The contagion is contained. That was the message during the early days of the subprime mortgage crisis that expanded to become a global financial crisis in 2008. That was also the message at the beginning of 2020 about the novel coronavirus disease now called COVID-19. But in the last week of February, it became clear the contagion was not contained, and equity markets reacted as they often do: volatilely.

By March, business as usual was no longer an option. Events around the world were postponed or canceled as corporations strictly limited nonessential travel.

As readers of this publication are well aware, real estate is a people business. Networks are important, and maintaining relationships is crucial. The cornerstone of Institutional Real Estate, Inc.’s business is connecting people, data and insights. We do this through our publications, and we do this through our conferences and other events held around the world.

So we are taking the expansion