Gen Con Announces Mandatory Masks, Expects Attendees To Be Vaccinated
John F. Trent
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Gen Con recently announced that they will be requiring all attendees to wear masks and that they also expect attendees to be vaccinated.
myself (User:Piotrus), CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Gen Con describes itself as “the home of tabletop gaming” and that their mission is “to create the world’s greatest place for tabletop gaming.” They also tout that they are the “longest-running and best-attended convention for tabletop gaming in North America.
They celebrated their 50th convention back in 2017. The convention was founded back in 1968 by Gary Gygax the co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons.
In a recent blog post posted to the convention’s website by President David Hoppe, he declared that mask wearing will be mandatory in both indoor and outdoor spaces.
Hoppe wrote, “Mask wearing will be required in all indoor and crowded outdoor Gen Con spaces. You must be wearing a mask while attending Gen Con Indy unless you are actively eating or drinking. Accordingly, we are dropping the option to show proof of vaccination to forgo wearing a mask at Gen Con.”
Alan De Smet, CC BY 2.5 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5>, via Wikimedia Commons
While the convention will no longer be requiring attendees to show proof of vaccination to forgo wearing a mask, Hoppe expects all attendees over the age of 12 to be vaccinated.
He explained, “Speaking of vaccination, we anticipate that everyone 12 and older at Gen Con will be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and over 90% of you have indicated in survey responses that you already are.”
Ben Jacobson (Kranar Drogin), CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons
Hoppe also indicated that they might make vaccination a requirement to attend the convention.
He wrote, “Many of you have also asked about making vaccinations mandatory for Gen Con attendees. While we’re not announcing such a policy here yet, we are working with local health officials and may do so at any time prior to the convention.”
“You may have seen other conventions moving forward with proof of vaccination policies; many of these are based on state or local mandates, which provide legal grounds for requiring vaccinations. While we fully support vaccination requirements, we must do so with the backing of our legal and health safety partners in order to move forward,” he continued.
Hoppe then stated, “To be clear: as we continue to speak with our legal and health partners we may make vaccinations mandatory for attendance and we’ll alert you if that occurs.”
Ben Jacobson (Kranar Drogin), CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons
The Gen Con president then reiterated, “Mask wearing at Gen Con will be required at all times while indoors or in crowded outdoor areas for all Gen Con attendees, exhibitors, event organizers, and staff.”
He did add the caveat, “If you have a documented medical reason that prevents you from wearing a mask you may present documentation at the Special Services kiosk and we will make necessary accommodations (face shield, etc., as appropriate).”
Ben Jacobson (Kranar Drogin), CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons
Gen Con will take place between September 16th and 19th of this year.
What do you make of Gen Con’s new mandatory mask policy and the possibility of requiring all attendees to be vaccinated?
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