When will further announcements about the physical convention be made? There are a number of pending questions out there.
When will the attendance cap be determined? How will people be told that they can attend the physical convention? Housing block? What events will be offered compared to normal years?
None of these questions are answerable at this time.
There will be a housing block, and that process will proceed as normal.
Event submission has not opened up yet, so there is no way to know what events will be offered.
We are still 5+ months from the convention and are not ready to announce any of these dates or information.
To keep up to date on this information you can subscribe to our newsletter at: https://www.gencon.com/ (bottom of the page)
There is also an official convention update thread in the forums...
Mike
The newest from us:
New on the blog: a message from Gen Con President David Hoppe about the current state of health and safety planning for Gen Con 2021. We'll post regular updates as we approach the convention to keep you up to date on our plans so you can make informed decisions about attending.
Thank you, Mike and David for making that announcement. It is good to know what you guys are (currently) planning and what is still up in the air. So far, everything sounds good and I am looking forward to attending Gen Con in September!
Can you simply confirm that Gencon will actively monitor for mask compliance and those who are onsite who decide not to comply will be asked to leave. Or that someone will be available to escort such a person off premises if a gm asks the player to wear a mask and they refuse.
Actual active enforcement is going to be required and I dont think relying on the city or attendees to simply do the right thing will work.
The city may be committed to a mask mandate, but they aren't inside the convention center or gaming areas.Can you simply confirm that Gencon will actively monitor for mask compliance and those who are onsite who decide not to comply will be asked to leave. Or that someone will be available to escort such a person off premises if a gm asks the player to wear a mask and they refuse. Actual active enforcement is going to be required and I dont think relying on the city or attendees to simply do the right thing will work.
What I dont want is lip service to a mask mandate. But then excuses at the con about how there is too many people or not enough staff or not wanting a scene.
Have no mandate. Fine. But dont have a mandate you dont plan on enforcing. That's why I'm asking now.
I’m for no mask mandate, although it should certainly be optional for anyone who wants to wear one. By September, everyone should have had the opportunity to get vaccinated, which means we shouldn’t need masks, anyway. If you have declined the vaccination then you attend at your own risk. We’re all adults here. It’s up to you to manage your life and no one else’s.
A few things that jumped out at me:
-30k-40k attendance sounds pretty good. I have a feeling that will accommodate everyone who wants to come, since there will be some no-shows thanks to the move to September and people being gun-shy about big events. -The dedicated eating areas sound like a good idea. I wondered how that was going to be handled (aside from just banning eating in the ICC, which sounds like a tall order). -The closing of the ICC for cleaning sounds kind of strange, considering that there's more evidence that the "deep clean everything" method is nothing more than (as one CNN editorial put it) hygiene theater.
And one personal question from me that's related to one of the items: -Since it seems likely that masks will be required (I doubt things will change drastically enough that they won't be considered necessary by Gen Con), here's my question: does anyone have any advice for how to make yourself more understandable to others while wearing a mask? I know that I sometimes have difficulty understanding others or making myself understood at gaming tables during normal Gen Con, and masks only exacerbate those problems. Part of that is due to background noise, which should be reduced by fewer gaming tables being in one room, but does anyone have advice on solving the rest of that equation?
This thread is demonstrating why they wouldn't have wanted to post "here's what we are thinking" before a fully final answer.
I also find it puzzling when they post a rule, someone always insists on asking "but are you going to enforce it?". I think that is implied - just like it has been for every other rule for the past 50 years.
With all due respect Mike, I have attended Gencon since 2004 and the various policies have been enforced differently depending upon the time of day, the amount of people, and the employee doing the monitoring/enforcement.
Given the past history, it is not unreasonable to ask whether this health and safety policy will be strictly enforced, or not.
I realize the question may be uncomfortable for you to answer. But it's not an unreasonable question.
We take our policies and procedures seriously with the added onus that we are talking about a health and safety policy here.
But I have no idea what you may mean by strictly enforced, if the expectation is that we will be able to monitor all people at all times then that is unreasonable.
Once they have finalized rules, they'll notify their staff and volunteers of those rules -- and what to do about noncompliance. It's not really rocket science -- this is what is happening already at your local schools, Walmart, grocery store, wherever. And, by the way, masks may be an additional thing, but overall conduct enforcement is not a problem that is new to Gen Con this year.
Honestly, I'm not sure what you're looking for here. Perhaps they could employ a team of 3 psychics to predict future crime like in Minority Report.
Personally, I'm hoping we can set aside masks by then. Encourage your fellow citizens to get a shot - for you and their neighbors, if not themselves.
At the end of the day, seems to me the best personal guideline to follow on whether or not to attend is if you are uncomfortable that they aren't going to do enough, stay home. If you are uncomfortable that they are doing too much, stay home. If you need answers right now and don't have flexibility, stay home.
Right now, I'm 50/50. I am unsure if I will have the level of enjoyment of Gencon in 2021 that I've had in the past so, I might just sit 2021 out and hope 2022 has a return to a normal feel. In no way a condemnation of Gencon or anything they are doing, just a reality of the situation which I'm sure I'm not alone. But.. still months to go so, who knows. Cross the bridge of go/no-go when I have to.. until then, just watching.
What if all my players are good but the group at the table nearby wont wear masks. Is there as procedure for this?
These situations require active enforcement to deal with. Unless the answer is you cant/wont do anything. In which case there is no mask mandate.
If you are going to mandate masks you are going to have to enforce it.
There are Event Captains in halls, Staff, and Operations personnel to report these to while at the convention. There is a Show Office and an incident report if it gets too much for a GM to handle reasonably.
Not getting into it with you over this anymore except to say again that we will enforce our policies.
At this time we have nothing more to say on the matter. I'm closing this conversation loop with you.