NBAA’s Schedulers and Dispatchers Conference (SDC) will make its return as a live event next week. To be held at the San Diego Convention Center starting on April 5, it will be the first time the annual event will be held in person since the March 2020 conference ended prematurely as the nation experienced a wave of event cancellations due to the spread of the Covid pandemic.
Initially scheduled to take place from January 18 to 21, SDC2022 was postponed due to the surge in the Omicron variant of the virus. While that iteration was originally planned as the normal four-day conference format, the event next week was shortened to three days and will incorporate some scheduling changes as its organizers look to provide the same amount of education content. And, while SDC normally kicks off on Tuesday evening with a reception on the display floor, this year, the show’s education programming will begin on Tuesday morning, running all day until the opening reception. The professional development courses that usually take place on Tuesday will be held instead on Saturday and Sunday preceding the show. The opening welcome session will still take place as usual on Wednesday morning.
According to NBAA, more than 350 exhibitors are set to display on the exhibition floor and the organization is planning on upwards of 80 percent of its normal attendance.
As with its BACE show last October, which went on without a hitch, SDC attendees will have to show proof of vaccination through the Clear app on a smartphone, or present the results of a recent negative Covid test. A testing facility will be onsite at the convention center for those who did not bring test results and for international show-goers who will need present test results to return home. Face masks will be optional.
