What a strange unprecedented time we are living in, right? Thanks, COVID-19. CakeFest, just like many other conferences and events, has been up in the air. Our team spent weeks discussing the possibility of moving forward as planned, having backup plans, or ways out of contracts should the emergency continue. After negotiations with pending sponsors, venues, vendors, etc., we toyed with the idea of going virtual and following suit of many others. After discussions with the core team, it was decided that this was the way to go.
This virus infused world is uncharted territory for billions of people, but one thing remains the same among us all…. the safety and health of our clients, families, and teams is the number one concern and priority. I’m sure everyone has encountered those who don’t understand these types of decisions, but allow me to put some numbers into perspective:
Currently, there are 1,696,588 cases of COVID-19 worldwide, and 105,952 deaths have been reported (as of April 12, 2020 via World Health Organization). According to hopkinsmedicine.org: “The virus can spread between people interacting in close proximity—for example, speaking, coughing, or sneezing—even if those people are not exhibiting symptoms. In light of this evidence, CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies) especially in areas of significant community-based transmission.”
So what I am reading is that someone who has it, may not even know they are carrying the virus, and can spread the germ by just being in the same area as a peer. This is even more frightening due to the fact that there’s no research to this new virus, therefore no cure or vaccine to combat its effects on those infected.
With the statistics and facts about this virus, we made the difficult decision to go digital for CakeFest 2020. We understand that our intended dates in October are still far away, but without knowing how regulations and orders will change from government officials, it is hard to plan such an important event. Hopefully after learning more about how we came to this decision, you will understand and support us. We were extremely excited to bring the Cake to Los Angeles, but not at the cost of anyone’s health. We also hope to still deliver the knowledge, information, and possibly some ElePHPants to our virtual attendees this year (while also keeping you safe). The good news is, we can host in LA next year! And look at it this way, you can watch and learn in your pajamas!
So what will CakeFest look like this year? We are still in the planning phases, and allowing for sponsors. After a lot of research we hope to find the best platform for our needs, and the best speakers to share the knowledge. Speaking of which, if you have tips or suggestions for hosting a virtual conference, we’d love to hear from you! You can email us. Tickets will be sold (for less cost, there's a silver lining) for full access to all videos - before and after the event. We will conduct the conference as normal, but the difference is, we won’t be face to face.
To keep up with the planning process or any changes, make sure you follow us on Twitter, or Facebook. You can always stay up to date at CakeFest.org, too.
Once the database has been created, bake models and controllers as normal using:
