2020 Skamania Conference Cancelled (3/9)

The Washington State Council for the Social Studies (WSCSS) is sad to announce that we are cancelling the Spring Conference at Skamania Lodge this upcoming weekend due to concerns over the COVID-19 virus. While we are greatly disappointed that we will not be seeing all of you at Skamania this weekend, it has come to a point where holding the conference was no longer feasible.

We are in early negotiations with  Skamania Lodge and are pleased to announce that Skamania will be cancelling individual room reservations and refunding room deposits. The Lodge has informed us that it will take 7-10 days for room deposits to be refunded. If you reserved your room outside of the WSCSS block of rooms, you will need to call Skamania today by 5 PM to cancel your reservation without penalty.

We have also received questions about conference registration refunds. We are still in negotiations with Skamania Lodge regarding our conference contract, which is paid for by the conference registration fees.  This negotiation will obviously affect our ability to refund any, some, or all of attendees registration costs.  Please know we are working very hard to create the best outcome possible for our registrants. We will be taking the next few days to assess our situation and will follow up with conference registrants and exhibitors once we have a clearer picture of our overall situation.

We are deeply disappointed that the conference could not continue as planned, but we feel that it is the right decision to make. We continue to appreciate your patience and understanding over the next few days. This is an unprecedented situation for our teacher-led and all-volunteer organization and we appreciate your continued support of the WSCSS and the social studies in Washington State. In the meantime, stay safe and we hope to see you at a future WSCSS event.

Be well,

The WSCSS

Due to the spread of the COVID-19 virus, WSCSS had to make the very difficult decision to cancel our Spring Conference that was scheduled for March 13-15. At the time, we promised to follow up with our members once we concluded our negotiations with Skamania Lodge regarding our conference contract.  We were pleased they released everyone from their room registration guarantees.

Because WSCSS must pay significant deposits to conference venues and must sign contracts that include substantial cancellation penalties, our normal conference policy is that we cannot offer refunds once registration closes.  However, after reaching an agreement with Skamania Lodge that waived 50% of our cancellation penalty, we are happy to offer a 50% registration fee refund to our Spring Conference registrants.  You will also receive free registration for our fall event. We realize that this is not an ideal solution, but we had to make to make quick decisions to protect the health and safety of our registrants, meet our contractual obligations to Skamania Lodge, and allow us to continue as an organization.

If you would like to donate your registration fee to the WSCSS and receive a tax deduction, please email your registration confirmation number to contactwscss@gmail.com by Tuesday, March 24th. If we have not heard from you by then, we will process your refund and you should see it reflected on your account within 7-10 business days. 

The world has certainly changed many times over during the past week.  We hope that you are safe and adapting to the changing times.  Please take care of yourselves and look out for one another.

Be well, 

The WSCSS