I applaud the caution Gencon is exercising, the vaccine requirement is non-negotiable for my group of a dozen. We would all cancel should it be lifted. 

As we near the Event registration phase I am talking to more and more people to see if they’ll be returning. With an event of tens of thousands in close proximity face to face and rubbing elbows, every one who isn’t attending this year is not comfortable even with the current protections in place. Otherwise I’d be organizing for a group of two dozen. 

The mask requirement makes sense to our group and we’re relieved that it is still in place, hopefully it will stick around this year. Wearing the mask isn’t difficult and we’d rather not risk getting ill mid convention.

with tens of thousands flying in from all over the world and mask requirements stripped from domestic travel and variants that breakthrough and spread at high rates, I’m glad GEncon is exercising caution.

we’re talking about a con where asking for hygiene requirements for attendees is a running joke. Add to that the regular incidents of concrud and asking people to hit some baseline requirements-
vaccination & masking (with limited exception) makes me and my group feel more comfortable in attending.

also, come on- ‘doing their own science’ (eye roll)

What science are they following if it's not their own, because it sure is not the CDC or the local heath dept like they said they were last year?

I hope they sell the overstock Gencon lab coats from all this science they are doing.

I'm beginning to think the policy is simply a CYA legally for them. I mean, think about it, we know that Covid is an air born particle, that even with masks will saturate an average sized room with particulates in about 20 minutes. If one is hacking up flem, or spraying when they speak there is some benefit. Now stuff 50k people in a convention hall. On top of that, down almost half of the main gaming hall last year there was a "mask break" area where one could sit unmasked for hours on end if you desired. It was generally about half full. So it was basically like having a peeing section in a public pool. I'm always amazed at the people who say "we need to do this to be safe" yet voluntarily attend a large event with throngs of people located in a city that basically did away with masking entirely about four months ago (and had no significant breakout, by the way). Covid is not going anywhere. We are going to have it around forever. It's basically the common cold at this point. And yes, people occasionally pass away from catching a cold. It's tragic, but that doesn't mean we stop doing life. As for me, I have yet to spend any money with them, despite them blowing my email up to buy a ticket, because I want to see the final call before I do.

As noted in previous posts, I think they are trying to get to mid June so they are confident at what attendance is before carving anything into stone.   If everyone wanted no masks/no vax and attendance was 0 right now, then there would be no masks/vax (or at least some type of rule to get to 50%).  Conversely, if everyone wanted vax/masks and it was sold out, the wishy/washy language that is stringing some along in hopes it will be relaxed would be removed and vax/masks would be carved in stone.

How will out of country vaccination status be handled? My group is coming from Canada, so we clearly don't have the same vaccine credentialing system implemented by the CDC.

Also will non English forms be accepted? Will official translations be required?

All of that might take people a fair bit of time to get organized, depending on what is considered acceptable.

I'm really hoping someone at gencon will tackle this sooner rather than later.

I wonder if the people going on about CDC guidelines were CDC cheerleaders earlier on in the pandemic when guidelines were more strict.

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Mike

Actually, it's frustrating going from arguing for people to follow the medical recommendations -- and thinking you're on the side of people who actually follow the scientific and medical advice -- to realizing that it's really just so much tribalism from "my side", too.

It seems like what you are doing is accusing people of hypocrisy.  But, I'm not sure that's a debate you'll want to engage in.

We are gearing all of our processes up. It is still almost 3 months until the convention. 

Mike

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Removed both posts...banning is next. Then locking I suppose.

I just don't see why you have to get testy and sarcastic folks.

We will make our decisions when we do. We understand that many of you have questions and want to know as soon as possible. We want to tell you asap, but there is a lot that goes into that.

We also understand that their are people on both sides of the issue. 

Mike