Update: 2020 National Student Electronic Media Convention

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CBI Board of Directors has been dealing with the challenge of how to proceed with the National Student Electronic Media Convention. To ensure that our decision was made with the greatest possible amount of data and transparency, we surveyed our membership multiple times and convened several focus groups. We thank all of our members who took the time to participate; your insight was invaluable to us as we went through this process. 

After reviewing the surveys and focus groups, as well as our contractual obligations to our host venue in Baltimore, we have made the difficult decision to transition this year’s NSEMC to a virtual event. 

A number of factors went into this decision, including the uncertain budgetary situation faced by many of our members, institutional travel freezes, the predicted spike in COVID-19 cases in late fall and the reality that many people are understandably uncomfortable traveling or gathering in groups right now. 

There is an old saying that at the root of every crisis lies an opportunity. We pledge to take full advantage of this opportunity by creating new, compelling programming to replace the in-person convention. We are particularly excited to offer a wider showcase for the National Student Production Awards. 

We have received great feedback from our webinar series this summer and we are confident that we can expand our virtual offerings without detracting from the quality that you’ve come to expect from CBI programming.

And, for everyone who was looking forward to sampling some Old Bay and Natty Boh this fall, be patient. We were able to secure the Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor as our host venue in 2022. And our 2021 convention, to be held in Orlando from Oct. 27-30, is still being planned as an in-person event. 

We will be providing more details about the virtual NSEMC as it approaches. As always, we welcome your thoughts and ideas. Please feel free to reach out to us. Our contact information can be found at https://www.askcbi.org/contact/. 

Thank you.

CBI Board of Directors