The 2020 SaaStr Annual was supposed to be another packed, high-energy gathering of SaaS founders, operators, investors, sales leaders, marketers, customer success pros, and people who can say “ARR” in a sentence without blinking. But in early March 2020, as COVID-19 concerns moved from distant headline to very real business risk, the event became a case study in how quickly conference planning had to change.
SaaStr did not simply suggest that attendees “be careful” and call it a day. Its additional health and safety rules for 2020 SaaStr Annual were unusually strict for that moment: no handshakes, mandatory thermal screening, repeated handwashing requirements, restrictions on attendees from certain high-risk countries, passport review for international attendees, and a clear “do not come if you are sick” policy. In other words, the usual conference survival kitlaptop, charger, business cards, comfortable shoes, heroic amounts of coffeesuddenly needed a public-health manual.
This article breaks down what those rules meant, why they mattered, and what SaaS event organizers, sponsors, and attendees can still learn from them today.
Why the 2020 SaaStr Annual Health Rules Became a Big Deal
SaaStr Annual is one of the best-known events in the B2B software world. For startups, it is not just a conference; it is a networking engine, fundraising hallway, sales pipeline accelerator, hiring marketplace, and founder therapy session with better lighting. That is exactly why health and safety rules mattered so much in 2020. A large event brings together people from many cities, companies, and countries. In normal times, that is the magic. During an outbreak, that same magic becomes a logistics headache wearing a lanyard.
In March 2020, public-health guidance was changing rapidly. Santa Clara County and California officials began discouraging or limiting large gatherings, and the CDC later recommended canceling or postponing many in-person events. SaaStr ultimately postponed the 2020 Annual, but its published rules show how organizers were trying to reduce risk before broad shutdowns became standard.
The Core Rule: No Handshakes, No Exceptions
The first memorable rule was simple: no handshakes. Not “please consider avoiding handshakes.” Not “maybe try a wave.” SaaStr made it a firm rule.
For a business conference, this was more radical than it sounds. The handshake is practically the official operating system of networking. Founders shake hands after introductions. Sales leaders shake hands before demos. Investors shake hands while saying, “Let’s circle back,” which may or may not mean anything. Removing the handshake forced attendees to rethink basic social habits.
The rule made sense because respiratory viruses can spread when people touch contaminated surfaces or their faces after contact. Public-health organizations were emphasizing hand hygiene, surface cleaning, and respiratory etiquette at the time. A no-handshake rule was easy to understand, easy to communicate, and easier to enforce than vague advice.
Better Alternatives to Handshakes
Attendees could still greet each other with a wave, nod, smile, elbow-free hello, or the classic conference move: raise the coffee cup like a tiny trophy. The deeper lesson was not that handshakes are evil. It was that during a health emergency, event organizers must replace risky habits with clear alternatives.
Mandatory Thermal Screening and the “No Sniffles” Policy
SaaStr’s second major rule was mandatory thermal screening for fevers. Attendees who were sick, had been sick, or registered an elevated temperature would not be allowed into the venue unless secondary screening showed they did not have a fever.
This policy was strict, and SaaStr openly acknowledged that it could create false positives and frustration. Someone could run warm after rushing across the street, wearing too many layers, or losing a battle with San Jose sunshine. Still, the rule prioritized a clear decision process over awkward judgment calls at the door.
The “no sniffles” standard was equally blunt. If someone had a runny nose, fever, or symptoms, the message was: stay home. SaaStr offered credits toward a future pass, which mattered because health policies work better when people are not financially punished for doing the responsible thing.
Handwashing Became Part of the Event Flow
Another major safety requirement was repeated handwashing. SaaStr said attendees would be required to wash up when entering the venue, before sessions, before entering the expo, and before mentorship sessions.
That may sound intense, but it reflected the public-health guidance of the moment. Handwashing with soap and water was consistently recommended as one of the best ways to reduce the spread of germs. For a conference, however, turning handwashing into an operational rule is not as simple as posting one cheerful sign near a bathroom and hoping everyone suddenly becomes a hygiene scholar.
Why Handwashing Rules Affect Event Design
If thousands of attendees must wash or sanitize before key activities, organizers need enough stations, signage, staff, and time buffers. Session start times may need breathing room. Expo entrances may need wider lanes. Mentorship rooms may need check-in procedures. In short, hygiene becomes part of the event architecture.
SaaStr even warned that these rules might create lines, which is painful for an event known for trying to avoid them. But in 2020, the tradeoff was obvious: a few extra minutes in line beat turning a conference badge into a souvenir from a bad decision.
Travel Restrictions for High-Risk Regions
SaaStr’s travel-related rules were among the most restrictive. The event stated that attendees from Mainland China, Korea, Italy, and other CDC Level 3 nations would not be admitted. It also said anyone who had visited those regions within the previous 60 days would be denied entry.
From a modern perspective, some parts of that policy may feel blunt. SaaStr itself noted that the rules might be more restrictive than necessary in some cases. But the reason was operational clarity. In fast-moving public-health situations, ambiguity can turn registration desks into debate stages. Clear rules reduce confusion, even when they are imperfect.
Passport Checks and Written Certification
SaaStr also planned passport checks for international attendees and written certification that attendees had not visited high-risk areas within the specified period. That is a serious step for a SaaS conference, not exactly the sort of thing people expected between badge pickup and the nearest espresso bar.
The broader lesson is that travel screening requires privacy sensitivity, trained staff, clear communication, and a consistent process. If an event chooses to screen travel history, it must explain the rule before people arrive, not surprise them at the door while they are holding luggage and a dream.
Clear Rules Beat Vague Recommendations
One reason the SaaStr rules stood out was their tone. They were not wrapped in soft corporate fog. The message was direct: these are the rules, there are no exceptions, and if you are sick or recently traveled from certain areas, do not attend.
That clarity is valuable. During a public-health emergency, attendees need to know what will happen before they spend money, book flights, schedule meetings, or ship booth materials. Sponsors need to understand whether traffic patterns will change. Staff need to know how to enforce rules without improvising. Speakers need to know whether session rooms will operate differently.
In event safety, “we will monitor the situation” is not enough. Monitoring is good. Communicating decisions is better.
How These Rules Changed the Attendee Experience
For attendees, the additional health and safety rules meant the 2020 SaaStr Annual would have felt different from previous years. Registration would take longer. Entry would require screening. Networking would be less touchy-feely. Session movement would include more washing and sanitizing. International attendees would face more documentation checks.
Still, the event was trying to preserve what people came for: learning, networking, mentorship, and deal-making. The rules were not designed to make the conference feel like a hospital lobby with pitch decks. They were designed to keep the event functional while reducing avoidable risk.
Lessons for SaaS Event Organizers
1. Put Health Policies in Plain English
Do not bury safety requirements in a 47-page PDF named something like “Operational Addendum Final v6 Really Final.” Attendees need simple language: who can attend, who should stay home, what screening is required, what happens if someone fails screening, and what refund or credit options exist.
2. Design for Enforcement, Not Just Announcement
A rule is only useful if it can be implemented. If you require handwashing before every session, you need enough facilities. If you require temperature checks, you need trained screeners and secondary review. If you ban handshakes, you need signage and staff reminders that do not feel like hall monitors escaped from middle school.
3. Build Compassion Into Compliance
People are more likely to follow rules when the policy is fair. SaaStr’s credit for future attendance helped reduce the pressure to show up sick. That is crucial. If attendees lose everything by staying home, some will convince themselves that “just a little cough” is not a problem. Spoiler: it can be a problem.
4. Coordinate With Local Authorities
Large events do not exist in a bubble. They depend on city rules, county guidance, venue policies, travel conditions, and public-health updates. SaaStr’s eventual postponement showed that even strict organizer-level rules can be overtaken by government guidance. Event planners need a decision tree that includes local escalation points.
Lessons for Sponsors and Exhibitors
Sponsors at a major SaaS conference care about booth traffic, meetings, demos, scans, pipeline, and brand visibility. Health rules change all of those. A sponsor team in 2020 needed to rethink swag distribution, booth layout, demo stations, meeting density, and staff backup plans.
Instead of handing out stress balls, pens, or mystery objects that end up at the bottom of backpacks forever, sponsors could prioritize digital follow-ups, QR codes, scheduled meetings, and contactless content. Booth staff also needed permission to avoid handshakes without seeming rude. A simple line like “Great to meet youSaaStr rules say no handshakes this year, so here’s my best founder wave” would do the job.
Lessons for Attendees
For attendees, the main lesson was personal responsibility. Do not attend if you are sick. Read event rules before traveling. Bring identification. Expect delays. Wash your hands. Respect staff. Avoid turning every safety checkpoint into a courtroom drama.
Networking also needed a mindset shift. Great conversations do not require handshakes. Deals do not close because palms touched. Mentorship does not become less valuable because everyone used sanitizer first. The best attendees adapt quickly and keep moving.
Why SaaStr’s 2020 Rules Still Matter
The 2020 SaaStr Annual rules are now part of event-industry history. They capture a moment when organizers were trying to protect communities while still supporting business continuity. Some measures would later become common. Others would be replaced by broader policies such as postponement, virtual events, vaccine checks, testing, masks, capacity limits, and hybrid programming.
What remains useful is the framework: identify risks, communicate clearly, make rules enforceable, support people who stay home, and coordinate with public-health authorities. Whether the concern is COVID-19, flu season, air quality, emergency weather, or another disruption, the same event-planning discipline applies.
Experience-Based Reflections on the 2020 SaaStr Annual Safety Rules
Looking back at the additional health and safety rules for 2020 SaaStr Annual, the most striking thing is how much they changed the emotional contract of a conference. Before 2020, attendees usually judged events by speaker quality, networking density, food quality, Wi-Fi strength, and whether the coffee ran out before 10 a.m.a true tragedy in the SaaS ecosystem. Health rules were mostly invisible unless something went wrong.
In 2020, safety became part of the product. Attendees were no longer just buying access to sessions and networking; they were trusting the organizer to make responsible decisions in a confusing moment. That trust had to be earned through specifics. “We care about your health” sounds nice, but “no handshakes, mandatory screening, wash before sessions, stay home if sick, and receive a future credit” is actionable.
One practical experience from this kind of event planning is that attendees tolerate inconvenience better when they understand the reason behind it. A long line with no explanation feels like chaos. A long line caused by required health screening feels more acceptable when signs, emails, and staff explain what is happening. People may grumbleconference people can grumble professionallybut they are less likely to rebel if the process feels organized.
Another experience is that staff training matters as much as the written policy. A registration worker, security guard, volunteer, or room monitor should not be forced to invent answers on the fly. They need scripts, escalation contacts, and authority. If someone says, “But I flew here from New York and I feel fine,” the staff response should not depend on who happens to be holding the scanner. Consistency protects both attendees and employees.
The no-handshake rule also shows how small behavioral changes can feel huge at first and normal by lunch. At the beginning of an event, people may awkwardly half-extend a hand, retract it, laugh, and perform a tiny wave. By the third session, the new greeting becomes routine. Human beings are surprisingly adaptable, especially when everyone is adapting together.
For sponsors, the experience was probably more complicated. Booth teams are trained to be open, welcoming, and physically present. Suddenly they had to balance friendliness with distance. The best teams would have turned the rule into a brand moment: cleaner demo stations, more scheduled meetings, better digital assets, and less reliance on “scan my badge and send me something I will never read.” A safety constraint can become a marketing upgrade if handled creatively.
For founders, the rules carried another lesson: leadership sometimes means choosing the less popular option before everyone agrees it is necessary. SaaStr’s policies were stricter than many events at the time, and the event was still postponed after local guidance shifted. That does not make the preparation wasted. It shows that risk management is not about predicting the future perfectly. It is about being ready to change course without pretending the map never changed.
Today, the 2020 SaaStr Annual health and safety rules read like a snapshot from the first chapter of a very long book. But they remain useful because they show the value of direct communication, operational planning, and community responsibility. The best events are not just efficient; they are trustworthy. And in 2020, trust became the most important badge in the building.
Conclusion
The additional health and safety rules for 2020 SaaStr Annual were more than a checklist. They were an early example of how business events responded to COVID-19 before the event world fully shifted into postponements, cancellations, and virtual formats. SaaStr’s approach emphasized strict entry rules, health screening, hand hygiene, travel restrictions, and clear no-exception policies.
Some measures were inconvenient. Some were unusually restrictive. But the underlying message was serious and still relevant: when thousands of people gather, safety cannot be a footnote. It must be designed into the attendee journey from registration to the final session. For SaaS leaders, founders, sponsors, and event planners, the 2020 SaaStr Annual remains a reminder that community is powerfulbut protecting that community is part of the job.
