Spring, just a few short weeks away, is traditionally one of the busiest and buzziest times in the agency world. The awards show season kicks into high gear, and creative festivals gather some of the world's brightest to cities around the globe.
But the outbreak of COVID-19, the disease spread by a new coronavirus that emerged in recent months and accelerated dramatically over the past few weeks, seems to be putting the brakes on the creative world's international exchange of ideas.
To be clear, event cancellations and reschedulings are insignificant compared to the human toll of the disease, which has infected more than 90,000 and killed more than 3,000 worldwide. But the cancellations of Mobile World Congress, Facebook's F8, Game Developers Conference and other key events show the massive financial impact and tremendous uncertainty we can expect from the outbreak.
(You can follow our updated list of event cancellations here.)
For now, the impact in ad circles is relatively minimal, but it does hint at what's to come in the weeks ahead. As Adweek was the first to report today, The One Show has canceled its in-person judging that was supposed to begin next week in Puerto Rico. The One Club's Creative Week is still scheduled to go on per usual in May, though the execs say they're keeping a close eye on the outbreak in case that needs to change.
SXSW is notably sticking it out, rebuffing calls to cancel as it draws an international crowd to Austin. Cannes Lions is far enough out in June that organizers are standing by their "open for business" stance, though parent company Ascential did have to postpone its Dubai Lynx event from March to September.
We've all been talking about coronavirus for weeks, but something clearly changed in the past few days, and if the intensity continues to build at a similar pace, advertising is going to become a much more geographically locked place.
If you find yourself facing a canceled event, be sure to check out this helpful guide from my colleague Ian Zelaya about what you can do. The bad news: You probably won't be getting your money back. The good: Hopefully the event organizers will offer you a make-good to improve their chances of seeing you again next year when things are, fingers crossed, a bit more predictable.
David Griner
Creative and Innovation Editor, Adweek
David.Griner@Adweek.com
