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Speaking of Guests
It has long been a fact of convention-running life that big-name guests may choose whether or not to accept invitations based on their feelings about any aspect of your convention, be it the core organization, the location, the convention policies, its perceived politics, and so forth. Inevitably, this now includes COVID-19 safety rules.
N. K. Jemisin announced in a Twitter thread on January 8th that she would not be attending an unnamed event over this, starting with:
Just got invited to a SFF con as a guest. I naturally inquire about their covid policy. What they send me is less than what Discon 3 (30+ cases) required. I say no. Politely, but I'm thinking "Are y'all high?"
DisCon III’s policy was in line with the current standard for fan conventions, requiring proof of vaccination (primary series but not a booster) and masks in all public areas except when eating or drinking.
On the 18th, David Mack announced his withdrawal from Farpoint 2022 (Hunt Valley, Maryland, USA) over its policy:
I have informed Farpoint that, barring an official revision of its COVID-19 safety protocols to include a requirement for all staff, volunteers, guests, and attendees to be either fully vaccinated (2x + booster) or to present a negative COVID test processed in the 72 hours preceding the start of the convention, I will not be attending Farpoint 2022.
Farpoint’s policy explains it this way:
Farpoint does not intend to request proof of vaccination or negative test for admission to the convention to remove the risks inherent with sharing and handling of attendees’ Personal Identifiable Information (PII) and Personal Health Information (PHI).
PII and PHI (actually Protected Health Information) are defined in HIPAA, a US law which regulates the sharing of health information by healthcare organizations and providers. HIPAA does not apply to anyone else, and it is not a HIPAA violation for any non-healthcare business or organization to ask for proof of vaccination.
It is not unreasonable to be worried about handling sensitive data in any case, but the typical way conventions in the US have implemented their vaccine checks has been to have volunteers eyeballing an ID and a vaccination card or test result before letting attendees move to the next step in registration. No data is collected and stored.
We have only heard from would-be guests who are unhappy with what they see as policies which are too lax, but no doubt someone out there is preparing to be fandom’s own Novak Djokovic.
In Brief
Origins Game Fair, one of the largest gaming cons in the US, has switched event platforms again, this time to Tabletop.Events.
Event Calendar
Weekend of January 21-23
Rising ConFusion, Novi, Michigan, USA
AnthroExpo: CasinOwO Royale (anthropomorphic), Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA
KapCon 31 (gaming), Wellington, New Zealand
Polar Vortex 6 (gaming), Lisle, Illinois, USA
ConTingency (gaming), Hunstanton, UK
Rocket City Gamefest, Huntington, Alabama, USA
Cascade Games Convention, Bellingham, Washington, USA
Cancon 2022 (gaming), Canberra, Australia
Niagara Boardgaming Weekend, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
TBRCon (literary/gaming), online
Wilkes Comic Con, North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, USA
CONsole Room (Doctor Who), Bloomington, Minnesota, USA
My Hero Convention: TX Smash (My Hero Academia), Irving, Texas, USA
Weekend of January 28-30
Conflikt (music), online (usually Seatac, Washington, USA)
Game-iToba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
MeepleCon (gaming), Melbourne, Australia
Platypus-Con (gaming), Juneau, Alaska, USA
Winter War 2022 (gaming), Champaign, Illinois, USA
Protocon ‘22 (gaming), online (usually Kearns, Utah, USA)
AmberCon NI (diceless RPGs), online (usually Belfast, UK)
Setsucon 2022 (anime), Altoona, Pennsylvania, USA
UChi-Con 2022 (anime), Chicago, Illinois, USA
Mouse-Con Bakersfield (Disney), Bakersfield, California, USA
Weekend of February 4-6
Capricon 42, Wheeling, Illinois, USA
Sci-Fi Fantasy LA (sf and science), Pasadena, California, USA
Running GAGG 25 (gaming), Geneseo, New York, USA
TableTopCon (gaming), Southport, Australia
CaptainCon 2022 (gaming), Warwick, Rhode Island, USA
Adventure Con 2022 (RPGs), Hamburg, Germany
Chattanooga Railgaming Challenge, Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
SSA+S Toracon (anime), Sarasota, Florida, USA
WeebCon (anime), Allen, Texas, USA
East Bay Comic Con, Concord, California, USA
Weekend of February 11-13
Boskone 59, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Atlanta Steampunk Expo, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
ScotiaCon (anthropomorphic), Glasgow, UK
FurcoNZ 2022 (anthropomorphic), Ōtaki, New Zealand
ATG Expo (gaming), Waco, Texas, USA
Game On!, Bellevue, Washington, USA
Geekway Mini (gaming), St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Ohayocon 22 (anime), Columbus, Ohio, USA
Kami-Con Season Thirteen (anime), Birmingham, Alabama, USA
Anime Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Animangapop (anime), Plymouth, UK
Savannah Animazing Con (anime), Savannah, Georgia, USA
Brick City Anime Festival, Ocala, Florida, USA
Animefest 2022, La Jolla, California, USA
MissouriCon (media), St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Weekend of February 18-20
Radcon 8B, Pasco, Washington, USA
Life, the Universe, and Everything (symposium), Provo, Utah, USA
Anthro New England 2022: Back to the '90s, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
DunDraCon 45 (gaming), Santa Clara, California, USA
Con of the North (gaming), Bloomington, Minnesota, USA
Orccon 2022 (gaming), Los Angeles, California, USA
Williamsburg Muster (wargaming), Williamsburg, Virginia, USA
Decepta Con (social deception gaming), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Japan Expo Sud (anime), Marseille, France
ExpOtaku Logroño (anime), San Millán, Spain
Katsucon 2022 (anime), National Harbor, Maryland, USA
Zipcon 2022 (anime), Akron, Ohio, USA
47th Annual Boston Sci Fi Film Festival, Somerville, Massachusetts, USA
Con Nooga (media), Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
Alaska ComiCon, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA
Fan Expo Vancouver (media), Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Shawicon (media), Shawinigan, Québec, Canada
Gallifrey One: Thirty-Second to Midnight (Doctor Who), Los Angeles, California, USA
Coda
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