Facebook has cancelled its annual F8 developer conference over coronavirus concerns. The conference was scheduled to take place at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center in California on May 5th and 6th.
The event attracts thousands of developers across the globe. Last year, it attracted more than 5,000 developers, creators and entrepreneurs.
The annual developer conference spotlights Facebook’s global community. The latest technology from its family of apps and the future of the tech giant.
The coronavirus, since it’s uncovering in December 2019. Has infected more than 82,000 people and caused at least 2,804 deaths which prompted Facebook to cancel the event.
The cancellation comes after the most anticipated Mobile World Congress (MWC) was cancelled a week ago over the corona Virus concerns and more cancellations are likely to come. Other foreseen cancellations over the coronavirus concerns include the 2020 Olympic games in Japan. And the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.
Noting from the company’s statement, “F8 is an incredibly important event for Facebook. And it’s one of our favourite ways to celebrate all of you from around the world. But we need to prioritize the health and safety of our developer partners, employees and everyone who helps put F8 on”
Every year, Facebook donates a portion of F8 ticket sales to an organization working to diversify the tech industry. This year, Facebook was planning to double the donation amount to $500,000 to prioritize organizations serving local San Jose residents.
F8 event typically hosts local students onsite. Despite the cancellation, Facebook will still provide an F8-inspired experience for those students in lieu of hosting them at the event itself.
The cancellation was further pegged on the concern that it wouldn’t be right for Facebook to hold the event without F8’s international developer partners, employees and everyone who helps put F8 on.
However, In place of the in-person F8 event, Facebook is planning other ways for its community to get together. It is planning a combo of locally hosted events, videos and live-streamed content.
“Every year, we look forward to connecting with our global developer community at F8. And sharing our vision for the future that we’re building together. But given the growing concerns around COVID-19, we’ve made the difficult decision to cancel the in-person component of F8 2020.”
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