Let me jump right to the point: For the third year in a row, the pandemic is forcing us to cancel Claris Engage, originally scheduled to take place in-person at the Gaylord Opryland in Nashville, Tennessee.
As the Claris Engage team organized details for the July event, they reached out and listened to the Claris Community. Our employees worked tirelessly to balance health and safety with the quality and scale of the event we want to deliver – meeting and exceeding all expectations. In the end, that balance became unrealistic.
Many of you know I thrive on the energy of this community and remain passionate about bringing us all together in-person. You also know that I am someone who rarely minces words, so it should come as no surprise when I say that I’m beyond fed up.
I’m sure many of you share my frustration and disappointment – not only for Claris Engage, but for the many ways this pandemic has reshaped our lives. I want to be together with you all, and you deserve the chance to be together again as a community. Claris Engage empowers voices from across the globe to share knowledge, promotes learning about the latest advances in the Claris platform, and makes it possible to see our friends and colleagues while celebrating their recent accomplishments.
The event succeeds because everyone involved – the organizers, the attendees, the sponsors, the speakers, you name it – goes all in. It’s in that spirit that I am pressing beyond my frustration with a renewed focus, and I’m asking you to join me.
What’s the new plan?
We realize going all-in this year will take creativity, learning from the last two years and continuing to improve. And we’re completely dedicated in keeping our community connected. Claris Engage 2022 is off, but we’re still on for sharing and connecting.
The virtual format is a good thing for us to do again, and this year, we can make it even better because of our commitment to deliver valuable experiences. Many of you submitted speaker proposals this year. We appreciate those submissions and assure you those proposals will not go to waste. Claris plans to experiment with regional events, developer groups, and smaller gatherings to bring our community together safely.
I thank you for understanding what a difficult decision this was to make. You probably have questions, so please ask anything in the Claris Engage discussion topic on the Claris Community, and our team will do its best to provide answers.
You can count on the Claris Engage team to deliver updates about our new plans as quickly as they come together. Like I said above, being angry is understandable, but there’s no use in staying frustrated. We can move past this together, and we will.
Best,
Brad