This makes me miss the days of voracious arguments about strollers in the dealer hall...
But I dont think people should be upset by Gencon trying their best to get a handle on what attendees think. Whatever they choose, you need to accept it and then decide whether to go or not go.
Unfortunately this year Gencon goes before origins....though they did ask whether people would go if it got moved to later in the year. So I guess that's possible.
I just think Gencon needs applause for thinking about this NOW and getting policies in place long before the event. People will be mad if they only find out in July what the show policies actually are.
And yes you cant make everyone happy. But I think they are at least trying. People at least have a direct Avenue for feedback.
Also: is there any way for someone who didn't roll their ticket over to 2021 to get one of these surveys? I'd love to get in on this.
Also we should note that Indianapolis policy currently limits conventions to 25% capacity and mandatory masks or face shields while indoors.
So whatever Gencon plans to do, or not do, is also going to consider the applicable IN laws aand orders, and whether they are rescinded or not
Mike
Mikeboozer, I apologize for the tone of my post.
5,000 people in the will call line, 6 feet apart from each other = half way to the airport.
All tickets and badges being pre-purchase only and mailed to homes and/or available electronically for printing/display easily solves the will call problem.
Disney World effectively got rid of their will call with their pre-purchase tickets and pre-reserve your park and date during Covid. It would not surprise me that a CON which may have the foot traffic of a single Disney park per day could adopt the same plan. No day of badge sales, and even no day of event ticket sales (generic entrance only for open spots).
Virtual queue is another Covid "new" item in theme parks. Popular rides that might have the "line" problem are preserved for a single spot by a party. The same could work for a dealer hall.
Me, I'll happily avoid the will call line.
As to the dealer hall, are you suggesting that people sign up at a specific time to enter? I'm not sure that would work. I usually dont know how long a game might go, so I go to the hall in between games. What happens if I missed the time?
One thing I could see is possibly the elimination (for this year) of the auction store. This would allow for more distancing for the bidders...even then I see the need for a reduction in crowd size.
Dealer hall pre-queue could work by reserving a time at badge purchase time...or at event sign up time...or online the day before the next day's hall time...etc, etc...
Or if you hate pre sign ups, something could probably be worked out with que spots each day (with returns handed out til they are exhausted)...
I'm the type of person that says "okay, we want to do X, but we have Y problems...rather than saying, well, then, we can't do X, I like to say how can we be creative to make X or at least some major part of X possible"...
I'm a "yes, but" person, not a "no" person:)...of course, I still do have the "but", too:)...
I leave the Con experts (aka Gencon staff) to work out the exact hows, but there are hows that can work for all of the "line issues" of the Con...each has its own unique way to solve them, but they can be solved if Con goers can be flexible and adaptable:)...
Some form of virtual badge or will call is going to be necessary as A) They've never before mailed badges and tickets abroad, and B) Even if they do start, some countries still don't have reliable postal links to the US for to lack of flights
I think at this point its pretty safe to say that masks will be mandatory, there will reduced max capacity and probably elimination of all large groups (no opening ceremony, no cardhalla, no will call.
The likelihood that we will be able to rely on vaccine alone to have a safe con is highly unlikely. My state which has been fairly aggressive in getting people vaccinated is looking at July before even starting vaccinating the general population. The bright side is that most of the high risk and front line people will likely be vaccinated, maybe that will be enough.
Honestly at this point just a mandatory mask requirement would make gencon a no go. I just cant foresee spending 8-12 hours a day of my vacation wearing a mask. Who knows maybe they will be able to pull off some magic and we will just end up with a low attendance old timey con, downtown hotels for everyone.
Saying 'you need to be vaccinated' while straight forward, seems pretty complex in execution right now. Even at the basic level - verification, that seems like a logistical nightmare. If Gencon was at 1/2 capacity, that is what, 30-35K records to verify? And how to verify? And if sent in beforehand, then Gencon is going to be responsible for storing essentially medical record information which is another layer. And, whether you agree/disagree, everyone has to know that the first implementation of anything that is 'vaccine required' will have a slew of legal challenges from a variety of angles (religious, disability, personal choice, etc).
this reinforces how policies implemented need to be minimal.
can you imagine limited capacity? You would have people camping out in front of doors, people would never leave the convention hall, vendors couldn’t get lunch because their people couldn’t get back in.
every additional policy increases Gen Cons liability, every policy will require a lot more staff, every policy will create loop holes for people to exploit and create a lesser experience for other attendees that will in result create a negative reaction for those that will spend good sums of money to attend for four days.
I don’t envy Gen Cons position at this time, the event is in a weird grey area of time. Many experts believe July will be a good chance of a return to normal but vaccines are slower than anticipated. I personally am hopeful that Gen con is near normal, infection rates are decreasing drastically. I’m hopeful that a tendon with only a mask requirement is how this shakes out.