The Florida Roofing and Sheet Metal Contractors Association (FRSA) announced its 98th Convention and Florida Roofing and Sheet Metal Expo has been canceled due to COVID-19.

The event is the latest on a long list of conventions and expos that have been canceled or postponed in an effort to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. The FRSA website provides no indication that the event, scheduled for July 15-17 at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Kissimmee, Fla., will be rescheduled. Instead, it asks attendees to mark their calendars with the 99th Annual Convention and Expo, scheduled for July 21-23, 2021.

"It was a difficult decision for all involved, but the health and safety of our members, exhibitors and staff was our first priority," the website states. "An event our size is not one that can be easily moved. We still face much uncertainty about what the future of face to face meetings will look like for this year, and FRSA leadership agreed that we could not hold our event with the social distancing guidelines currently in place."

Despite the cancellation, various components of the event will still take place virtually, including educational seminars and the Silent Auction. The FRSA encourages contractors to register for seminars that will cover the extensive roofing-specific changes to the 2020 Florida Building Code and the FRSA-TRI Tile Installation Manual 6th Edition. The seminars will be launched the week of July 13-17.

All hotel reservations made at the Gaylord Palms Resort will be automatically canceled with deposits returned within 14 business days. Those who have registered will automatically have their registrations canceled and refunded.

For a taste of what contractors can look forward to in 2021, check out RC's photo gallery of the 2019 convention.