Tech and entertainment industry conferences around the world continue to be cancelled, with TED, E3, and SXSW becoming the latest victims of the coronavirus outbreak.
The number of tech and creative media conferences being cancelled worldwide continues to climb as restrictions are introduced to combat the spread of the recent coronavirus outbreak. This week's cancellations include the massive Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), the annual Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED) conference, and the 2020 South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival, among others.
The US announced travel restrictions today banning anyone from Europe visiting the country, with a specific exemption for travellers from the United Kingdom and Ireland. The ban goes into effect tomorrow night, and will affect those scheduled to travel to the US for events.
Major auto shows and tech conferences planned for March and April in the US are almost all being cancelled, with the games industry's largest event now cancelled. The Electronic Entertainment Expo was due to take place in Los Angeles in June, and was already facing pressure after last year's data breach saw the private details of all of the journalists at the event leaked to the public.
The annual TED conference was similarly scheduled for April, and usually brings together hundreds of the tech sector's brightest minds for a series of talks on the latest developments and ideas worth sharing. The conference organisers have announced that it will either be pushed back to July or switch to a virtual-only format.
One local NI events company that works on events around the world told us that their calendar is now wiped for the next three months, putting financial strain on the firm. If you're booked to go to a major tech conference anywhere in the world over the next several months, there's now a very good chance that it will be cancelled or rescheduled for late summer.
