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Dear SAATA members,
It is with great difficulty, SAATA Conference 2020 team has arrived at the decision to officially cancel the conference that was scheduled in 2020.
We (as a team) were excited and had planned many events for the conference, which didn’t fit well in an online structure. As part of the closure, the Board of Trustees have approved this decision of the conference team. The conference team took the time to discuss and explore various options before we arrived at this hard decision. As a consequence of this decision, following are the next steps:
- We will refund the fees (and extra donation you made as part of registration). The Instamojo processing fee unfortunately cannot be refunded. The refunds will be processed by December 20th 2021.
- We had raised money through Impact Guru to support deserving candidates in the spirit of inclusivity. The conference team had proposed and BOT has approved that we use this money for an upcoming social engagement project. A task team is being formed to execute this project.
Acknowledgements
I would like to acknowledge the conference team who have worked together from ideating the conference until we decided to cancel. I could not have asked for a better team than this.
Conference Team: Prathitha Gangadharan, Krishnan Madhabushi, Rema Giridhar, Shrutkirti Singh, Nafisa Salati, Anusha Rajaraman, Srinath G Nadathur, Guruprasad Krishnan, Karthik Kamal Balasubramaniam, Raguraman K, and
Kirana Katawa.
We were humbled by the generosity of this community. When we requested funds through Impact Guru to make our conference accessible to deserving delegates, we raised about Rs 75,000/- within few weeks. This is excluding the donations our delegates paid as part of the registration. This has been so moving and encouraging. I thank the donors (both delegates and Impact Guru donors) who generously donated for this cause.
In my role of convenor, I want to acknowledge, SAATA Secretary - C. Suriyaprakash, who was the bridge between the conference team and the BOT. It was due to his involvement that things moved fast and efficiently.
We (conference team) had the opportunity to explore the theme and curate the conference with so much liberty and freedom. It was because of the SAATA Board of Trustees’ (BOT) support, trust and encouragement that kept our motivation, excitement and involvement. They were our constant cheerleaders. I, on behalf of the team, thank the BOT.
Our keynote speakers Ketki Ranade and Karen Minikin, we thank them for graciously accepting our invitation to speak at the conference. They had ideas to collaborate with each other, were excited and understanding of the situation. I acknowledge their support.
John Heath and Giles Barrow who were obliging and keen to run post conference workshops to support the conference, were collaborative and engaging with the team. I acknowledge their acceptance and support for the conference.
On the record, I want to acknowledge the venue team of “The Chancery Pavilion, Bangalore” for their cooperation and understanding. COVID times have been challenging for the hospitality industry and they have stood by SAATA and have refunded the entire advance with no deductions.
It has not been easy with COVID and its impact for many of us. Yet through this, each one of you, who enrolled as soon as the conference was announced – we thank you. You stood by us (conference team and SAATA). This reinforces my experience of community spirit – I wish this spirit grows beyond our imagination. You have been patient and supportive. Thank you for trusting us and staying with us.
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