As you have heard, the leadership of New England Archivists (NEA) has cancelled the physical Spring Meeting in Providence, Rhode Island, scheduled for April 2-4, 2020. We are disappointed to lose this annual opportunity for our community to come together, but this difficult decision was necessary both to ensure the health, safety, and well-being of our community, and to comply with the state’s bans on public gatherings of more than 100 people. As noted in the message sent out by NEA President Jamie Rice on the listserv on March 11, NEA will cancel all meeting and workshop registrations and issue full refunds (free of cancellation fees). No action is required on your part: registrations will be cancelled by NEA Registrar David Read as promptly as possible, and refunds will be issued in the original form of payment by NEA Interim Treasurer Juliana Kuipers. Refunds will be issued in the order in which payment was received. Given the large number of refunds that must be processed, we expect that the entire process will take several weeks and ask that if possible you wait to contact the NEA Treasurer (treasurer@newenglandarchivists.org) regarding the status of your refund until after April 2.

The cancellation of the Spring Meeting will have a financial impact on our organization: registration fees and vendor revenue from the Spring Meeting fund much of our annual operating budget. If it is feasible at this time, please consider donating some or all the registration fee you personally paid; registration fees paid on your behalf by your employer are not eligible for donation. As a reminder, NEA is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and all donations are tax-deductible. Please contact the Interim Treasurer (treasurer@newenglandarchivists.org) if you would like to donate your registration fee rather than receive a refund. Donations may also be made directly on NEA’s website: https://newenglandarchivists.org/donate.

We appreciate your understanding and patience during these exceptional times.

NEA Executive Board