Industry Insights: It's so important to check the calendar before scheduling events.

I mean, that sounds super obvious, right?

However, every year, I get so many emails inviting me to trips, events, and dinners that overlap with the upcoming Jewish high holidays.

This is nothing new, and has happened for years, and has resulted in everything from me not being able to cover NYFW (back when NYFW was something I covered, that is!), to me having to pass on dinners during Passover (for obvious reasons!).

But I think it is something that goes way beyond Jewish holidays (which I reference specifically only because those are the ones that have personally impacted me), but any time that an event or a trip is scheduled to overlap with any religious or cultural events or holidays, you are excluding anyone who celebrates those holidays from participating in, attending, or even being able to cover your event or news. Which, very often, is something they actually would really want to cover or attend.

When scheduling any event, it's important to consider public and legal holidays, as well as holy days of any religions to make sure you are not excluding any attendees who celebrate them.  As these holidays often happen on different calendar days each year, it's just a good idea to do your research before proceeding with scheduling an event -- it's simply as easy as Googling!

(I myself do this all the time when maintaining my own schedule!)