are postponing our 8th Annual Conference scheduled for March 21, 2020. We are supporting the guidance of Mayor Lightfoot and the Chicago Department of Public Health in doing all we can to minimize the impact of this virus on our community. </span></div><div class=""><span style="font-family: AvenirNext-Regular;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div class=""><span style="font-family: AvenirNext-Regular;" class="">Our annual conference has always been a celebration of Spring, a gathering of the beautiful community of gardeners in Chicago. Hugs are always plentiful and ideas flow freely. We are so grateful to those who registered, to the presenters who created an incredible line up of workshops, to our sponsors, and to our exhibitors and vendors. Please stay tuned as we reimagine the conference and make plans for a future event. We will reach out to those who paid online early next week. Even though we won’t be gathering to kick off the gardening season together next Saturday, know that we are all connected by our passion for planting. </span></div><div class=""><span style="font-family: AvenirNext-Regular;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div class=""><span style="font-family: AvenirNext-Regular;" class="">Be well everyone! In solidarity - CCGA</span></div></body></html>