The coronavirus pandemic claimed another victim when CSICon 2020, planned for October 15–18 in Las Vegas, had to be postponed until 2021. CSICon is the big conference on science and reason hosted annually over a four-day period in October in recent years by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) and the Center for Inquiry (CFI).

The decision came in early June after long consideration of possible options. “I am sure it will come as no surprise to anyone that we felt holding a safe event at this stage of the pandemic was not really possible,” Barry Karr, conference organizer and executive director of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, wrote in a June 8 email to CSICon speakers. The CFI board had discussed options at a June 4 board meeting, but it was already clear that full postponement was preferred.

It was decided not to hold a full online conference or even a stripped-down “CSICon Lite” version online. Instead, the hope is to present an online lecture series in the fall. It will be called Skeptical Inquirer Presents. You can register for the lecture series, which began July 30 with a talk on conspiracy theories and COVID-19, at /presents/.

The impressive roster of speakers that had been planned for the 2020 conference has been invited to return in 2021. CSICon 2021 is now scheduled for October 21–24, 2021, at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas.