Lotus, VIA cancel conferences
VIA Technologies and Lotus Development have both cancelled conferences that were due to start within days, following the attacks on the World Trade Center and other targets in the US on Tuesday.
The company's cited problems getting people to the conferences in the wake of the grounding of trans-Atlantic airlines, as well as respect for those injured and killed during the attack.
The VIA Technology Forum was due to start in Munich on Thursday. "Due to the tragic events in the US and the security situation on airlines, we are forced to postpone VTF," said spokesman Richard Brown. The AMD president and chief operating officer was among those scheduled to speak at the conference.
Lotus cancelled its Global Government Forum, which was due to take place in London next week. In a statement, the company said its primary concern is for the safety of its guests and employees. "We do not believe that it is prudent for our international guests to travel on non-urgent business at this time," said the company, "and we will explore the possibilities of meeting in the near future."
Lotus general manager Al Zollar had been due to speak at the conference, which focuses on the use of technology by government. IBM's general manager for global government industry, Todd Ramsey, was also due to deliver a keynote, as were government officials from around the globe and representatives from the US armed forces.
With all transatlantic flights to and from the US and Canada cancelled until further notice, Lotus could not guarantee that it could get speakers to the conference.
Lotus Global Government Forum is not the only conference to have been affected by the World Trade Center tragedy. At NetWorld+Interop in Atlanta today, a number of events and keynote speeches have been cancelled.
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