Coronavirus claims Salesforce’s Sydney show

The Sydney leg of Salesforce’s World Tour has been “reimagined” as an online-only event, due to fears about Coronavirus.

“Nothing is more important than the health and safety of our Ohana,” Salesforce has told would-be delegates, adding that “Over the last few months, we have been closely monitoring the evolving situation with the Coronavirus outbreak to ensure we are taking every precaution to look after our customers, partners, and employees.”

“Careful consideration” of the risks means the company has “decided to change the format of our World Tour in person event on Wednesday 4th March to be an online experience.”

Just what that means has not been revealed: Salesforce has promised it will “be in touch to discuss news, sessions, as well as how we can work with you to get the best experience from the event.” It’s also pledged “a full program of inspiration and enablement” plus “the latest from our customers, partners, and the product innovations that can help you create connected customer experiences.”

The decision appears to have different motives compared to other cancellations: Cisco’s cancelled Live event is pitched to the wider region and is therefore likely to attract visitors from across Asia. Black Hat Asia, another cancelled conference, was scheduled to run in Singapore, a nation with obvious higher exposure to the virus.

But Salesforce’s event was pitched as an Australian and New Zealand affair. And there are no known uncontained coronavirus cases in either nation. Nor are people discouraged from congregating at artistic or sporting events, on public transport, or in places like shopping centres.