MARYLAND FBLA STATEMENT ON COVID-19 & MARYLAND FBLA STATE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
UPDATED 7:30 PM ON APRIL 22, 2020
First and foremost, we hope that you and your families have been safe and healthy during this time. These past several weeks have been challenging to say the least and we appreciate all that you are doing to continue to lead and adapt to the unusual circumstances we’ve all been dealt. It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost six weeks since we were together in Baltimore for the 2020 State Leadership Conference (SLC).
We wanted to provide you with some updates regarding refunds and post-conference logistics:
Refund Process
We are pleased to let you know that we have completed negotiations with our vendors and have finalized our conference expenses. Thank you for your patience as we worked through this process which took a bit longer than we had hoped because most of the management at the hotel was furloughed soon after our conference. We were able to negotiate a significant savings and are returning all available money back to attendees. Please keep in mind that a large portion of our expenses are incurred and paid prior to the start of the conference and the refund amounts reflect as such.
The amount available for refunds was determined by taking total money collected less total conference expenses. Individual refunds were calculated by the type of room the attendee was registered for because the registration fee that was paid varied based on room type. While a couple of counties chose not to attend the conference, these decisions were made in advance of the Governor’s Executive Order that prohibited our conference from moving forward. Those chapters in counties that registered but did not attend the conference will receive refunds in the amounts listed.
The refund amounts by type are as follows:
Single - $222
Double - $182
Triple - $166
Quad - $158
State Officer - $91
Refund checks will be mailed directly to your school. If you would like to alert your administration to look out for the check, the envelope will come from Maryland FBLA and will be sent to the attention of the FBLA Advisor. We will also include a roster of each attendee from your chapter and the refund amount associated with each attendee. The total of this roster will equal the total of your school’s refund check. We will write and mail checks next week (week of April 27).
Conference Materials
Chapters that attended the conference received conference registration materials (programs, participation certificates, name badges/lanyards, t-shirts, etc.). In the near future, we will deliver/ship registration materials to those chapters that were registered for the conference but did not attend.
Virtual Awards Session
Once the remaining competitive events are completed and judging is finalized, we will broadcast a virtual Awards Session on Wednesday, May 13 at 3 p.m. After the recognitions are made via the Awards Session, we will deliver/ship awards/trophies, certificates, and competitive event materials to each chapter.
State Officer Elections
We are currently conducting our state officer elections online using the SimplyVoting service. We are energized by the commitment of our students to stay engaged and lead during this time and expect to announce the 2020-21 Maryland FBLA State Officer Team on Friday, April 24.
Thank you for your support of Maryland FBLA throughout the 2019-20 school year and the 2020 State Leadership Conference. The unprecedented and unusual times have left us all in situations we hope we never see again. We share disappointment no doubt felt by you and your students in not being able to finish the SLC but look forward to when we can all come together again.
In the meantime, we wish you all good health and safety. We will be back in touch soon with details of the virtual Awards Session so we can recognize our amazing students for their hard work this year. Also, Kent Seuferer, our State Director at the Maryland State Department of Education, will be sending out information on National FBLA’s virtual National Leadership Experience and how members will participate in competitive events as part of that event in the very near future.
UPDATED 5:00 PM ON APRIL 22, 2020
With the cancellation of the 2020 MD FBLA SLC on March 12, 2020 and the additional school system closure extending until at least May 15, 2020, the Board is proceeding with our virtual competitive events process so that we can complete the remaining competitive events and announce our state winners. The Board has prepared the following procedure to complete your event with additional instructions and details in the two PDF attachments.
1 – The event submission deadline is 5 pm on Friday, May 1, 2020. All video entries must be uploaded to the web link below. If entered as a team for the SLC, all team members must participate in the virtual event. Only submit one video entry per event/team. Late entries will not be accepted. Incomplete entries and/or entries that have clerical errors in the web link or in other upload data will not be judged.
Video upload link: https://mdfbla.wufoo.com/forms/virtual-competitive-event-submission-form/
2 – See attached 3-page PDF titled ‘Virtual Performance Set-up Instructions (MDFBLA 2020 SLC)’ for detailed instructions for how to prepare and record your virtual event entry. These instructions are for both individual and team performances. Team performances will be conducted with mandated social distancing and the stay-at-home directive where team members are not in the same location. MD FBLA adheres to all local and state directives regarding social distancing and stay-at-home policies; team members shall NOT be in the same physical location.
3 – See attached 3-page PDF titled ‘Virtual Performance Event Instructions (MDFBLA 2020 SLC)’ for our modified competitive event procedures that take into consideration the virtual nature of the recorded event entry.
4 – Event judging will take place after all entries are catalogued and verified after the submission deadline.
5 – The expected date for release of the 2020 State Awards Program Competitive Events Winner List is Wednesday, May 13, 2020. This will include the release of ALL competitive event results.
6 – The 2020 FBLA National Leadership Conference will also be conducted virtually with no in-person conference in Salt Lake City. Information about registering for the NLC for all first/second/third/fourth place competitive event entries will be communicated in a future email.
If you have any questions that are not able to be answered in this email or the attached documents, please contact me at this email address. Questions/problems/concerns that arise at or near the deadline may not have time for a response, so be sure to work on your virtual competitive event entry and upload the entry as soon as possible.
Virtual Performance Set-up Instructions (MDFBLA SLC 2020)
Virtual Performance Event Instructions (MDFBLA SLC 2020)
UPDATED 5:00 PM ON MARCH 31, 2020
Thank you so much for your patience and support as we work to complete the events of the 2020 Maryland FBLA State Leadership Conference. In addition to the Board's efforts to make alternative arrangements for competitive events and state officer elections that we feel are a priority for our student members, we have also been diligently working with our hotel and other vendors to negotiate our financial commitments. These negotiations will ultimately determine what refund is possible to our local chapters/members. With that in mind, we just received the final hotel bill and are now completing a detailed review.
That review and on-going negotiations could take some time, but we hope to have information on what refunds are possible posted here on our website and e-mailed to advisors by the end of next week (the week of April 6). Refunds will be issued to the school/chapter who paid Maryland FBLA, not to individual students/parents. The local chapter/school will then distribute refunds to individuals accordingly.
As mentioned in our last update to local chapter advisors, there are two important activities that we need to accomplish:
(1) Virtual Performance Events
We require information from those that will be participating in our virtual performance events. Please fill out the linked form by April 17, 2020 if you were registered to compete in the following events:
FBLA Events:
BROADCAST JOURNALISM
BUSINESS ETHICS
EMERGING BUSINESS ISSUES
GRAPHIC DESIGN
IMPROMPTU SPEAKING
INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS PRESENTATION
INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC SPEAKING
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
PUBLIC SPEAKING
PUBLICATION DESIGN
SALES PRESENTATION
SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN
Middle Level Events:
Business Etiquette
Business Math & Financial Literacy
Critical Thinking
Digital Citizenship
Elevator Speech
**Middle Level events do not have schedules, so please coordinate with your local chapter advisor to verify registration in these events.
As school closures have been extended, the Board of Directors has updated our Competitive Events Qualification Grid. Please note that the winners for the Job Interview event will now be determined by the prejudged components (letter of application and resume).
(2) Online Voting for State Officers
Please fill out the linked form by April 17, 2020 if you were registered as a voting delegate. Details on the online voting process will be released once the Board has received the responses from our local voting delegates and prepared the candidate information and ballot. Each chapter has two voting delegates; please be sure that both delegates complete the linked form.
UPDATED 1:15 PM ON MARCH 13, 2020
Thank you for your patience as we continue to work on plans to facilitate the important business of the state chapter that would normally have occurred at the state conference such as competitive events, state officer elections, and more. On Thursday, our top priority was ensuring a safe and orderly departure for all attendees. We thank you for your leadership in organizing your chapter’s departure and working with us and the hotel as we quickly modified our schedule to accommodate providing dinner for all those who remained on site. The Maryland FBLA-PBL Board of Directors thanks you for your continued dedication and leadership throughout this process.
The Maryland FBLA-PBL Board of Directors met Friday morning to determine how to proceed with competitive events, state officer elections, awards/competitive event material delivery, potential refunds, and other items. Below is a summary of how Maryland FBLA will proceed with each of these items:
FBLA Competitive Events
Please see the attached Competitive Events Qualification Grid which outlines how the winners’ list will be determined by event. Further instructions for those events identified as Virtual Performance will be sent by the Competitive Events Committee. For those events administered on-site on Thursday, only those chapters that participated in the performance component will be eligible for placement on the winners’ list. For all other events that did not occur on-site at the SLC on Thursday, the winners’ list will be determined for all competitors registered for the conference as listed by event on the attached grid. We expect to conduct Virtual Performances soon after schools resume session.
Middle Level Competitive Events
For the following events that have an objective test component, an online test administered at the home school will determine the winners:
For the following events, Virtual Performance will determine the winners:
Further instructions for online testing and Virtual Performance will be sent by the Competitive Events Committee.
State Officer Elections
For all elected positions, we will conduct online voting. All candidates approved by the Screening Committee will be listed on the ballot for election. More information on online voting will be sent by the Board of Directors. We expect to conduct the elections soon after schools resume session.
Awards, Competitive Event Material, and Registration Material Delivery
Once the final winners list is determined, all awards, certificates, rating sheets, and any other materials will be delivered to each local chapter. For those chapters that did not pick up their registration materials (t-shirts, name badges, programs, participation certificates, etc.), these items will also be delivered to the chapter with the other items.
Refunds
Over the next several weeks we will be diligently working with our hotel and other vendors to negotiate our financial commitments. These negotiations will ultimately determine what refund is possible to our local chapters. We will communicate this information to local chapter advisors as soon as it is known, but please know that our Board is working very hard to negotiate on your behalf. We appreciate your patience as we work through this process.
UPDATED 5:35 PM ON MARCH 12, 2020
In response to the Executive Order (Prohibiting Large Gatherings and Events and Closing Senior Centers) issued by Governor Larry Hogan on March 12, 2020 prohibiting events of more than 250 people, the 2020 Maryland FBLA State Leadership Conference has been cancelled effective immediately.
The Maryland FBLA-PBL Board of Directors will make an announcement regarding how we will proceed with regards to items including officer elections, competitive events, and refunds (if possible) as soon as the information is available. We appreciate your patience as we work through this unprecedent event.
All information regarding decisions by the Board will be communicated directly to our chapters via the Local Chapter Advisor. All inquiries should be directed to the Local Chapter Advisor at this time.
UPDATED 6:00 PM ON MARCH 11, 2020
The statement listed below posted at 11:00 PM on March 9, 2020 remains the same with regards to the 2020 Maryland FBLA State Leadership Conference. We are looking forward to greeting the students at arrival tomorrow morning.
UPDATED 11:00 PM ON MARCH 9, 2020
The 2020 Maryland FBLA State Leadership Conference is scheduled for March 12-14, 2020 at the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel. At this time, we do not plan to reschedule the conference because of concerns regarding COVID-19.
The safety and health of our student members, advisors, chaperones, judges, and other volunteers is our top priority. We are monitoring the situation very closely and coordinating our decisions based on information from the Maryland Department of Health, Baltimore City Health Department, and state and local education systems, as well as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and The World Health Organization (WHO). In addition, we are working directly with our conference hotel to ensure compliance with health standards.
Health and Safety Procedures During the Conference
Parents’ Oversight on Student Participation
We encourage parents to consider the specific circumstances of their children and family in terms of conference participation. If you determine that your child will not be participating, please alert your local chapter advisor.
Competitive Events
At this time, there is not an alternative method to competing in person for those events scheduled to take place during the conference. Should a student who is scheduled to compete at the conference elect not to attend the conference, they will not be able to participate in the competitive event.
Registration Cancelation
Refunds are not possible for those electing to not attend the conference as Maryland FBLA is financially obligated to the hotel and other vendors for the commitments based on the registration received from each chapter. Fear is not a justification to release us from our contractual obligations. Should school systems close or if governmental restrictions are placed on events such as ours that would prevent travel to our event or would prevent our event from occurring entirely, we will address refunds at that time.
Ongoing Communication
Maryland FBLA is committed to keeping the lines of communication open with our chapter advisors, parents and students as it relates to health and safety. We have created a special section on our website www.mdfbla.org/covid19 where we will post updates as they are available.
First and foremost, we hope that you and your families have been safe and healthy during this time. These past several weeks have been challenging to say the least and we appreciate all that you are doing to continue to lead and adapt to the unusual circumstances we’ve all been dealt. It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost six weeks since we were together in Baltimore for the 2020 State Leadership Conference (SLC).
We wanted to provide you with some updates regarding refunds and post-conference logistics:
Refund Process
We are pleased to let you know that we have completed negotiations with our vendors and have finalized our conference expenses. Thank you for your patience as we worked through this process which took a bit longer than we had hoped because most of the management at the hotel was furloughed soon after our conference. We were able to negotiate a significant savings and are returning all available money back to attendees. Please keep in mind that a large portion of our expenses are incurred and paid prior to the start of the conference and the refund amounts reflect as such.
The amount available for refunds was determined by taking total money collected less total conference expenses. Individual refunds were calculated by the type of room the attendee was registered for because the registration fee that was paid varied based on room type. While a couple of counties chose not to attend the conference, these decisions were made in advance of the Governor’s Executive Order that prohibited our conference from moving forward. Those chapters in counties that registered but did not attend the conference will receive refunds in the amounts listed.
The refund amounts by type are as follows:
Single - $222
Double - $182
Triple - $166
Quad - $158
State Officer - $91
Refund checks will be mailed directly to your school. If you would like to alert your administration to look out for the check, the envelope will come from Maryland FBLA and will be sent to the attention of the FBLA Advisor. We will also include a roster of each attendee from your chapter and the refund amount associated with each attendee. The total of this roster will equal the total of your school’s refund check. We will write and mail checks next week (week of April 27).
Conference Materials
Chapters that attended the conference received conference registration materials (programs, participation certificates, name badges/lanyards, t-shirts, etc.). In the near future, we will deliver/ship registration materials to those chapters that were registered for the conference but did not attend.
Virtual Awards Session
Once the remaining competitive events are completed and judging is finalized, we will broadcast a virtual Awards Session on Wednesday, May 13 at 3 p.m. After the recognitions are made via the Awards Session, we will deliver/ship awards/trophies, certificates, and competitive event materials to each chapter.
State Officer Elections
We are currently conducting our state officer elections online using the SimplyVoting service. We are energized by the commitment of our students to stay engaged and lead during this time and expect to announce the 2020-21 Maryland FBLA State Officer Team on Friday, April 24.
Thank you for your support of Maryland FBLA throughout the 2019-20 school year and the 2020 State Leadership Conference. The unprecedented and unusual times have left us all in situations we hope we never see again. We share disappointment no doubt felt by you and your students in not being able to finish the SLC but look forward to when we can all come together again.
In the meantime, we wish you all good health and safety. We will be back in touch soon with details of the virtual Awards Session so we can recognize our amazing students for their hard work this year. Also, Kent Seuferer, our State Director at the Maryland State Department of Education, will be sending out information on National FBLA’s virtual National Leadership Experience and how members will participate in competitive events as part of that event in the very near future.
UPDATED 5:00 PM ON APRIL 22, 2020
With the cancellation of the 2020 MD FBLA SLC on March 12, 2020 and the additional school system closure extending until at least May 15, 2020, the Board is proceeding with our virtual competitive events process so that we can complete the remaining competitive events and announce our state winners. The Board has prepared the following procedure to complete your event with additional instructions and details in the two PDF attachments.
1 – The event submission deadline is 5 pm on Friday, May 1, 2020. All video entries must be uploaded to the web link below. If entered as a team for the SLC, all team members must participate in the virtual event. Only submit one video entry per event/team. Late entries will not be accepted. Incomplete entries and/or entries that have clerical errors in the web link or in other upload data will not be judged.
Video upload link: https://mdfbla.wufoo.com/forms/virtual-competitive-event-submission-form/
2 – See attached 3-page PDF titled ‘Virtual Performance Set-up Instructions (MDFBLA 2020 SLC)’ for detailed instructions for how to prepare and record your virtual event entry. These instructions are for both individual and team performances. Team performances will be conducted with mandated social distancing and the stay-at-home directive where team members are not in the same location. MD FBLA adheres to all local and state directives regarding social distancing and stay-at-home policies; team members shall NOT be in the same physical location.
3 – See attached 3-page PDF titled ‘Virtual Performance Event Instructions (MDFBLA 2020 SLC)’ for our modified competitive event procedures that take into consideration the virtual nature of the recorded event entry.
4 – Event judging will take place after all entries are catalogued and verified after the submission deadline.
5 – The expected date for release of the 2020 State Awards Program Competitive Events Winner List is Wednesday, May 13, 2020. This will include the release of ALL competitive event results.
6 – The 2020 FBLA National Leadership Conference will also be conducted virtually with no in-person conference in Salt Lake City. Information about registering for the NLC for all first/second/third/fourth place competitive event entries will be communicated in a future email.
If you have any questions that are not able to be answered in this email or the attached documents, please contact me at this email address. Questions/problems/concerns that arise at or near the deadline may not have time for a response, so be sure to work on your virtual competitive event entry and upload the entry as soon as possible.
Virtual Performance Set-up Instructions (MDFBLA SLC 2020)
Virtual Performance Event Instructions (MDFBLA SLC 2020)
UPDATED 5:00 PM ON MARCH 31, 2020
Thank you so much for your patience and support as we work to complete the events of the 2020 Maryland FBLA State Leadership Conference. In addition to the Board's efforts to make alternative arrangements for competitive events and state officer elections that we feel are a priority for our student members, we have also been diligently working with our hotel and other vendors to negotiate our financial commitments. These negotiations will ultimately determine what refund is possible to our local chapters/members. With that in mind, we just received the final hotel bill and are now completing a detailed review.
That review and on-going negotiations could take some time, but we hope to have information on what refunds are possible posted here on our website and e-mailed to advisors by the end of next week (the week of April 6). Refunds will be issued to the school/chapter who paid Maryland FBLA, not to individual students/parents. The local chapter/school will then distribute refunds to individuals accordingly.
As mentioned in our last update to local chapter advisors, there are two important activities that we need to accomplish:
(1) Virtual Performance Events
We require information from those that will be participating in our virtual performance events. Please fill out the linked form by April 17, 2020 if you were registered to compete in the following events:
FBLA Events:
BROADCAST JOURNALISM
BUSINESS ETHICS
EMERGING BUSINESS ISSUES
GRAPHIC DESIGN
IMPROMPTU SPEAKING
INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS PRESENTATION
INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC SPEAKING
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
PUBLIC SPEAKING
PUBLICATION DESIGN
SALES PRESENTATION
SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN
Middle Level Events:
Business Etiquette
Business Math & Financial Literacy
Critical Thinking
Digital Citizenship
Elevator Speech
**Middle Level events do not have schedules, so please coordinate with your local chapter advisor to verify registration in these events.
As school closures have been extended, the Board of Directors has updated our Competitive Events Qualification Grid. Please note that the winners for the Job Interview event will now be determined by the prejudged components (letter of application and resume).
(2) Online Voting for State Officers
Please fill out the linked form by April 17, 2020 if you were registered as a voting delegate. Details on the online voting process will be released once the Board has received the responses from our local voting delegates and prepared the candidate information and ballot. Each chapter has two voting delegates; please be sure that both delegates complete the linked form.
UPDATED 1:15 PM ON MARCH 13, 2020
Thank you for your patience as we continue to work on plans to facilitate the important business of the state chapter that would normally have occurred at the state conference such as competitive events, state officer elections, and more. On Thursday, our top priority was ensuring a safe and orderly departure for all attendees. We thank you for your leadership in organizing your chapter’s departure and working with us and the hotel as we quickly modified our schedule to accommodate providing dinner for all those who remained on site. The Maryland FBLA-PBL Board of Directors thanks you for your continued dedication and leadership throughout this process.
The Maryland FBLA-PBL Board of Directors met Friday morning to determine how to proceed with competitive events, state officer elections, awards/competitive event material delivery, potential refunds, and other items. Below is a summary of how Maryland FBLA will proceed with each of these items:
FBLA Competitive Events
Please see the attached Competitive Events Qualification Grid which outlines how the winners’ list will be determined by event. Further instructions for those events identified as Virtual Performance will be sent by the Competitive Events Committee. For those events administered on-site on Thursday, only those chapters that participated in the performance component will be eligible for placement on the winners’ list. For all other events that did not occur on-site at the SLC on Thursday, the winners’ list will be determined for all competitors registered for the conference as listed by event on the attached grid. We expect to conduct Virtual Performances soon after schools resume session.
Middle Level Competitive Events
For the following events that have an objective test component, an online test administered at the home school will determine the winners:
- Business Etiquette
- Business Math & Financial Literacy
- Digital Citizenship
- Multimedia & Website Design
For the following events, Virtual Performance will determine the winners:
- Critical Thinking
- Elevator Speech
Further instructions for online testing and Virtual Performance will be sent by the Competitive Events Committee.
State Officer Elections
For all elected positions, we will conduct online voting. All candidates approved by the Screening Committee will be listed on the ballot for election. More information on online voting will be sent by the Board of Directors. We expect to conduct the elections soon after schools resume session.
Awards, Competitive Event Material, and Registration Material Delivery
Once the final winners list is determined, all awards, certificates, rating sheets, and any other materials will be delivered to each local chapter. For those chapters that did not pick up their registration materials (t-shirts, name badges, programs, participation certificates, etc.), these items will also be delivered to the chapter with the other items.
Refunds
Over the next several weeks we will be diligently working with our hotel and other vendors to negotiate our financial commitments. These negotiations will ultimately determine what refund is possible to our local chapters. We will communicate this information to local chapter advisors as soon as it is known, but please know that our Board is working very hard to negotiate on your behalf. We appreciate your patience as we work through this process.
UPDATED 5:35 PM ON MARCH 12, 2020
In response to the Executive Order (Prohibiting Large Gatherings and Events and Closing Senior Centers) issued by Governor Larry Hogan on March 12, 2020 prohibiting events of more than 250 people, the 2020 Maryland FBLA State Leadership Conference has been cancelled effective immediately.
The Maryland FBLA-PBL Board of Directors will make an announcement regarding how we will proceed with regards to items including officer elections, competitive events, and refunds (if possible) as soon as the information is available. We appreciate your patience as we work through this unprecedent event.
All information regarding decisions by the Board will be communicated directly to our chapters via the Local Chapter Advisor. All inquiries should be directed to the Local Chapter Advisor at this time.
UPDATED 6:00 PM ON MARCH 11, 2020
The statement listed below posted at 11:00 PM on March 9, 2020 remains the same with regards to the 2020 Maryland FBLA State Leadership Conference. We are looking forward to greeting the students at arrival tomorrow morning.
UPDATED 11:00 PM ON MARCH 9, 2020
The 2020 Maryland FBLA State Leadership Conference is scheduled for March 12-14, 2020 at the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel. At this time, we do not plan to reschedule the conference because of concerns regarding COVID-19.
The safety and health of our student members, advisors, chaperones, judges, and other volunteers is our top priority. We are monitoring the situation very closely and coordinating our decisions based on information from the Maryland Department of Health, Baltimore City Health Department, and state and local education systems, as well as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and The World Health Organization (WHO). In addition, we are working directly with our conference hotel to ensure compliance with health standards.
Health and Safety Procedures During the Conference
- We will suspend the practice of shaking hands on-stage during awards and other presentations as well as discourage handshakes as a courtesy greeting on-site. All competitive event judges will be informed that students should not shake hands.
- We remind all students, advisors, and guests to refer to CDC and WHO’s recommendation for hand washing, covering the mouth and nose appropriately when coughing and sneezing, and to use sound judgment to stay home when feeling ill.
- The Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel has taken proactive steps regarding the health and safety of both guests and staff. This includes initiating a no-work policy should any staff member be sick, offering hand sanitizing stations in the meeting space, and not shaking hands with guests. The team at the front desk and housekeeping is committed to ensuring all rooms are sanitized prior to and during our visit.
- Should someone identify as having COVID-19, Marriott has a full set of protocols in place to minimize the risk to other individuals. Please see a letter from the General Manager from the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel that demonstrates their commitment to a healthy stay while our conference is onsite.
Parents’ Oversight on Student Participation
We encourage parents to consider the specific circumstances of their children and family in terms of conference participation. If you determine that your child will not be participating, please alert your local chapter advisor.
Competitive Events
At this time, there is not an alternative method to competing in person for those events scheduled to take place during the conference. Should a student who is scheduled to compete at the conference elect not to attend the conference, they will not be able to participate in the competitive event.
Registration Cancelation
Refunds are not possible for those electing to not attend the conference as Maryland FBLA is financially obligated to the hotel and other vendors for the commitments based on the registration received from each chapter. Fear is not a justification to release us from our contractual obligations. Should school systems close or if governmental restrictions are placed on events such as ours that would prevent travel to our event or would prevent our event from occurring entirely, we will address refunds at that time.
Ongoing Communication
Maryland FBLA is committed to keeping the lines of communication open with our chapter advisors, parents and students as it relates to health and safety. We have created a special section on our website www.mdfbla.org/covid19 where we will post updates as they are available.
