BALTIMORE
With widespread rioting in Baltimore creating chaos, a city curfew in place and a state of emergency declared by Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, the events industry currently appears to be deeply impacted as well.
“Visit Baltimore has been notified that the Door and Hardware Institute has cancelled its CoNEXTions 2015 convention scheduled to be held at the Baltimore Convention Center from April 29 to May 1,” said Tom Noonan, president and CEO of Visit Baltimore. “The group was scheduled to bring in excess of 2,000 attendees to the city utilizing approximately 2,500 room nights. Visit Baltimore and City Officials have been working with the organization's leadership over the past several days to provide them with information and support as they discussed their options. At the end of the day, they felt that the current situation left them no alternative.
“Additionally we have been notified that the American Heart Association has cancelled their in-hotel meeting that was scheduled to be held in Baltimore this week,” Noonan’s statement continued. “We’re continuing to serve as a resource for other groups that are planning meetings in the city over the next 30 to 60 days.”
In additional event news in the city:
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Online reports indicated the Hilton Baltimore had been hit with some event cancellations, including an annual citywide function, though the hotel and its surrounding realms have remained untouched by the violence for the most part.
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The Orioles’ game versus the Chicago White Sox slate for 7 p.m. Tuesday has been postponed, the team officially announced, a decision reportedly reached after speaking with Major League Baseball, state and local officials, according to the Orioles. This followed the earlier postponement of the teams' Monday game.
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The Baltimore Ravens called off their Thursday Draft Party at M&T Bank Stadium, a decision the team said was out of respect to the current curfew (The NFL begins its yearly draft in Chicago on Thursday).
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Johns Hopkins University canceled all classes Tuesday and Tuesday night in Baltimore, according to the school’s Twitter account.
The rioting and widespread chaos kicked off with protesting that began as a response to the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray in police custody two weeks ago.
Meetings Focus will provide updates as the situation evolves.
