Sign The Petition to Get Trade Shows Back In Alabama

Sign The Petition On April 28, 2020 Alabama Governor, Kay Ivey held a press conference to discuss reopening Alabama called Safer Alabama. This was a real joke of a plan in that she was supposed to reopen all retail stores but left the Restaurants Hair Salons & Nail Salon still closed. She also put no measures in place and gave the Alabama Citizens no planned date or hope regarding opening her next plan other than a date. This new plan is supposed to run from April 30th to March 15th. This is a partial phase one planned opening according to Alabama Health Advisor. They issues a guidance and published it that was incredibly misleading to say the least. One one document it stated child day care centers could open with no more than 10 children per room, then n another document stated all day cares and school were to remain closed. They opened Alabama's Beaches but did not open restaurants along the beaches or any restaurant for indoor dining. Curbside pick up and delivery are the only ways to get food. They still allow Big Box i.e. WalMart, Target, Best Buy and other larger stores to operate normal with minimum requirement one being half occupancy. With Alabama's Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth owning his own Trade show company and having a vested interest in getting trade shows up in Alabama, you would think he would have pushed more to get shows up. His show, Tennessee Valley Hunting and Fishing normally scheduled for July is still o track for a open show but this is mid-summer. Many vendors have already expressed they cannot wait this long and only 6 weeks into the pandemic, we have heard of several that have officially given up and closed their businesses. With no one officially fighting for the Trade Show Circuit, one promoter, Shawn Bean of Great Southern Gun & Knife Show has stepped forward to create a petition to get people everywhere to sign. It doesn't matter if you are a vendor or a spectator, he needs you to fill out the petition and sign it to help get shows going in Alabama. According to Bean, there are ways to safely host the show with no greater risk to people than them going to a Big Box Store! Bean talked to us stating his May 15th show was still on and less than 24 hours wrote an email stating the venue backed out and cancelled his show. BJCC made up several excuses sighting: with their staff on furlough they do not feel they can host the show even if it allowed on May 15th weekend. This just seems odd that their staff cannot properly plan to host an even that has been on their books for months. Nevertheless, Bean states if he can get the show back up and running he will and he can get it rescheduled after the May 15th Date, he will do his best to do so. Here is what is on the petition he created and we hope you will join us in signing the petition to bring back shows to Alabama. "Many states in the South are beginning to reopen from the recent lockdowns. America is ready to get back to work and this petition addresses how trade shows can safely reopen this May. The economic fallout from the lockdowns gets worse the longer businesses are closed. The PPP has not had the intended effect and has been more helpful for large business. Our vendors are all small businesses and many are financially hurting. Small businesses are the backbone of the economy and we need to get back to work before more damage is done. Big box stores that have remained open have small aisles and can quickly get crowded. In spite of this, we have not had a big spike in cases. Based on the evidence and guidelines from states that are reopening, here is what I propose. We will have a minimum of 12ft aisles and at least 6 ft spacing between different vendors to help maintain physical distancing guidelines. Our staff will wear masks and gloves. We will have signs posted reminding everyone to maintain the physical distancing recommendation. We will have signs at the entrance that no one is allowed in if they've been exposed to COVID-19 or have had a fever within 48 hours. There will also be periodic announcements reminding customers to keep 6 ft between groups. We will not have a "break room" to follow current CDC guidelines. These practices will allow trade shows to continue and have an immediate financial impact on our vendors, staff, the BJCC and their staff and tax revenue for the city, county and state. We ask that you confirm to the BJCC that the planned event for May 16-17 can go forward so they can get their staff in place. They are currently not staffed since most everyone is furloughed. If you give them notice, they will be able to bring enough staff back so that the show can go on and life can resume. Thank you for your consideration." Sign The Petition