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October 28, 2005 – ESA’s Annual Meeting, scheduled for November 6-9, 2005 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has been postponed until December 15-18, 2005, due to the effects of Hurricane Wilma in the host city. More than 2,000 researchers, students, academics, museum curators, and pest management professionals were already registered for this major event, which is a showcase of entomological research from around the world.

The decision to postpone was not made lightly. There had been hope that the recovery efforts in and around the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center would have progressed more at this point. However, the most recent assessment by the on-site representatives of the Broward County Convention Bureau indicated that the damage to some of the hotels which were to house registrants was extensive, and that the operational hotels are required for housing emergency and recovery personnel deployed from other regions. Restaurants and other commercial establishments also needed to recover and resume operations. In light of this, the ESA Executive Committee made the decision on October 27th to postpone the meeting. 

The daily schedule for the meeting will be the same as originally planned, following the same agenda as previously published.  Thus, events previously scheduled for Sunday, November 6th will now be on Thursday, December 15th, and so forth. Details on the rescheduled meeting are being worked out by the staff and volunteers involved in planning the meeting with their vendors and contacts in Fort Lauderdale. As these details become available, they will be posted on ESA’s website (http://www.entsoc.org). 

“We ask that ESA’s meeting attendees be patient and allow the staff time to work out all the details, said ESA’s Executive Director Paula Lettice. “We will publish information on the website as the procedures are put into place so that we can have as seamless and efficient a transition as possible. The staff and I hope to see everyone in Fort Lauderdale for a terrific, albeit delayed, annual meeting!”

Founded in 1889, ESA is a non-profit organization committed to serving the scientific and professional needs of more than 5,700 entomologists and individuals in related disciplines. ESA's membership includes representatives from educational institutions, government, health agencies, and private industry.

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