Earlier this year, our DesignXL planning committee team met—empowered, energized and excited at the prospect of designing and delivering a world-class conference experience for our Gulf Coast creatives and creators.
We’ve remained steadfast to that goal throughout the uncertainty of the COVID pandemic.
We are faced with a tough decision, and we don’t take it lightly. It is with a heavy heart that we announce that both the DesignXL planning committee and the Pensacola Designers Board of Directors have officially voted and approved to postpone DesignXL until November of 2021.
While our top priority has been—and always will be—in creating an environment rich in learning opportunities and networking possibilities, the current state of the world requires that our attention shifts to the responsibility of ensuring the safety, health and wellbeing of our attendees.
We are confident that we can implement safety measures and social distancing guidelines during the conference to keep this year’s event on schedule, however, given the severity of the situation regarding COVID-19, we are not willing to risk the health—and sacrifice the overall experience—of our attendees.
Furthermore, DesignXL is an initiative organized by passionate volunteers of the non-profit networking group, Pensacola Designers. As such, our events are entirely funded by donations and sponsorships from members and businesses alike. DesignXL, Pensacola Designers, nor its volunteer committee and board of directors make any profit from the proceeds of our events. Ticket sales and contributions go directly back to the organization to support further educational initiatives for the community.
With many businesses furloughing their employees, enacting hiring freezes, and restricting their sponsorship budgets, we feel that proceeding with DesignXL 2020 is not the wisest course of action at this time.
We know that times are tough. Now, our focus will be in how we can help our community of creatives get through this difficult time together. While we won’t be having our DesignXL 2020 event, we are exploring smaller events in outdoor settings, or via webinars and teleconferences. Stay tuned for more news and information in the coming months.
You made DesignXL 2019 a huge success, and we are committed to making DesignXL 2021 an even better event. If you have ideas on topics you’d like to see in either DesignXL 2021, or in our smaller events, we want to hear from you.
We invite you to contribute and be part of our growing community and network of creatives online. Follow Pensacola Designers on Facebook and Instagram, and join our Facebook commmunity to stay in the loop on upcoming events.
Best,
Pensacola Designers & DesignXL Planning Committee