Huge difference between "people can go back to work" and "we can have cramped non-social-distancing scenarios put on as a major tentpole event". I would be very surprised if any cons go this year, at this point, unless a miracle vaccine shows.
We'll be back on the streets, back doing things, but Social Distancing will be a new norm through 2020.
Gencon has none of that. It has been years since a Movie or TV Celebrity was doing autographs at Gencon unless they were done by a specific booth (and not by gencon themselves). I am not sure how much Hollywood getting its face smashed in is going to effect Gencon this year.
Comicon in San Diego was canceled. That was scheduled for July 23 through the 26th
Think on where all those thousands of attendees are coming in from - all 50 states and multiple countries all over the world. Now think on your experience walking down the halls and sidewalks of the convention center, and think further on going through the exhibit hall or sitting at a table with up to eight other people and again remember that those people come from all over the world, from countries that are doing very little testing, from countries that might still be having surges in cases. Finally, think on the fact that up to 25% of the coronavirus cases are asymptomatic, they do not know they have it and are spreading it.
I've been going to Gen Con since 1995 in Milwaukee. I definitely don't want it cancelled, but I don't want people literally dying for their games.
The reason SDCC was cancelled is because the California governor basically said that he wouldn't allow any mass gatherings until September at the earliest. California has been the most aggressive in the country with lockdown orders, and I suspect that we will be the last state to come out of lockdown.
I will definitely be needing GenCon come late July!
Yep. I don't see any way to safely hold the convention. So is the money to be made worth more than the lives that will be lost, both at the convention and all over the country when we unknowingly take it back to our families? I mean, I hope not. What is GC, LLCs declared alignment anyway. :)
But I'm still in wait and see mode. Maybe we will develop an antibody test and find out half the population already had it. If I'm in that half, I'd go. Seems far fetched, but who knows.
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A little too political there, Brotherbock, sorry to have to shut it down.
Remember folks, this thread is for GEN CON-related news and speculation, not the rest of the City, County, State, Country, Continent, or World. There are other places on the internet for that. (And no, don't start another thread on these forums to discuss COVID outside of Gen Con, we'll just delete it and tell you to go here).
Roderick Robertson Forum Coordinator Gen Con, LLC.
I really hope physical Gen Con can happen safely, but if not, perhaps there could be a virtual Gen Con?
Gary Con in Wisconsin had to deal with this last month, and they turned lemons into lemonade by converting it into a virtual convention using Roll20, Discord and other platforms. It was reasonably well attended, with about 1200 participants which is roughly half their normal attendance.
But we must remember that Gen Con is a business as well and we are talking serious money if any decision is made prematurely.
Now, I would HOPE that some representative of Gen Con is working with government officials in Indiana to actually find a way to pull this off, as there is some leverage in the huge (I mean millions and millions of) amounts of direct and indirect tax dollars at stake for Indiana as well. Why do you think paint stores are closed in most States but liquor stores are open :) .
It’s also hard not to notice the rebellion happening around the US from these lockdown orders and cancellations. And it’s growing. And people are not going to take this for much longer - it’s in the US nature to rebel against anything that resembles restrictions. For some reason, this gives me great hope for Gen Con. Queue Twisted Sister here...
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To be clear on this, I love Gen Con. I very much want it to go on as scheduled. The people at Gen Con are very much "my tribe," and I suspect a lot of people posting here feel much the same way.
This pandemic stinks. The whole economy has taken a huge hit as a result. An old friend of mine owns a game store, and his business has suffered as a result of this. I hate to see it. He worked hard for years, planned hard to start his business and get it rolling.
But as far as Gen Con happening, or anything else where large crowds gather, I keep thinking of "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."
I know Indy businesses will suffer if Gen Con doesn't happen as scheduled. I know many other businesses are already suffering. But I wonder about how much more suffering there will be if restrictions are lifted sooner than they should be.
Other quick note from today's Indy Star. In an article about re opening the State there is a paragraph entitled "Conventions my postpone"
In it Chris Buhl says GenCon is still on but then says "The conventions and major events we are working with to postpone"
Take this confusion for what it's worth
The full quote:
"Chris Gahl, a senior vice president at Visit Indy, hopes conventions will happen in 2020. He said tourism officials are trying to postpone, rather than cancel, as many conventions as possible. It's worth noting that Gen Con, an annual economic powerhouse, is still on for July 30 to Aug. 2.
"He said tourism officials are working on safety guidelines but aren't ready to share specifics.
"'The conventions and major events we are working with to postpone,' he said, 'still feel they want to convene in a way that mirrors what they were slated to do pre COVID-19 with some caveats in and around what Indianapolis will be doing to ensure the virus has been taken care of.'"