COVID Statement relative to ZCON 2020
Intent:
- This material is intended to provide awareness of changes and updates on the ZCON 2020 event in Nashville, TN. We are working to implement some changes in order to be able to continue having the event occur amid the current COVID situation and follow safety considerations being imposed by municipalities and our venues. Our goal is to inform to the best of our ability and continue to make preparations with safety in mind. There are no guarantees in life and while we will provide our efforts to implement safety standards throughout the event, we ask that guests consider that ZCON is a large gathering of people.
- This statement is NOT a replacement for your personal safety measures to be taken against COVID, please see www.CDC.gov and the recommended prevention and safety precautions. You are ultimately responsible for your own safety, but we're in this together. Our goal is to make your ZCON experience as fun and safe as reasonably possible. If you are NOT comfortable and have registered, please contact us regarding a refund (see updated cancellation policy below).
Impacts to Schedule
- Schedule Changes
The COVID pandemic brings challenges but we are encouraged and confident that we can all have a fun time while taking reasonable safety precautions. The following are updates to the Schedule of Events for ZCON 2020.
1) Nissan Smyrna Plant Tours cannot be conducted and will unfortunately be cancelled due to plant being closed due to COVID impacts. This event will be removed soon from the Event Schedule and a mass-email notification sent to registrants.
2) Special Guests Evening will continue, albeit with some updates. We have special guests that would normally attend the event from abroad and domestically. We have received messages that Toshio Yamashita and Yoshihiko Matsuo (both Z designers from Japan) have sent their regrets that they would love to be at ZCON 2020, but cannot due to COVID related travel issues.
However, Peter Brock of famed BRE racing legacy has re-confirmed his attendance and is excited to be with us for our "50th Anniversary of the Z" celebratory event.
Additionally, John Morton is still scheduled to attend along with the members of JDM Legends TV-show, "Mad Mike" Taylor and others.
Please note that we are working with the Host Hotel (Embassy Suites Franklin) to follow their guidelines on seating associated to COVID requirements they are implementing.
3) HPDE Track Day at NCM format will be updated to a "Lead-Follow Instruction" format for all run-groups. Many tracks across the U.S. are adapting to COVID by implementing this format to separate student-instructor close-contact. ZCON 2020 will adopt this format as per National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park (NCM) guidelines to permit the continuation of the event. Instructors will be present with corner-workers and work with participants of the ZCON track day event; however, it will not be "in-car" as in past events. Each group will receive instruction from instructors assigned to watch their on-track driving and provide feedback after each run-group completes. More information on this format and the schedule will come soon from the ZCON motorsports team.
4) Banquets and Chili Party are being held as intended on Monday and Saturday during ZCON week, albeit the formats may be altered to accommodate hotel capacity restrictions. If current restrictions continue, we are looking at the possibility of two groups for opening and closing receptions to meet this capacity restriction in the Banquet rooms. If this looks to be a reality as we close in on ZCON week, we'll reach out and organize folks into two groups.
CDC and Embassy Suites COVID Guidelines
- We highly recommend reviewing and following CDC guidelines (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html)
- The host hotel where Registration, Banquets and other events within the ZCON event schedule has been advising on their precautionary measures during ZCON week. There will be a variety of sanitization (hand-sanitizer) stations throughout the hotel and extra measures are being taken by the Embassy (a Hilton Property) relative to cleanliness. The Hilton has published their COVID update here: https://help.hilton.com/s/article/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Update.
- The ZCON staff will work to limit the Event Registration room and make hand sanitizers and masks available throughout ZCON week.
Have questions or concerns? Please email us at: info@zcon.org.
Cancellation Policy Update
- As of March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of coronavirus (aka COVID, or COVID-19) to be a global pandemic. Since then the outbreak has impacted a variety of events and our government and associated venues have taken steps to slow the spread. In response, we are providing the following COVID extenuating circumstances policy statement regarding ZCON 2020.
- Reservations from Domestic U.S. based attendees made for ZCON 2020 (Weekend or Full Week passes) for the September event may be cancelled up to 7/1/2020 for a full refund if you are unable or uncomfortable attending with us in September due to the COVID situation. After that time, we will have made financial payments for various events, merchandise and other related ZCON event expenses that will not permit a refund EXCEPT in the event that the COVID situation forces a postponement and/or cancellation of the event. After 7/1/2020 a refund policy of 50% will be in effect up until 7/31/2020 on a case-by-case basis (assuming COVID is the source of the cancellation request).
- Reservations from our International attendees - will follow the same guidelines above. Should a border be closed or other impact outside of your control, please simply email us and we'll work to resolve the cancellation with you.
- We will be making reasonable attempts to socialize this change via mass-email and on social media with reference to this page's updates to ZCON 2020. If you have any questions, please feel free to email us at: info@zcon.org.
We look forward to seeing our Z-family in Nashville this September!