ICSC To Hold In-Person Convention In Vegas In Early December

ICSC, or Innovating Commerce Serving Communities, the organization formerly known as the International Council of Shopping Centers, has announced that it will hold a deal-making convention in Las Vegas Dec. 5-7.

Formally called "ICSC – Here, We Go. 2021," the conference will be at the Las Vegas Convention Center, where the organization has held its springtime deal-making event, RECon, for decades. In March 2020, ICSC postponed the RECon event, which was to have been May 17-19 of that year. That decision, a blow for tens of thousands of retail specialists who attend the conference every year, was an early indicator of what was to come for the events world. Later it was canceled for the year, and the 2021 event was likewise postponed.

For the December event, ICSC will require attendees to provide proof of full vaccination against Covid-19 or a negative Covid-19 test within 48 hours of the event. When attendees register for the event, the organization will send instructions about what constitutes proof of vaccination. Attendees will be required to submit proof in advance, since there will be no on-site registration.

The retail organization said its policy concerning masks will follow the most recent Covid-19 guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and will comply with state and local government mask mandates.

Currently, CDC guidelines for fully vaccinated people state that they should wear a mask indoors in public in an area of substantial or high transmission to maximize protection from the delta variant. As of Friday, every Nevada county will be under a mask mandate, since every Nevada county except one is now considered an area of high Covid-19 transmission.

RECon attracted about 30,000 people the last time it was held, in May 2019. The conference brings together landlords, retailers, brokers and service providers, and provides a setting where deals that have been negotiated over months can be consummated, along with the opportunity for post-networking revelry.