I mostly just wanted to say that I don't think it fair to describe a position as "erring on the side of caution" or claiming the high ground of more "safety" when it goes against recommendations of public health authorities.  I mean, it sounds more safe to use antibacterial soap all the time, but the FDA recommends against it because it does more harm than good.  A person taking a position different than public health authorities kind of has the burden of proof to explain why.  And I say that as someone who has supported mask mandates when they were recommended by public health authorities. 

Nobody should be "pro mask" or "anti mask".  Because sometimes they are appropriate and sometimes they aren't.  

Last point is, as I've said before, I am cool with Gen Con waiting to make a decision.  We don't know what things will look like in July.  Also thank you Mike for keeping this thread unlocked.  I think it is healthy for people to express their hopes and fears on this topic cordially.  

Happy with the discussion so far...but some of you have started to stray a little into debating the science and that will just get peeps banned, and we don't want that.

Mike

I'll give one more point to my discussion.  While the CDC does point out that Indy and a majority of the US falls under the mask optional criteria (especially if you are vaccinated and optionally boosted) not all places fit that criteria.  The risk goes up as you start to include other countries.

Now we don't have the demographic breakdown of GC attendees and at best we would be looking at anecdotal estimates but I think we can agree that it is safe to assume we would have people coming from areas where there are higher transmission rates than Indy.  This also makes it hard to compare what other cons are doing as they do not have as large an international contingent.  I think its a pretty good estimate that between 5-10% of the attendees are from outside the US.

Just one more thing to consider in the "How should they respond" discussion.

Well, just saw the update.  In a nutshell.  No change.

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That was March's update.  I have until June 17th to make my decision.

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Must say, I am not surprised, just disappointed.

EDIT:  I removed a couple of comments.  I promised myself that I would not come onto these forums and whine about, or make attacks towards, individuals who work for Gencon. They are doing a job and may, or may not, agree with the direction that the organization is going. After thinking it over, I decided to remove a couple of my comments.

Currently, the State of Indiana has no indoor masking requirement, and the governor has ended the Public Health Emergency. The CDC indicates that community transmission in the region is low and therefore masks are a matter of personal preference and risk. Many of you are asking if we will be dropping our own mask requirement for Gen Con Indy 2022.While we are cheered by this current state of affairs, we have also learned the hard way that future virus surges are very unpredictable. We already see yet another new variant is emerging. Fortunately, early reports suggest that BA.2, the so-called “stealth variant” of Omicron, is unlikely to cause a large new spike in cases in the US but, like everyone else, we just don’t know what the summer holds in store.Gen Con 2021 happened during the Delta wave of the virus and one thing we learned is that masking works. So, for now, our plan is to keep our 100% indoor mask mandate in place until we can be certain that we won’t be in the middle of another surge in infections when Gen Con Indy 2022 rolls around. From our point of view, the worst thing we can do is flip-flop, and if we’re going to make a change to our current masking policy, we only get one chance to do it, and now is definitely not the time. It’s still too early.So, while we’d love to make a definite prediction about what August will look like based on the current situation, we also know that is just not realistic. When it comes to COVID-19, things change — often unexpectedly — and we need to be prepared for the worst while hoping for the best. We also know that vaccines continue to work, that the overwhelming majority of our attendees have chosen to be vaccinated, and that proof of vaccination will continue to be required for Gen Con Indy 2022.

I really like this statement.  It is level-headed.  It recognizes the current state of affairs and says it is too early to make a change in mask policy, but shows a willingness to make that change if we aren't in the middle of a surge in July.  *claps*

The only thing I agree with on the update is that they have one shot to change their mind.   It would be far worse to change requirements every other month.   So, from a business perspective, I get that.   There will be people that cancel depending on the requirements.

If your requirement to go to Gencon is based on there must be masks or there must be no masks, you probably are better holding out until it is written in stone.

I can decide not to fly. But if I decide to fly, I must comply. Their plane, their rules. Gencon is no different.

I just hope Gen Con makes a final decision before the June 17th refund cut off. It would be the right thing to do. There will be cancellations regardless of which direction they go with the guidelines. 

NvM

Ok folks let's tone it down. 

This will only end up locking the thread and banning peeps if it turns into sniping at each other.

Mike

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I also like how they keep stating the overwhelming majority of their attendees are vaccinated based on the 1 or 2 polls they did last year. I would love to know the sample size. Polls are easily manipulated especially when questions were skewered to get a desired result. Indiana has only a 54% vaccination rate, with only 24% being boosted and I would bet they're a large portion of attendees from Indiana. I believe the unvaccinated group is bigger group than they want to admit to, when you start factoring boosters in and parents who do not want to get their young children vaccinated yet.   

Thanks for your restraint everyone!

Mike

Monitor not an editor here!

Mike