• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, March 3, 2020

Google and Adobe sent emails to conference attendees this week, announcing that both companies will rebrand their respective annual conferences and take them online.

Google on Tuesday canceled its I/O conference, one of its biggest events of the year. It was scheduled to take place between May 12 and May 14.

Just a day prior it announced that its Cloud Next ’20 conference scheduled for April 6 to April 8 at San Francisco’s Moscone Center will now take place online to limit travel amid the global COVID-19, also known as coronavirus.

Conference organizers sent an email to registered attendees that said Google Cloud will move online this year and rebrand as Google Cloud Next ’20: Digital Connect.

Google instructed its Dublin employees — a staff of about 8,000 — to work from home on Tuesday. The company is taking precautionary measures after one of its employees reported flu-like symptoms. 

A Google employee has tested positive for the coronavirus, and the company is further restricting its employee travel as concerns around the outbreak grow.

Last Friday Google emailed employees to say one of its own who has been to the Zurich office has tested positive for the virus.

The infectious disease continues to spread among public health concerns, but the World Health Organization (WHO) has yet to declare the outbreak a global pandemic. The number of deaths related to Coronavirus in the U.S., all in Washington State, rose to nine on Tuesday, according to health officials.

Adobe also sent an email to attendees that its summit, where it unveils the latest product and platforms, will move online.

Adobe rebranded its Summit at the The Digital Experience Conference.

“Over the past few weeks, we have been closely monitoring and evaluating the situation around COVID-19 to ensure we are taking the necessary measures to protect the health and wellbeing of Adobe Summit attendees,” according to the email. “As a result, we have made the difficult but important decision to make Adobe Summit 2020 an online event this year and to cancel the live event in Las Vegas.”

The Facebook F8 conference in San Jose scheduled for May 5 and 6 also closed, along with the Facebook Global Marketing Summit in San Francisco scheduled for March 9 through 12.