Pittsburgh, Pa. – Printing Industries of America (PIA) and the Technical Association of the Graphic Arts (TAGA) announced today that the TAGA Annual Technical Conference slated for March 15–18 in Oklahoma City, OK, has been cancelled in the wake of the World Health Organization declaring the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) a pandemic.

“It is with sincere regret that we are forced to cancel this year’s TAGA Annual Technical Conference, but the health and safety of our attendees is of the utmost importance,” said Michael Makin, President and CEO of Printing Industries of America. “We have been closely monitoring the situation and this afternoon made the unfortunate decision.”

“It had been our sincere hope that we would be able to move forward as planned,” said Jim Workman, Vice President of PIA’s Center for Research and Technology and TAGA Managing Director. “This conference relies on the participation of the academic community. When many of our participating universities began instituting travel bans for their faculty and student bodies, it became clear that the conference would not be able to continue without them.”

This will be the first time in 72 years that the TAGA Annual Technical Conference will not be convened, but holding the conference is regrettably impossible. We are currently working to organize a virtual TAGA Keynote Spotlight. Updates will be posted at taga.org/conference. Concerns regarding registrations and exhibitor contracts can be directed to [email protected].