Mike,

It would help those of us not local to understand what the Local and State Regulations are.  Can you provide us a link or the text of those?

I honestly don't trust Gencon to follow any guidelines but their own.  Which is fine, because I support Gencon's right to do that.

Just afraid I will be unable to attend, again, because of Gencon's Guidelines (TM).

Thank you in advance for the information.

Indiana State Health Department

Marion County Health Department

ICCLOS has not updated their response to Covid since August 2021 (not a good thing personally).

Most of all, GC (as a business) has the right to set the terms of access to their business with regards to the safety of employees and customers (the old we reserve the right to refuse access).

Thank you.

For people who have to navigate complicated travel/family/budget logistics to attend, 4.5 months is really not that far off. For those of us who cared, wait and see was reasonable when we were 9, even 6 months out, but we're getting to the last quarter.

I am extremely fortunate that I live within reasonable driving distance and my hotel situation is flexible, but it is still not going to be a fun conversation if I tell my group three weeks before gencon I will not be purchasing a badge.  

For the most part, right now, I am planning on get a refund of the my badge because I really don't see Gencon revising THEIR policy before June 17th.

All we can do is wait and see.

Myself and others have considered still coming down to Indy to socialize with attending friends even if we don't buy badges, but Indy without participating in Gencon is also not my first choice for a vacation. But again, that's because I am lucky enough to have <4hr drive to Indy. If I had to fly I wouldn't even consider it.
 

We find ourselves in this bizarre and divisive world where somehow it is safe to pack thousands of screaming and singing mask-less people into a rock concert for three hours, yet at the same time it is definitely not safe to quietly sit through a three hour production of Hamilton without a mask.

This is what happens when events independently make these decisions while inevitably lacking the medical and epidemiological expertise to do so.  It comes down to some lay person deciding whether they think the thousands of scientists and doctors at the CDC and other health authorities are right or wrong.  I'd prefer that all events would leave the decision-making to the public health authorities, and simply follow the recommendations that are in place at the time of the event.

I do find it interesting that the discussion on this thread has been about the mask mandate and not the vaccination mandate. 

Decisions like this made by an organization and/or venue are more complex than 'is the primary decider feeling good about how things are currently.'  A lot of places relaxed immediately (to align with CDC guidance) because they need people to be there to survive as a business.  If people are comfortable going to those places with relaxed guidance then that is great for those folks and the places they are going.  The amount of factors that go into the decision are not trivial and attempting to weigh all that input isn't as easy as it sounds.

Gen Con needs to look at so many factors to make this decision.  They have relationships with hundreds of vendors/companies to consider as well as the attendee population.  Flip flopping a decision back and forth, even if in alignment with CDC, makes it hard for anyone to make a personal choice about attending as a con goer, vendor, or volunteer.  There are people who won't go if X happens or doesn't happen.  (X includes mask required,  vax proof required, mask optional, vax poof not required, lots of other factors).  There are a significant amount of people who will go regardless of X - see last year.  Same goes for vendors and volunteers, both of which are critical for a successful con. 

It is super frustrating not knowing for sure what the end state will be, especially as the date approaches.  But at this point we just need to be patient.  If patience isn't in the cards due to all the reasons brought up in this thread, then it might mean waiting a year to attend. 

Not that this makes my comments any more/less valid but I wanted to provide some background on where I am coming from.
Not local - about 500 miles away.
Attended in 2021 and the four previous cons.
Will be attending in 2022 regardless of COVID guidance or lack of.

This comment is intended to be respectful and authentic.
Cheers!

My local theatre (Broadway quality shows) just stopped vaccine and mask mandates for our next show (starting next week).  Its not true that these companies are not doing what they "think" is best. 
You can absolutely do what you think is best and I support your decision to do so, but don't blame guidelines that you followed before but choose to not follow now.

I mean, end of the day, their house, their rules.

With tens of thousands of people attending, all with their own concerns, levels of risk tolerance, and more, there's literally zero chance of picking a path that will make all of us happy. Too restrictive. Not restrictive enough. Whatever the case may be.

My tickets are booked, I'll be there working the event once more, following whatever guidelines are expected of me by the company/venue/organization/city/state/etc.

What those specifically will look like remains to be seen, and as I noted ages ago, probably won't be known for certain until we're more like a month out. Even if the situation changes in the weeks that follow (for the better) I don't see it shifting, due to the aforementioned ire being garnered by those who demand they do / don't do X, Y, or Z thing.

Unless there's a major security/safety concern (a major and horrifying new variant tearing through the populace days or weeks before showtime), I imagine we'll see things lock down close enough to reduce the likelihood of being blindsided like that, but far enough out to get the info out to as many attendees/exhibitors/etc as possible in a timely fashion.

It's not ideal to be left in a holding pattern, but we all just have to rise to the occasion and be our best selves, to the staff, to each other, even to ourselves.

Mike
 

A mask mandate is a pain in the ears, though.  It affects my experience while I'm at the convention.  And according to the CDC, it isn't necessary now.  Some people have to get over their fear, trust the CDC recommendation and the experience of millions of others around them, and accept that allowing others to be mask-free is fine.

I personally don't hold out much hope that adults will be allowed to make decisions for themselves.
 

Nevertheless, a huge number of attendees are ignoring the requirement.  In the hallways of the convention, compliance hovers at around 50%.  A good 10-20% of the gaming tables have several, and in many cases most or all of the players not wearing masks.  Players are taking a vote at the start of their games.  The defiance is palpable.

If Gen Con overrules the CDC recommendations, they should plan on expending extensive resources for enforcement.  The most popular costume might be Rosa Parks.

Do they have a vaccine requirement?
If so, how is it handled and is it being defied at the same rate as masks?

If last year was any indication on mask enforcement, they are on top of it.  I personally witnessed it and they had no sense of humor or took any backtalk about it.

Gencon has always had the position that enjoyment and safety of the guests are at the top of their priority list.  If that means they err on the side of caution (more restrictive) then that is what they do.  

There are still hotspots and new variants (not a Loki reference) spreading around the world, though not as much in the US.