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  • Con Policies: Arisia could get interesting.

    From Peter Trei@21:1/5 to All on Wed Jan 11 22:05:09 2023
    I'm not going to discuss the con's behavioral rules; I haven't experienced problems.

    But their Covid policies may generate some drama. Summarizing:

    * All attendees have to wear surgical, or preferably N95 masks at all times when not eating.

    * All attendees must have had the bivalent booster not later than Jan 3,
    and be able to prove it. (I don't recall this last year).

    The notices on the website if you only went to register were not very prominent.

    I envisage a number of people arriving at registration without vax documentation, who have prepaid for memberships, and committed
    hundreds of dollars to airfare and hotel rooms, only to be turned away.
    Will the con refund any of this?

    It's also unnecessary. While wearing a mask protects yourself and others,
    Not having the latest booster places only yourself at risk.

    Pt

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Gary McGath@21:1/5 to Peter Trei on Thu Jan 12 06:56:20 2023
    On 1/12/23 1:05 AM, Peter Trei wrote:
    I'm not going to discuss the con's behavioral rules; I haven't experienced problems.

    But their Covid policies may generate some drama. Summarizing:

    * All attendees have to wear surgical, or preferably N95 masks at all times when not eating.

    The part about cloth masks not being acceptable will create some
    complications. Hopefully the con will have a supply of masks on hand.


    * All attendees must have had the bivalent booster not later than Jan 3,
    and be able to prove it. (I don't recall this last year).

    The notices on the website if you only went to register were not very prominent.

    The registration page currently says: "Arisia continues to require that everyone attending any in-person Arisia events, including Arisia 2023,
    be fully vaccinated and masked. For more information about Arisia's
    COVID policies, please see our COVID page." I don't know if this is a
    recent change.


    I envisage a number of people arriving at registration without vax documentation, who have prepaid for memberships, and committed
    hundreds of dollars to airfare and hotel rooms, only to be turned away.
    Will the con refund any of this?

    Wasn't there an Arisia a while back where attendees had to sign a
    statement agreeing to additional terms while they were in the
    registration line? I don't think the con refunded the memberships of
    people who declined the new terms.

    It's also unnecessary. While wearing a mask protects yourself and others,
    Not having the latest booster places only yourself at risk.

    Being vaccinated decreases the odds that you're carrying COVID.

    --
    Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Jibini Kula Tumbili Kujisalimisha@21:1/5 to Gary McGath on Thu Jan 12 10:53:43 2023
    Gary McGath <[email protected]> wrote in
    news:tposh5$18ruj$[email protected]:

    On 1/12/23 1:05 AM, Peter Trei wrote:
    I'm not going to discuss the con's behavioral rules; I haven't
    experienced problems.

    But their Covid policies may generate some drama. Summarizing:

    * All attendees have to wear surgical, or preferably N95 masks
    at all times when not eating.

    The part about cloth masks not being acceptable will create some complications. Hopefully the con will have a supply of masks on
    hand.

    Want to bet on that?

    --
    Terry Austin

    "Terry Austin: like the polio vaccine, only with more asshole."
    -- David Bilek

    Jesus forgives sinners, not criminals.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Jibini Kula Tumbili Kujisalimisha@21:1/5 to All on Thu Jan 12 10:54:43 2023
    Some people have become so addicted to their fear they have lost the
    ability to live without it.

    Personally, even if I were into cons, I wouldn't have any interest in associating with such people. Their fear is the *only* thing they're
    capable of considering.

    --
    Terry Austin

    "Terry Austin: like the polio vaccine, only with more asshole."
    -- David Bilek

    Jesus forgives sinners, not criminals.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Keith F. Lynch@21:1/5 to Gary McGath on Thu Jan 12 21:37:24 2023
    Gary McGath <[email protected]> wrote:
    Peter Trei wrote:
    * All attendees must have had the bivalent booster not later than
    Jan 3, and be able to prove it. (I don't recall this last year).

    So far, nobody in this thread has responded to the part about the
    bivalent booster. Of course that wasn't required last year, as that
    booster wasn't approved until nine months after last year's Arisia.

    Lots of people who regard themselves as fully vaccinated haven't yet
    gotten the bivalent booster, and maybe don't intend to. Especially
    since last September, before the bivalent booster was available,
    President Biden claimed the pandemic was over.

    Also, what about foreigners? The last two Worldcons have allowed in
    people with foreign vaccinations, but bivalent boosters aren't yet
    available in many countries. Or do no foreigners attend Arisia?

    (I got the bivalent booster two months ago, two weeks before
    Chessiecon, which I attended. But I don't plan to attend Arisia.
    I've never attended Arisia, or any other New England con since
    the "Boskone from Hell" 36 years ago, except Worldcons.)
    --
    Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
    Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Scott Dorsey@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Sat Jan 21 22:10:54 2023
    Peter Trei <[email protected]> wrote:

    I envisage a number of people arriving at registration without vax documentation, who have prepaid for memberships, and committed
    hundreds of dollars to airfare and hotel rooms, only to be turned away.
    Will the con refund any of this?

    I really haven't heard anything about Arisia this year, in part because a lot of people I know who normally go weren't there. But I heard from a friend
    who worked at registration that the registration was relatively seamless once someone got credit card readers that had a valid account.
    --scott

    --
    "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Peter Trei@21:1/5 to Scott Dorsey on Sat Jan 21 21:40:50 2023
    On Saturday, January 21, 2023 at 5:10:57 PM UTC-5, Scott Dorsey wrote:
    Peter Trei <[email protected]> wrote:

    I envisage a number of people arriving at registration without vax documentation, who have prepaid for memberships, and committed
    hundreds of dollars to airfare and hotel rooms, only to be turned away. >Will the con refund any of this?
    I really haven't heard anything about Arisia this year, in part because a lot of people I know who normally go weren't there. But I heard from a friend
    who worked at registration that the registration was relatively seamless once someone got credit card readers that had a valid account.
    --scott

    I don't know attendance numbers, but it felt low, less than half what I recall. Last
    year, the con went online-only at the last moment. I had a prepaid membership, so I can't comment on the card process, but registration was pretty quick, not the
    hours long lines I've.seen in the past.

    The fly in the ointment was the vaccine requirement. The con, beyond requiring masks
    in all public areas, required proof that you were up to date with the latest bivalent
    booster.

    I'm fully boosted, but the CVS employee who gave me the last booster insisted on entering
    the data on a tiny empty space at the bottom of the form. It was barely legible, and the
    Arisia volunteer who was checking was clearly suspicious. It took some serious 'Old man talking authoritatively to a 20-something' pressure for me to get a badge.

    For the most part, con goers were the only mask wearers in the hotel. Covid also
    led to muffled voices in panels, microphones that were too far away to pick up speakers (the signs forbidding speakers from moving them being more and more Ignored as the con progressed), and noisy box fans at the back of each panel room,
    making hearing speakers even harder.

    I'm curious how this compares with other cons in this period.

    Pt

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Gary McGath@21:1/5 to Peter Trei on Sun Jan 22 09:33:12 2023
    On 1/22/23 12:40 AM, Peter Trei wrote:

    For the most part, con goers were the only mask wearers in the hotel. Covid also
    led to muffled voices in panels, microphones that were too far away to pick up
    speakers (the signs forbidding speakers from moving them being more and more Ignored as the con progressed), and noisy box fans at the back of each panel room,
    making hearing speakers even harder.

    I'm curious how this compares with other cons in this period.

    We'll find out soon in the same hotel, with Boskone.

    --
    Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Paul Dormer@21:1/5 to Peter Trei on Sun Jan 22 16:21:00 2023
    In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] (Peter Trei) wrote:

    and noisy box fans at the back of each panel room,
    making hearing speakers even harder.

    I had to stop and think who these noisy box fans were. :-)

    At Novacon in the UK last November, people attending panels were required
    to wear masks, but not people on panels. Masks not required in the bars,
    or for the pub quiz on the Saturday night, nor the convention meal on the Sunday. I've not heard of anyone coming down with anything. (It was my
    first convention since the 2019 Novacon.)

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