April 8, 2020
Dear RIA Members and Colleagues:
Our lives have changed dramatically in the last few weeks. A month ago, most of us had never heard of ‘physical distancing’ or ‘flattening the curve’ – both of which are now part of our daily vocabulary. Our offices and our children’s schools are now closed, and there are certainly no business conferences taking place.
Against that backdrop, we have made the decision to cancel the annual RIA Conference in its regular format. Attendees will receive refunds in the next 10 business days.
But we are resilient, and I do not believe this health crisis should prevent us from having important dialogues about responsible investment and sustainable finance, particularly considering the vital need for a sustainable economic recovery. The Responsible Investment Association is a community of members. And right now, community is more important than ever.
Therefore, we are building a new conference model to bring our community together – the RIA Virtual Conference. This will be a condensed, digital version of the same great content that we have been delivering for years. We are converting 10 key sessions from the regular conference into live webcasts, which will run twice per day from June 8th to 12th. We will also offer a primer on June 5th for advisors who are new to the field.
But these are no ordinary webcasts. Our team has been working around the clock to develop a new conference model, using leading-edge technology to deliver a truly virtual event experience. Attendees can connect with each other via text and video chats, engage with speakers via online polls and audience Q&A, and hear from thought leaders on key issues and trends in the field of ESG and sustainable finance.
The new website and registration will be online next week. We will also send you an invitation via email next week. I hope you will join us.
Although we are saddened that we cannot proceed with the regular conference, we are excited to deliver this new virtual event experience for our members and colleagues, and I look forward to welcoming the RIA community to the opening session on June 8th at 11:00am EDT / 8:00am PDT.
In the meantime, I wish you wellness and, as Erika Karp recently put it, “a renewed sense of hope and determination” that we will get through this. We are all in this together.
Sincerely,
Dustyn Lanz
Chief Executive Officer
Responsible Investment Association
