I don't see electronic badges on smart phones working. One you wouldn't have an easily seen badge to display going around the con. Then think of the event staff checking badges going into the exhibit hall. 

And if you phone's battery goes out...

Interesting that the waiver has been updated. 

Has anyone thought to run a poll, find out how many gamers have already had Cov-19 and come thru to the other side? 

maybe there should be an antibody bracelet/pin that helps to relieve fears, as not everyone will be a walking vector. 

just saying. 

So many things that I see that people are also not considering (Although I'm sure Gen Con is):

* Just because Indiana or Marion County might be "fully opened up" doesn't mean squat. If other states are in any sort of lock-down, the ability of attendees to travel to/from Indiana is going to be hampered.
* Ditto on airlines and trains. Unless air-travel is massively changed in the intervening time, the ability to get to/from Indiana is severely hampered.
* International attendees? Forget about it. The rest of the world, for the most part, isn't opening up on the scale the US is contemplating, and most of the will almost certainly remain in the "no international travel unless it is absolutely necessary" mode. And folks are currently subject to 14-day isolation periods upon arrival in the US, and another 14-day isolation period upon their return to their home country. That turns Gen Con into a 32-day adventure, or at the very least an 18-day adventure if the US abandons its waiting period [and it probably won't]. So unless something radically changes there (and there's currently no sign of that happening) I can't imagine Gen Con will be seeing many international attendees.

Gen Con's timing is such that it could easily end up being international news if it goes ahead as scheduled--even if attendance is down like 80% you know it would still be reported as "a convention with turnstile attendance over 200,000" to get maximum impact for the news story.

Though admittedly if other big events have already happened by that point in July, likely it will not even register.

- What if someone has the pin, but it is not correct (they lied, they were mistaken, whatever). You can add all the scary sounding legalese you want to the waiver, but the people impacted by an unwitting (or worse, intentional) super-spreader are sick all the same.

- Do people with the pin get special treatment? Pin only events? Do people without them endure being seen as risky? Excluded from events? Whether or not this is official policy of the Con, it could open up a 'Second Class Citizen' or caste structure all the same.

- We don't yet have research indicating how long resistance or immunity might be conveyed, how it reacts to different strains (while apparently Coronaviruses don't mutate much compared to some others, several strains have been identified, and the state of the world today isn't necessarily exactly how it will be in 3 months). While someone being confirmed to have had and survived COVID is indeed good news, we cannot say with certainty that it is impossible for them to be re-infected or for how long that immunity (if it exists) lasts. How it interacts with various current strains, how it might react to a future variation. Etc.

A pin or armband (errr) or such indicator might feel like a good idea, but at best it creates further issues without actually solving what it sets off to do, at worst it conveys a false sense of security and perhaps even contributes to a needlessly relaxed behaviour pattern that actively makes things worse. "We all have the pin here, don't worry about the masks."

If Gencon happens, it should be because the situation is so well in hand that it can occur with everyone playing by the same rules, even if those requirements and restrictions make things incredibly difficult or different (physical distancing, use of masks, etc).

Consistency is key in these things. Introducing a preferential system would make life that much harder on everyone, attendees and staff alike. "I've had COVID, I have the pin, I don't have to wear a mask." "Hey, why do I have to wear one? There's a bunch of people not wearing them, screw it, I'm done with this stupid thing, and I know I'm not infected."

Narrator: They were infected.

That sort of thing.

I've seen some familiar faces over on the Gencon subreddit, but for those who haven't swung by, there's an ongoing list of North American nerd/geek cons and their status. It is currently a wave of cancelled and postponed events all the way through late June.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ChCKFvR7hF_eh3BWdquxavLO_BThhUHvTvoEGdPw6bY/edit?fbclid=IwAR1h2_uiyGAzMHep2LK3-72j5L0ufnrjnIx8nDx_YA3i-EPA93rkVPdjo1I#gid=0

Now, granted, one cannot perfectly compare an event that draws in tens of thousands from around the world with 'some thing held in a small hotel conference suite for a couple dozen people' on an exacting 1:1 contrast, nor is the sheet absolutely exhaustive (I know of at least one small event not on there, but it's not until December).

However, as a gauge for the state of these things, how the industry as a whole is treating the situation (willfully or because they're being forced to), etc.

Apologies that this post isn't explicitly about Gencon in its entirety (as I now the mod staff are weary), but I think it's valuable to have a bigger picture view of the situation. The reality is that this is cutting a swathe through most conventions, big and small alike. Some are optimistically hoping to reschedule for the Fall (and we'll see how a possible second wave/peak that has been theorized might jeopardize those plans as well), others have just called it for 2020 entirely. As the days and weeks go on, I personally expect to see the July cons going red/yellow as well, but we'll just have to wait and see.

_____________________________________
Alec Usticke, Fans of Gen Con Facebook Group

Mike
 

Mike

I was looking on the Paizo boards for some clues as to whether Paizo would be at Gen Con 2020, and COO Jeff Alvarez posted this interesting economic fact about Gen Con's impact on Indy:

"Gen Con brings in over $70M in business for the city of Indy and for comparison, that's more business than all the Colts home games generate, so having or canceling this show will have huge ramifications for both Gen Con, as well as the restaurants and hotels in DT Indy."

Never knew about those numbers, but they're pretty eye-opening.