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Thinking about AC - Yay or Nay
5 years ago
General
I'd like to discuss Anthrocon and 2020. Obviously there's a lot to consider with the current pandemic. I've been engaged with them on Twitter over the past few weeks, being reassured that AC is still planned on happening, and so forth. Today, what prompted this journal, is their tweet linking to a journal entry, citing that they do still plan on having the convention.
At this stage I'm...really not feeling it. At all.
I will be honest, I don't think it's a good idea to have it. With the way things look currently, the infamous "curve" will only be barely be trending downward...if at all, at the time the convention is hosted. And that's assuming the best. And nothing about the current crisis, how we got here, and who enabled it, tells me that it's a good idea to bet on the optimistic outcome.
Even if things go spectacularly well in the coming weeks, and things start to return to normal, I don't feel it would be safe to host a convention anyway. I think it's much akin to taking an antibiotic - you absolutely positively must finish treatment 100% before you stop taking the medication. You can't stop taking it just because you feel better; you have to continue until you 100% have it beaten.
And COVID-19 seems to be an ailment that has a long incubation time, decent staying power outside the body, and has the potential to be a life-altering (or ending) event if you catch it.
It would seem to be all too easy to see a small while of no new cases, and be eager to "re-open the economy" only for a few faint cases, quite possibly overlooked or ignored by the media, suddenly start to spread again. That's even putting aside the idea that infectious surfaces remaining unsterilized long enough to infect someone at the tail end of this thing, and restart the epidemic all over again.
Hence, I feel that prudence must take precedence here. It feels reckless to consider the possibility of hosting an international convention encompassing thousands of attendees, until such a time that this thing has been well and truly beaten for at least two months.
Again, that's just my opinion. I'm hoping that, at this point, AC doesn't happen. I believe it's putting people's lives at risk - the attendees, the volunteers and staff, and everyone they go home to after the weekend is over. Heck, I have trouble avoiding basic con crud and that's even with doing most of the same basic distancing and excessive handwashing. With how contagious and dangerous COVID-19 is, I believe it'll be all that much harder to avoid.
I know it's a hard thing to consider. Many artists need to make money at conventions to keep themselves going. The staff work very hard, in their own personal time, to make it happen in the first place. People are anxious to see their friends (whom they often only get to see in person once a year). But the ramifications of a resurgence are far too great to ignore.
I'd be hard-pressed to be convinced to attend at this point. And I plead with all of you reading this, to seriously reconsider any plans to attend.
At this stage I'm...really not feeling it. At all.
I will be honest, I don't think it's a good idea to have it. With the way things look currently, the infamous "curve" will only be barely be trending downward...if at all, at the time the convention is hosted. And that's assuming the best. And nothing about the current crisis, how we got here, and who enabled it, tells me that it's a good idea to bet on the optimistic outcome.
Even if things go spectacularly well in the coming weeks, and things start to return to normal, I don't feel it would be safe to host a convention anyway. I think it's much akin to taking an antibiotic - you absolutely positively must finish treatment 100% before you stop taking the medication. You can't stop taking it just because you feel better; you have to continue until you 100% have it beaten.
And COVID-19 seems to be an ailment that has a long incubation time, decent staying power outside the body, and has the potential to be a life-altering (or ending) event if you catch it.
It would seem to be all too easy to see a small while of no new cases, and be eager to "re-open the economy" only for a few faint cases, quite possibly overlooked or ignored by the media, suddenly start to spread again. That's even putting aside the idea that infectious surfaces remaining unsterilized long enough to infect someone at the tail end of this thing, and restart the epidemic all over again.
Hence, I feel that prudence must take precedence here. It feels reckless to consider the possibility of hosting an international convention encompassing thousands of attendees, until such a time that this thing has been well and truly beaten for at least two months.
Again, that's just my opinion. I'm hoping that, at this point, AC doesn't happen. I believe it's putting people's lives at risk - the attendees, the volunteers and staff, and everyone they go home to after the weekend is over. Heck, I have trouble avoiding basic con crud and that's even with doing most of the same basic distancing and excessive handwashing. With how contagious and dangerous COVID-19 is, I believe it'll be all that much harder to avoid.
I know it's a hard thing to consider. Many artists need to make money at conventions to keep themselves going. The staff work very hard, in their own personal time, to make it happen in the first place. People are anxious to see their friends (whom they often only get to see in person once a year). But the ramifications of a resurgence are far too great to ignore.
I'd be hard-pressed to be convinced to attend at this point. And I plead with all of you reading this, to seriously reconsider any plans to attend.
Now is not the time to be putting money over health.
If it does go ahead, I suspect it’ll have an enormous fall in attendance - the overseas attendees won’t be coming, and a lot of people within the US might be too afraid to travel.
Over here, cons are cancelled for the next few months. Eurofurence ( held August ) hasn’t been announced as cancelled yet, but it’s highly likely it will be.
I don’t expect any cons to happen until near the end of the year at the very earliest.
I say IF, because right now AC is on the hook for not just the convention center and hotel fees, but all the swag that's been generated for AC 2020. Financially and contractually, they have to hold the convention until the state or local government restricts events in July, which would greatly reduce the financial liability AC has.
I would bet good money on AC cancelling, or being cancelled by state mandate by early June. Even if it did happen, attendance would be 1/10th the normal, just for the mere fact that so many people who normally attend are job-displaced with no money to afford to travel, most international folks still barred entry, or subject to quarantine, and a lot of small businesses that surround the hotel likely will have shuttered permanently from extended closure.
Save your money, hang back, and maybe consider a con toward the end of the year IF they still occur.