CDC just recommended banning gatherings of 50 or more people for the next 2 months.  I'm not feeling optimistic

I think GenCon's silence and current plan to just carry on as normal is starting to imply they believe the virus will somehow be completely halted by July, and events with 100,000 people will be be perfectly safe again. That seems slightly naive in my admittedly uneducated opinion. 

I feel very confident GenCon will go on as planned this year. I know it is hard to see the light while we are in the darkness, but we just have to stay the course. Although no one can see the future, it is the abundance of caution right now that will allow us to return to normal earlier than we would have. This year will be my 16th GenCon, and I will be there, you can believe that. Right now we all have a choice in what to believe, so my choice is being there at GenCon. I believe it will be held. Instead of being fearful, be hopeful. I hope GenCon happens. I'll see you all there. 

Besides Gencon may very well be waiting for either the Mayor of Indianapolis, the Governor of Indiana, or The President of the US to ban such gatherings at that time (End of July/Beginning of August) so it is their decision as opposed to Gencon's responsibility in any legal matters, such as insurance claims, Convention booking agreements,  or what not. 

I personally have no idea if that is the case or not, but it makes sense to me so you may be waiting awhile. The politicians are going to take things as they come so they don't get saddled with an unnecessary decision that makes reelection dicey. 

Headline

GenCant 2020 sees record "attendance" lol

Seriously though as i said before. Taking all measures we can take right now is imperative to the health and well-being of the populous. The CDC's 8 week 50 people max recommendation puts us at May 10th. If that works and goes well that is before Origins and well before Gen Con. Literally the only thing we can do now is make hygiene and health our #1 priorities. Everything else is contingent on that.

We as a people do this right and we can turn the tide and slow the rate of infection. We as a people do this wrong, and this will last much much longer. Just remember this isn't a board game issue, this is a human issue. Gen Con is just one event that may or may not be affected by this.

Don't fret over cancellation fees or getting your money back. I've seen many Hotels and airlines who have amended their policies on cancellations for the time being. This will continue until we are clear of this. If Gen Con is cancelled because of COVID-19, these emergency policies will still be in effect. Gen Con being the reputable company that it is, will surely update their policy as well. I am sure we will be given an option of system credit or refund if that time comes. As Mike stated, it will be extremely helpful to Gen Con if people choose the system credit option as they have to pay a team of employees year round based on a few days of income.

However, we all don't know what will happen. This is an ever evolving situation. Just do your best to stay calm, relax, keep up the highest levels of hygiene, and we will get through this day by day together. Not only as board gamers, but as a people are really one giant family known as the Human race. We need to support each other, and protect each other to get through this.

Be well everyone,

Also, Gen Con has not been silent.  They have a statement at the very beginning of this thread.  They don't know the future any more than you or I do. 

I’m VIG and I’m waiting it out.  Although, if I get the virus and have to miss work, I’ll have to withdraw. I’ll need the money and wont be able to attend due to lack of LOA days.  I’m barely making it to GenCon as is.

If that means no VIG, so be it.

I see San Francisco having a 24hr curfew but only for non essential. Which isn't much. If they really want to make sure this gets under control, 90% of jobs need to be shut down. I know it sucks but that's really the only way beside washing constantly. I don't understand why they're screwing around with people's health. I'm still holding out hope for gen con though. This is my only vacation I get and I missed vacation last year for the first time in 13years. 

Grocery stores are packed in my area. It's like a zoo. No one is practicing social distancing. It's clear people are going to have to be forced.

They finally lifted the quarantine lockdown in Wuhan after 53 days. We have about 90 days before the refund window is reached. As everyone is saying, things are moving quickly and the situation changes daily. If we can get enough people to do what is necessary, we might be able to get past this in 1.75 times it took Wuhan.

GenCon may need to consider extending the refund window or other actions in the future, but right now, the wait in the comfort of your own home and see approach is the best one they can take. People

Governments all over the world are putting restrictions in place because people  need to be governmentally "encouraged" to stay home and curtail their freedom of movement. We're having trouble with that in a lot of places in the US because we haven't really seen it get bad here yet. Even when things are taking off in Washington State or in NYC, those places are a long way from Florida. Italy, Germany, and China are a long way away too. It's far to easy to ignore what's happening, think that that won't happen here because here is somehow special, and deride people who are preparing to shelter in place and avoiding social contact as much as possible. We have evidence of an impending major issue, but for some reason basic human psychology seems to find reasons why that can't happen to us and must be the fault of the ones impacted instead of planning to get slammed by the same thing. In order to protect our psyches, humans have developed really poor risk assessment as a group.

The lack of coordinated response from the Federal level hasn't helped things either as individual state governments are taking different approaches to this at different times. It's both a feature and a bug in our system. A national coordinated set of mandates from the Federal Level might help get the point across that this is a big deal. Having local governments decide when and how to implement things gives much more flexibility and tailored response to what is happening in each region. Having our positive numbers look so low across the country also doesn't help, as we don't have the things we need to test our population. Logically we can assume the numbers are higher than the testing data shows, but there are people don't take that leap and are just looking at the raw numbers asking what the big fuss is about.

My state is one of the ones that is basically shutting down. Thursday we closed schools and government offices. Monday, all bars, restaurants, and gatherings of over 50 are closed except for take out. It seems like our governor is giving us a day or two to get used to the idea of one new restriction before adding another. Which is fine. I'd much rather live through that than hearing horror stories of all the local hospitals getting overwhelmed and have our health care system collapse.

Feels like waiting for Carousel and my life crystal to turn red.  Beware the Sandman.  

As long as Indy is open I expect the con to go on. Where you can get there is not a reason for the con to be cancelled.

As of today (Wednesday, March 17), according to the ICC website, the events through mid-May are all noted as being postponed or cancelled. Those from mid-May onward are scheduled as usual. Obviously, things change quickly. (I say this as someone living in Rome, so I know a thing or two about lockdowns in light of the coronavirus!)

At this point, with plenty of time to change their mind should they want or need to, I wouldn't expect anything definitive for some time.

Oh, and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

If you don't want to attend Gencon this year just go ahead and cancel your badge and hotel/airbnb/whatever. You act like you are powerless to do so which isn't the case. 

Then factor in all the homeless, which is some areas like California is a serious problem that the local governments let fester. You aren't getting good hygiene or any sort of self-quarantine from them. When the handouts stop and the food banks run dry, what do you think is going to happen then?

Very few people are in a position to deal with this and very few industries are in a position to deal with this. 

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Guys, this is on a slippery slope towards Politics. Rein it in, please.

Roderick Robertson
Forum Coordinator 
Gen Con, LLC.