A Return to Conventions… Quietly.

 

Naka-Kon perhaps holds the honor of being the most unfortunate convention in the entire COVID-19 crisis, having been forced to cancel its 2020 convention the day that it was supposed to begin, with some attendees already at the convention and others making their way to the convention.  Nearly every single convention subsequent to Naka-Kon 2020 had been cancelled, delayed, or rescheduled, though some tried to reconfigure themselves as an online-only event.  My last convention, Texas Furry Fiesta, took place a week or two before Naka-Kon 2020, and my first cancelled convention was Anime Detour 2020.  I didn’t really have a desire to attend online conventions, seeing them more as the equivalent of a small regional social meetup.  At the time, it was unknown how long the pandemic would last, and I had employed a “rolling delay” approach for in-person conventions.  It was in some ways a rolling series of disappointment as the pandemic cancelled event after event and vacation after vacation, but in other ways it was a break from all the year-round stress of attending conventions, something which was causing a fair bit of burnout for me.  Sure, there was the occasional convention that took place, like Anime Dallas 2020 or Sac-Anime 2021, but I had not previously attended nor did I have any intention of attending either convention.

 

But starting early in 2021, with the vaccine rollout underway and both infection and death rates from COVID-19 declining in the United States, restrictions regarding masks and allowable group gatherings began to be quickly removed, so conventions could theoretically start up again.  Of course, with the majority of conventions needing to announce cancellations or delays several months before actually taking place, the question was which convention would have the dubious honor of being the guinea pig to start up first, setting the precedent as to what sort of policies would be implemented regarding mask-wearing, social distancing, and substantiating either proof of vaccination or negative COVID test results.  At the time of this writing, in-person conventions for July had been cancelled but several August conventions are taking place in an in-person format.  So what is my approach and philosophy to reentering the convention scene after a hiatus of now 15 to 16 months?

 

I’ll separate this into several sections, including vaccines, documentation, preventative measures, and personal philosophy.  First of all, at least in the United States, vaccines are generally accessible to adults who wish to obtain them, and more recently, they are starting to be made accessible to teenagers and pre-teenagers.  The effectiveness of these vaccines seem to be more than adequate for now.  And for those who are not able or willing to obtain a vaccine, testing for COVID-19 is also an option, so conventions have multiple options in implementing policies requiring either proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test in order for one to attend.  Problem solved, right?

 

Well, not exactly.  See, one of the issues I see is “what is considered acceptable substantiation of vaccination/a negative COVID test,” which becomes a big issue when factoring in timing, partial vaccinations, the different standards of testing/vaccination, invalid/falsified documentation, and misunderstanding the requirements (lag time between getting vaccinations, what sort of tests are required).  Then there would be issues of what happens when either someone with invalid/falsified documentation obtains access to the convention or if someone with valid documentation is denied access to the convention, not to say anything of individuals who are unregistered or are present at the convention venue but don’t attend the convention.  Other questions would stem from those who decide to not get vaccinated or are not eligible for vaccination, a bigger issue for conventions with a large number of attendees coming from overseas.

 

So, a convention can only do so much regarding policies, because even if a convention has the most stringent of criteria to have only vaccinated or negative-tested attendees, there are still chinks in the armor because the COVID-19 virus does not respect boundaries such as restrictions on who can attend.  An infected individual’s mere physical presence can be a cause for concern, and there are going to be other individuals present at the hotel such as non-convention guests and hotel staff members.  “Break-through” infections can still occur even if an individual is fully vaccinated.  There are also the questions of how to implement other preventative or “good practice” policies such as social distancing, mask-wearing, and utilizing hand sanitizer stations, whether the attendees will adhere to such policies, how to enforce such policies, and how to deal with individuals who don’t adhere to said policies.  Now, I wish I had a better answer to these questions other than “I don’t know,” which to me is the biggest unknown and the biggest obstacle right now in going back to a regular convention schedule, made worse still by the fact that many of these conditions are beyond one’s control and where everyone present at the convention venue will have a different perspective as to what is “sufficient compliance to good practices.”  Furthermore, how will conventions handle specific events which can be considered risky, such as dances, raves, concerts, and activities with strenuous physical movement?  To me, this is a question not only dependent on factors such as the specific convention’s culture and leadership, the mentality and demographic of its attendees, and also the convention’s size and venue layout.

 

Now, a convention’s culture and leadership is not something I discuss much, as doing so would paint a picture in broad brushstrokes about not only a convention’s reputation but also the reputation of specific individuals.  Perform research about specific convention staff members and one will receive responses from all across the spectrum, from near-cultlike adoration/admiration all the way to vile hatred, and the majority of all this is picked up through specific experiences, word of mouth, social media posts, and online articles.  While the actions may be undisputed, the motivation and reasoning can be, so I’m going to abstain from expressing my opinions on specific individuals whom I have opinions about.  Furthermore, I have at least a small bit of experience regarding the internal workings of a convention, being a staffer and having a general idea of what is considered “good practices” versus “bad practices.”  But nonetheless, while some individuals do not take a convention’s reputation, staff, or legal organization into account when choosing whether to attend, some of these are major factors for me.  Why?  In my eyes, any entity or institution shows its true colors and skill when encountered with operational issues that show up, but a secondary piece of this also comes from being able to prevent issues from occurring in the first place.  In this environment, conventions that have a reputation of putting less emphasis on day-to-day operations, organization and communication skills, addressing and resolving attendee complaints, and having internal politics spill out into the open and cause friction with external attendees would be cause for concern.  The stakes have been raised in the era of COVID, with the potential for disaster still present despite the progress that has been made in controlling the disease, and a convention that was not even able to get all their ducks in a row before the pandemic began gives me reason to believe that their ducks will be even more misaligned having to adjust for COVID.

 

Now, the culture of a convention is conveyed through its management and staff and structured around its policies and atmosphere, which is also reflective of the mentality and demographic of its attendees.  Sure, a convention may have specific rules and requirements for masks, social distancing, sanitization of surfaces and provide hand sanitizer for attendees, but it is another matter of implementing and enforcing these recommendations, especially ones that are changing so quickly and with different recommendations for different people.  Go too harsh and attendees feel unwelcome and compare the convention to a dictatorial police state.  Go too soft and the recommendations are nothing more than words written on a document.

 

Which brings us to perhaps the most feasible option, “the honor system,” or relying on attendees to adhere to the convention’s list of “recommended best practices.”  The fact that one has to rely on other attendees to adhere to good practices makes me very uncomfortable, as it is an enormous unknown, with actions of others being completely out of one’s control, and the only relief for feelings of discomfort being to retreat into one’s hotel room or leave the convention premises.  The problem is compounded by the fact that everyone uses a different standard as to what is “sufficient adherence to good practices,” and the different recommendations based on whether one is vaccinated or not makes it not only confusing to know how well or not well folks are going to act until one is at the convention itself, to say nothing of folks who misrepresent their vaccination status or state of health.  Are folks going to practice extreme caution and take preventative measures or are folks going to go “YOLO” and throw caution to the wind because the pandemic is over in their minds?  To be honest, I don’t know.  Sure, certain conventions have stereotypes that surround them and how their attendees behave, and one can draw inferences based on a convention’s past iterations to predict how the attendees will behave.  But most conventions have been on hold for 1 or 2 years, and the question is “when that convention starts up again, will things such as the feel and atmosphere of said convention be the same?”  I wish I had a better answer other than “I don’t know.”  Are there going to be a huge number of attendees trying to “make up” for the lost year of 2020?  Or are folks going to wait until early 2021 or even later to attend conventions again?  Again, I wish I had a better answer other than “I don’t know.”

 

But there is at least one way to predict how well or not well one certain “recommended best practice” will work: by looking at a convention’s venue and its past crowd density.  See, some conventions are entirely housed in one building while others are split up into multiple buildings.  Some conventions are held entirely indoors while others have an outdoor component.  Now, it theoretically should be easier to social distance at conventions with an outdoor component, and an open or outdoor venue should reduce the chance of spreading any infection.  But perhaps a better question here is “Before the pandemic started, was the convention’s venue big enough for the number of attendees?”  Obviously, it is difficult to social distance when sardine-canned into an indoor venue, and conventions with more attendees will most likely have a more difficult time managing crowds and lines than conventions with fewer attendees.  But then again, it loops back to the great big unknown of how many attendees there will be for upcoming conventions.  What is the key takeaway, then?  For those who wish to attend a convention but are extremely concerned with safety, the best conventions venuewise would thus be ones with an outdoor component and be sized a bit larger than necessary for the anticipated crowd size, whereas the worst conventions venuewise would be one held entirely indoors, within one single building, and be sized too small for the convention’s crowds.

 

So what am I going to do and what should you do?  Well, here’s the problem with at least the second part of that statement:  I can’t be the one to tell you what to feel comfortable with and what not to feel comfortable with, and that is the question that one needs to answer or come to terms with first.  Second of all, the big issue is still the unknown/unanswered question of “How are the attendees going to act?”  These are the two reasons why I am choosing to make a cautious return to the convention scene rather than a splashy return, with my first two conventions being what I consider “low commitment.”  Stay at most 2 nights at the convention hotel, have other things to do at the convention’s locale other than the convention itself, purchase the lowest tier of registration, don’t run major events, don’t be a staff member, and don’t spend too much on travel.  Essentially, scouting missions to get a feel for how conventions have changed and how attendees are behaving.  Now, this is fine for certain conventions, but there are “high commitment” conventions where I feel that one must either fully commit to attending the entire duration of and then some, or don’t attend at all.  Thankfully, my first two conventions I am planning on attending are not these, and will give me an idea as to when I will start attending “high commitment” conventions again.

 

Now, my first convention for 2021 is one that I have been to before, Denver’s Nan Desu Kan.  Now, this is still my lowest-ranked convention (for good reason) but because of that, it is a great convention to start out with.  See, Nan Desu Kan has at least made two changes that warrant a second look to it:  a change to what appears to be a much nicer venue close to Denver’s airport, and a slightly lower hotel room rate (even if there is a 1-night deposit required).  Now, I won’t be staying at the hotel for various reasons, but it appears to be the perfect convention to give a second chance.  Low commitment, low cost, little lost if things turn out for the worst, and if things turn out for the better, it at least gets a chance to try and redeem itself.

 

I will say this:  for those who have been suffering from past convention burnout, I hope that the convention hiatus of the past 15-16 months has at least somewhat addressed the problem.  The restart of conventions in 2021 should be used as a way to completely revamp one’s convention repertoire and commitment to each and every one that one used to attend, whether one chooses to go back to old favorites, expand their horizons and attend new conventions, or stop attending conventions altogether.  But perhaps the biggest benefit I have gotten from this hiatus in conventions is getting over “FOMO.”  Before that, I used to be terrified that some catastrophic event (mostly related to death or illness in the family) will take place around the time of the convention and ruin my entire weekend.  Missing Anime Central for 5 years due to final exams at my university didn’t help either.  But that was peanuts compared to having to call up the airlines and hotels to dismantle at least half a dozen bookings for various trips last year, with one segment being in first class on a highly regarded Middle Eastern airline.  But looking back, it caused me to realize that things are a lot different now.  The conventions I wish to attend are spread out throughout the year rather than clustered in a 3-month span (most conventions I thought about attending in the late 2000s and early 2010s were clustered between February and May), and I have to skip or switch off on conventions now.  It is much easier to skip one convention and go to an alternative, since it is much more feasible for me to travel by car or plane, and I have had plenty of times where my friends go to one convention but I go to another around the same time.  Have to miss a convention?  It’s not the end of the world, since I can just go to another convention.  The main point and overall goal with conventions is still the same in this era: to have a good experience.  Do I look forward to upcoming conventions?  Overall yes, though I still have some hesitation.  Let’s see how things go.  It’s been a long long time.