ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The Water Environment Federation (WEF) and American Water Works Association (AWWA) today announced that the Utility Management Conference (UMC) and Young Professionals Summit (YP) have been postponed from February to August 2021. The YP Summit will be Aug. 1-3 and UMC will run from Aug. 3-6, both in Atlanta.

Both UMC and the YP Summit are known for their exceptional in-person learning and networking opportunities, and an August in-person event seems more viable given public health concerns associated with COVID-19, the organizations said in making the announcement. 

Visit the conference website for details on registration, programming, presenting and sponsorship.

“While all of us in the water sector are looking forward to spending time together in-person, the health and safety of our members continues to be our priority, so we will delay the Utility Management Conference and Young Professionals Summit to later in 2021 in hopes that we can gather in Atlanta,” said WEF President Lynn Broaddus.

“As we all are aware, the public health concerns arising from COVID-19 continue to pose tremendous challenges for face-to-face conferences,” said AWWA CEO David LaFrance. “At the same time, we know our members are looking forward to the day when they can share experiences in-person, learn from one another in those impromptu hallway conversations, and renew old friendships.”

In the event in-person conferences are not advisable in August 2021, AWWA and WEF would create a first-rate virtual event at a similar time. AWWA and WEF intend on returning to their regular schedule in 2022, hosting UMC and YP as in-person events in the February timeframe.