The Association of National Advertisers is taking the 2020 Masters of Marketing Conference virtual, the group announced today. The group’s keystone event will still be held Oct. 21-23, but online rather than at the Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando.
The move comes as Florida has reported record numbers of COVID-19 cases in recent days, though the NBA and Major League Soccer have forged ahead with plans to host games inside bubbles at Disney facilities near Orlando. Plans to hold key portions of the Republican National Convention in Jacksonville next month remain on hold for now as well.
The ANA also announced that its 2020 Media & Measurement Conference—originally set for March in Florida and rescheduled later for September at the Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Florida—will also be a virtual event Sept. 23-24. The group’s Advertising Financial Management Conference, rescheduled from April to Oct. 5-7 in Orlando, is still listed as a “virtual or in-person” conference on the ANA’s website.
The moves follows a long line of events that either have been canceled or moved online, including SXSW and Cannes Lions. The Masters conference has drawn attendances of more than 3,000 in recent years in Orlando.