Coronavirus Concern: Pax8 Moves Wingman 2020 Online

‘The health and well-being of our employees, attendees, and exhibitors remains a top priority at Pax8,’ Nick Heddy, chief revenue officer at Pax8, says.

Born in the cloud distributor Pax8 has shifted its upcoming show to the web amid the widening coronavirus outbreak, which has hobbled the tech event circuit as federal, state, and local governments enact tougher restrictions on gatherings in order to handle the growing threat.

Wingman 2020, the company’s first-ever conference, was set to headline notable guests and a packed house in Denver this June. With days of educational seminars, and dozens of exhibitors and presenters lined up, the company said it will shift that content to the virtual world.

“The health and well-being of our employees, attendees, and exhibitors remains a top priority at Pax8,” Nick Heddy, chief revenue officer at Pax8 said in a statement. “While we will not be hosting our inaugural event in person, we believe it is still important to offer the education and enablement promised at Wingman2020. By moving the event to a virtual experience for partners, we will be able to offer certifications and skilling opportunities from Microsoft and other key vendor partners at Pax8, which we believe to be more important than ever in this time of ever-changing business need.”

Pax8 partner Zac Paulson, CEO of TrueIT, an MSP in North Fargo, N.D., said under the rapidly changing circumstances it is the “right call.”

“While I understand the world is in flux and this is probably the right call due to the times, it's still disappointing because I was really looking forward to it,” Paulson said. “However, this isn't surprising considering all the other events that have cancelled or postponed.”

The show was set to feature Microsoft employees walking partners through Dynamics, M365, Azure, with one-on-one coaching, and the registration fee was expected to come with two Microsoft certification exams.

Ingram Micro, and Synnex also recently announced that they would postpone upcoming shows in order to help slow the spread of the virus.

Ingram Micro said it is postponing its upcoming Cloud Summit planned for Miami Beach until early next year. Meanwhile, Synnex said it would cancel all of its events between now and May 1, including its Spring Varnex show as well as the Red, White & You event that immediately follows, both of which were set to kick off in the coming weeks.

Synnex Senior Vice President of Marketing for North America, Bob Stegner, sent an email to partners yesterday saying all Synnex-sponsored events in the U.S. and Canada would be on hiatus. Varnex was scheduled to begin on March 28 while Red, White & You was expected to begin March 31.

“Over the next few days, we will determine if we will reschedule events in this period. We’re also assessing plans for events in May and beyond and will be in touch with additional information as we make formal decisions,” he wrote in a letter provided to CRN. “We appreciate your understanding as we move forward with this decision out of an abundance of caution for our reseller and vendor partners and associates and to remain consistent with our industry peers.”