Friends – hope you and your families are healthy and safe.
We have been closely monitoring developments regarding Covid-19 and have had to make some difficult decisions. The National Forum for Environmental & Toxic Tort Issues (“FETTI”) Board and Conference Committee regret to inform you that we are cancelling the 2020 Conference in the interest of being a responsible organization.
While there is hope and optimism that things will be more conducive to hosting an event by late September, there is still too much uncertainty about what will be acceptable and safe for a seminar that typically has over two hundred in- person attendees.
Our Committee also explored other options, which included a possible webinar or series of online events. None of those options seemed reasonable to us. We felt that too much of the quality and things that make FETTI special would be lost if we planned something that did not include the interaction of an in-person meeting.
The positive news is that we have been able to secure the same venue (Union League Club) and social events for next year’s September 29-October 1, 2021 conference as we had scheduled for the 2020 conference (Yes, including the Chicago River Cruise!).
We apologize to all of you who spent time drafting proposals for this year’s conference. We certainly hope that you will save them and submit the same topics, or alternative topics that you choose, for our conference next year. Speaker applications will be retained for consideration in 2021. We also highly encourage you to submit articles based on your proposals for us to publish on our website and distribute in our newsletter. Please submit articles or proposals for articles to Scott Pfeiffer at sdp@crayhuber.com.
Again, the FETTI Conference Committee is heartbroken to have to cancel the 2020 seminar. It was certainly the last thing we wanted to have to do. However, the people who make up FETTI are strong and resilient, and we are excited to host all of you again in Chicago for the September 29- October 1, 2021 event. Imagine how much we will all enjoy seeing each other at the next FETTI!
Sincerely,
Suzanne Karapashev and Ryan Gillespie
2020 FETTI Conference Co-Chairs
