Hello again from the Arisia 2023 Acting Con Chair! Today I want to update our community on the various measures we are taking to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and other illnesses at this year’s convention and what these mean for you (apart from the positive side effect of reducing your likelihood on con crud!)
Our complete COVID policy is located here https://arisia.org/covid
This policy covers masks, vaccination, party policies, you name it. We will be strictly enforcing the mask policy. All staff are empowered to address mask policy violations that they witness. Refusing to wear a mask (outside the designated mask optional spaces) constitutes a Code of Conduct violation and can result in removal from the convention.
We have volunteers who will be verifying everyone’s vaccination status. We strongly suggest you submit your vaccination information before the convention. There are two ways to do this: 1) You can send a scan, screenshot or photo of your proof of vaccination to @email Someone will mark your registration record and then delete the e-mail containing your personal information. 2) If you would prefer not to send your vaccine info through e-mail, you can send a message to that same address requesting a zoom appointment with one of our volunteers. During that time you will hold your proof of vaccination up to the camera.If you are not comfortable with either of these options you can bring your proof of vaccination to be checked on site. Please be aware that this will probably mean longer wait times at registration.
The con suite is a designated mask optional space within the convention where attendees can gather and eat together without being exposed to the general public. There will be snacks and drinks available (more details on that coming later) but you should plan to account for your own meals throughout the weekend. Hotel rooms at the Westin have small refrigerators. Because of the mask policy, the program participant Green Room and Staff Den will not have food this year.
In addition to your contributions to COVID mitigation, Arisia is planning to place Corsi-Rosenthal boxes in the highest traffic spaces to improve air filtration and to do CO2 monitoring. Our top priority for these measures is the con suite. We are also targeting areas where large crowds gather such as the Masquerade, dances, gaming, art show and dealers room.
We know our policy is stricter than a lot of public events policies are at this stage of the pandemic. Our reasoning is simple; we want as many people as possible to be able to attend, and that includes high risk members of our community. By doing these two simple things - getting vaccinated and wearing a mask - each of you is contributing to a welcoming and diverse convention.
