I want to thank the COA Board for making this difficult decision.  It would not have been fun to wear a mask and social distance for the entire convention.

Lucy Clampit

Dear Listers, particularly COA members, and most particularly would-be 2020 conventioneers,

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, but with ample consideration of several tiers of logistics and the preferences of our constituencies, the COA Board has made the following decision:

• There will be no COA Convention this year (2020); IT IS CANCELLED.
• Our next convention will be 2021 in Hilton Melbourne, FL (venue the same as 2020), same week as planned for 2020 but a day earlier in the calendar month: field trips Mon.-Tues., June 14-15; meeting Wed.-Fri., June 16-18; bourse Sat.-Sun., June 19-20, 2021.
• The COA 2022 Convention is planned for Moody Gardens, Galveston, TX roughly the same parameters as planned for the original event (2021). Dave Green will be reporting specifics in a month or so.
• The 2023 Convention is scheduled for Wilmington, NC roughly the same parameters as planned for the original event (2022).

Anne Joffe, COA Convention Planning Director, deserves our plaudits for her abiding & tireless efforts to actualize these arrangements. Convention Chairs Alan Gettleman (2020-2021) and Dave Green (2021-2022) have also been of great assistance in the process.

This is the first breach in our annual streak, which began in 1972, but the welfare of our folks, most notably their health, has been given primacy. I personally believe the down-time, mandatory for many of us, will allow all of us to improve our understanding of conchology and better the curatorial state of our precious resources relevant to that study. This we'll all be better-prepared to prosper from next year's event in Melbourne.

Harry G. Lee
President, COA

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