This summer of hope quickly unraveled as yet another terrifying wave of COVID-19 infections swept across the globe, rendering many upcoming industry events unsafe or at least unadvisable.

Travel and heavily attended indoor events are once again forcing tough decisions, as the risk-reward assessments we’ve all made during this pandemic shifted back into the abyss of fear and uncertainty.

This dramatic reversal of public health prospects puts many industry event organizers in a tough spot, and it’s all happening right when most of us expected to close out 2021 with some semblance of a return to large, in-person events and gatherings.

As such, event organizers are scrambling to confront this dispiriting and recurring reality. Some events are now requiring all attendees to verify they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, others are willing to accept a negative COVID-19 test within three days of the event, and some events have abruptly canceled or shifted to an entirely virtual format.

If not for the vaccines, which are readily available for free across the U.S., this would all feel very much like a repeat of 2020.

Here are the latest updates and protocols for the major events currently scheduled through the remainder of 2021. Keep in mind, as this pandemic has painfully reminded us many times, plans can and almost certainly will change.

  • Hot Chips changed plans to be an online-only event "due to continued uncertainty around the spread of COVID-19." The event starts Aug. 22.
  • AWS re:Inforce canceled plans for an in-person event in Houston “because of the elevated COVID-19 threat level in the Houston area” and is now offering a free live stream of the keynote and other sessions.
  • Big 5G Event remains scheduled to start Aug. 31 in Denver as an in-person and virtual event. Organizers require all attendees to wear masks, practice social distancing, and adhere to health screenings, but there’s no mention of COVID-19 tests or vaccination status.
  • IFA is canceled.
  • CCA Annual Convention remains scheduled to begin Sept. 20 as an in-person event in Phoenix. Attendees will be required to show proof of being fully vaccinated or show proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken no more than 72 hours prior to check-in at the event. Public health policies might change, but organizers are currently just highly encouraging attendees to wear a face mask.
  • Mobile Future Forward remains scheduled for Sept. 21 as an in-person event in Seattle. Organizers require all attendees to be fully vaccinated, and mask wearing will be based on current public health policies.
  • WAN Summit: New York was postponed to Spring 2022 “due to ongoing company travel restrictions and the renewed uncertainty of the current COVID-19 situation.”
  • VMworld begins Oct. 5 as a virtual event.
  • Open Networking & Edge Summit, KubeCon and CloudNativeCon remain scheduled to start Oct. 11 in Los Angeles as an in-person and virtual event. Masks will be required and all in-person attendees must be fully vaccinated.
  • Google Cloud Next starts Oct. 12 as a virtual event.
  • Rakuten Optimism will be a fully virtual event starting Oct. 12. 
  • Layer123 World Congress starts Oct. 11 as a virtual event and on Oct. 14 as an in-person event, limited to 200 attendees, in Amsterdam. In-person attendees are required to provide proof of being fully vaccinated or provide a negative PCR test within 72 hours of the start of the event.
  • Arm DevSummit begins Oct. 19 as a virtual event.
  • ONUG Fall 2021 starts Oct. 20 as a virtual event.
  • MWC Los Angeles remains scheduled to start Oct. 26 in Los Angeles as an in-person event. Organizers haven’t yet shared plans for attendees that want to participate virtually, but it’s widely expected to follow a hybrid format similar to MWC Barcelona earlier this summer. Details are also currently lacking on health and safety measures for the event, but organizers note that “COVID-19 remains a critical planning consideration” and it will incorporate local health authority and the latest guidance into plans for the event.
  • Intel Innovation begins Oct. 27 as an in-person event in San Francisco with an option for remote attendance. Organizers haven't yet shared details about health and safety measures or vaccination mandates for in-person attendance.
  • Web Summit begins Nov. 1 in Lisbon, Portugal, as an in-person event. Public health and safety measures haven’t been shared by organizers yet.
  • OCP Global Summit remains scheduled to start Nov. 9 as an in-person event in San Jose with a virtual option for individuals that prefer to attend remotely. Organizers haven’t shared any updates since April, but at that time warned “should there be increases in cases of the virus, and the local or regional leaders impose restrictions on large meetings, then we are prepared to pivot to a virtual-only event, if needed.” Attendees will be required to follow current local and federal guidelines, but mandates for vaccinations and masks haven’t been updated on the event site.
  • SC21 is scheduled to begin Nov. 14 as an in-person event in St. Louis with an option for remote participation. Face coverings are required based on current local law, and organizers note health and safety protocols will adhere to all guidelines at the time of the event.
  • Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit shifted to a completely virtual event due to “the uncertainty associated with the Delta variant and the potential travel and safety challenges.” The event is scheduled to start Nov. 16.
  • AWS re:Invent starts Nov. 29 as an in-person event in Las Vegas with the option to attend virtually. Amazon hasn’t yet shared public health and safety measures or mandates for in-person attendees.