With four confirmed cases of coronavirus in Illinois, some Chicago startups are beginning to take precautions by halting travel or closing their offices. And at least one major tech conference in the city has been canceled.
On Wednesday morning, Oracle canceled its Modern Business Experience 2020 conference, which had been scheduled for March 23-26 at the McCormick Place and was expected to attract about 6,000 people.
1871, Chicago’s largest tech incubator that can see more than 1,000 people in a single day, has implemented a zero-tolerance sick policy and is asking anyone who has traveled to an infected area to stay home, said 1871 CEO Betsy Ziegler.
“We’re nowhere close to the point where we’d shut down 1871, but we’re taking [coronavirus] really seriously,” she said. “If you have any sense of illness or if you feel sick at all, you must stay home.”
Ziegler said she is also in touch with other community startup hubs, like MATTER, mHUB and the Chicago Connectory, to plan a coordinated response in the event it’s necessary.
1871 is hosting an International Women’s Day event on Friday that’s expected to attract about 1,500 people. So far, Ziegler said there are no plans to cancel it. She added that if the coronavirus' local impact escalates, 1871 would at that point take more drastic action.
ReviewTrackers, a local B2B software review startup, is shutting down its office indefinitely on Monday, asking employees to work from home until further notice, said the startup's founder and CEO Chris Campbell. The startup has also halted all business travel for the next 90 days.
“We’re taking a more aggressive stance than we have in the past,” Campbell said. “We’re trying to take proactive measures to make sure we take care of our people.”
At Jellyvision, a local tech company that operates an employee communication platform, CEO Amanda Lannert said she notified employees of new coronavirus policies on Monday, encouraging them to work from home and requiring any sick employees to avoid the office. The startup employs about 400 people.
“We’re relying our very liberal work-from-home policy to create comfort, safety and choice for people who may be concerned for their health,” said Lannert, though she confirmed that she is still working at the office every day. “We are monitoring it and putting hand sanitizers on everyone’s desks.”
Cameo, the local celebrity shoutout startup, has also halted all business travel, with its CEO canceling a trip to Europe this week. And local insuretech startup Kin, like many other companies, is requiring ill employees to work from home.
“We are monitoring closely and will make decisions based on facts as they emerge and the recommendations of public health experts,” said Ruth Awad, Kin’s content director. “We are committed to prioritizing public health and the safety of our employees.”
Beyond Chicago, other big tech companies are canceling events and changing office policies to reduce the chance of spreading the virus. On Tuesday, Google canceled I/O 2020, its biggest event of the year. Facebook canceled its F8 developer conference that would have taken place in May. And Twitter, like many other companies, has suspended all non-essential business travel.
So far, SXSW, one of the largest and most-popular tech and media events of the year, is still slated to happen later this month even though companies like Twitter, Facebook and Intel have dropped out.
Coronavirus, also referred to as COVID-19, originated in mainland China at the end of last year and has been spreading globally since. Symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As of press time, the global death toll was 3,199, while more than 93,000 people have been infected in 77 countries, according to the World Health Organization.
Most of Chicago’s local tech events remain on the calendars, though attendees seem to be taking extra precautions at large gatherings. At Chicago Inno’s Tech Madness event on Monday, some attendees were avoiding handshakes, instead greeting each other with fist bumps, elbow bumps, and sometimes with just a wave. 1871 is also encouraging its members to bump elbows.
March 5, 2020: This story has been updated to reflect ReviewTrackers' decision to shut down its office and require every employee to work remote.
