5 ms·

Still requiring masks & tests is kind of odd in 2023

anon291 3y ago
Thanks for calling this out. I live right near by and was on the verge of payment, but I'm not wasting my time with that.
- waynecochran 3y ago
  Yeah i live not too far away and was thinking of signing up. Thats a deal breaker for me. Seems to go beyond a concern for health into a weird paranoia.
- 3g0st 3y ago
  In a place where people may be gathering from around the nation or even internationally, i'm not sure what the problem is here, covid or not. I'm sorry that our immunocompromised friends or other at-risk individuals are not important enough for you to change your mind. Panels are always incredibly stuffy and full of odors and other people's coughs and breaths.
  - waynecochran 3y ago
    [flagged]
- steviedotboston 3y ago
  I don't know about this conference, but some conferences with policies like this don't really bother enforcing them. It's 2023, do they really think they're going to get anything close to 100% compliance with a mask mandate? And what will they do if someone isn't wearing a mask? Most likely just politely ask you to put one on and then walk away. I highly doubt they are going to have some kind of punitive policy in place. Nobody wants to deal with that.
  - ghaff 3y ago
    In my experience, when things were starting to relax a bit maybe 18 months or so ago, but a lot of events I attended still had masking policies, a lot of people were quick to take off masks when eating and drinking, sitting outside, or in otherwise well ventilated spaces. But even people who thought it was getting a bit performative at that point were pretty compliant about following at least the letter of the rules. This is admittedly 18 months later now but, especially at a community event that pretty much no one is being forced to attend, I expect pretty high compliance.
    - steviedotboston 3y ago
      yeah, not sure how to balance "this is silly, nobody is going to follow this rule" and "this is silly, i'm not going to attend because of this rule"
  - neilv 3y ago
    If I was running some event that had some safety rule, and someone was blatantly ignoring the rule, I'd have them removed by security or police. If an event has safety rules and doesn't follow them, a couple concerns: (1) that's irresponsible towards people relying on the rules being followed, potentially exposing them to harm, and others to liability; (2) if the event as a whole doesn't have integrity about safety rules, what else don't they have integrity about, and maybe you should have the books checked for fraud, investigate for vendor kickbacks, consider maybe a higher probability of harassment going on, etc.
    - steviedotboston 3y ago
      There is no tech conference on earth that is having people physically removed by police for not wearing a mask. These policies exist to try to satisfy the different comfort levels people have around covid, but an obvious part of any rule is that if they are impractical or impossible to enforce and a sizable number of people are not following the rule, then it's pretty much pointless. Nobody attending a tech conference with a mask mandate is under the impression that someone who isn't complying with the rule will be removed. They know that some people won't comply. That's been the case with mask mandates in most places for a very long time. Compliance is low, theres no way (or will) to enforce, and that's not to mention the myriad exceptions to the policy (eg, masks not required when eating or drinking) that essentially make the whole think a joke to being with.
LVB 3y ago
Yeah it’s an interesting choice. I’ve not been to a conference in forever and have lost touch of what the norm is. I wonder whether the policy is a net up/downside as they try to build interest and get the thing established. My hunch is that it hurts them in attendance, but idk.
- gchadwick 3y ago
  I guess it depends upon where in the world you go though my recent conference experience is definitely a post-COVID one. No rules, no masks, no social distancing etc (RISC-V Summit Europe, Barcelona). I went to the US RISC-V summit in December (San Jose) and they had little badges (red/yellow/green to indicate how comfortable you were with people getting close) and I think they asked people to wear masks but very few did. They also asked for a pre-conference test but I don't think they were checking up on results. Mandatory, proper face fitting N95 masks seems out of step there. Though I can appreciate it may aid some in attending it will certainly discourage others.
  - ghaff 3y ago
    Basically, Linux Foundation events are back to “normal.” Kubecon in April said that they weren’t allowed by local law to mandate requirements but it was pretty clear that was a fig leaf for what they wanted to do anyway. They did have the comfort level stickers which seems very reasonable. I think you do still see some community oriented events feeling like they need to bend over backwards to accommodate anyone who still doesn’t feel comfortable around unmasked and unvaccinated people. That’s where the sentiment comes from IMO.
the_third_wave 3y ago
[flagged]
rapnie 3y ago
In my country it is like covid never happened. Yet, there are quite a few people for whom covid is still a threat. People with long covid for instance or respiratory illnesses. There are Free Software conferences that take that into account, as part of inclusion.
- ksimukka 3y ago
  I hear what you are saying. IMO, the mask and covid measures in Portland feels to me to be more political based. I really don’t understand the logic in America when it comes to the current thinking about covid measures. You could say I have a Scandinavian perspective to this, but here in Norway everyone listened and trusted to what the government recommended and/or mandated. It has been a little more than a year since the last pandemic measure was lifted and we have been back to “normal”.
  - chrchr 3y ago
    There are no government mandates in effect here in Portland either. Any masking/testing rules in place for the conference are due to the event’s policies.
    - runjake 3y ago
      Government mandates or recommendations[1] for such, at this point. 1. https://www.oregon.gov/oha/covid19/Pages/Masks.aspx https://www.oregon.gov/oha/covid19/Pages/Masks.aspx
    - away271828 3y ago
      Right. And, given who is running this event, there is some backstory that makes it unsurprising that it's trying to be especially accommodating of people who are vulnerable.
  - lotsofpulp 3y ago
    > I really don’t understand the logic in America when it comes to the current thinking about covid measures. It is not America. It is a very small subset of the 330M+ people living here. I would venture to say 90%+ have not thought about Covid in a long time.
josephcsible 3y ago
I'm glad they're at least being honest in advance about it, so I didn't have to waste any time thinking about attending. What really stinks is when conferences pretend to be normal in advance but suddenly spring insanity like this on everyone the day they start.
- ghaff 3y ago
  The opposite has happened as well, perhaps through no fault of the event, when they decide government mandate changes meant they could no longer require vaccinations. But, in general, I have no problem with events laying out clear policies in advance which allow potential attendees to attend or not attend either because they don't want to wear masks/be vaccinated/be tested or because they feel the event isn't being cautious enough.
  - anon291 3y ago
    [flagged]
    - away271828 3y ago
      We also seem to be in almost the talismanic phase of the pandemic. By all means, most should IMO get vaccinated to reduce the risk of serious disease. But I'm unconvinced that other mitigations for large indoor events are appreciably more effective than wearing an energy crystal around your neck.
dangerwill 3y ago
A hundred people per day are still dying of covid in the US, and even if you don't die from it, every fresh covid infection is rolling the dice with long covid. Masks and testing for a mass gathering involving lots of out of towners is obviously still appropriate.
- away271828 3y ago
  It's honestly not clear to me at this point to what degree you can mitigate risks associated with air travel and large gatherings. In late 2021 I finally caught COVID attending an international event with a vaccination and mask requirement. And then it turned out that, in spite of testing negative twice, my very slight cough was in fact COVID when I tested again a week later after attending another event.
  - josephcsible 3y ago
    > my very slight cough was in fact COVID If that's all COVID is anymore, then why do we still need to mitigate the risks?
  - dangerwill 3y ago
    The tests and masks aren't perfect yes, but they shouldn't be dismissed because they do help improve the odds of avoiding covid. And the cost is really minor, so why not still wear a mask and test? I'm at a massive work event and wearing an n95 the entire time has not been much of a hassle at all.
    - ghaff 3y ago
      You can always mitigate risk more. If I were required to come into a typical office (which I'm not) and wear a mask all day to mitigate against various infections that would be a big FU. You're of course entitled to feel differently.
qbasic_forever 3y ago
Why is it odd? The official CDC guidance now calls out explicit air change guidance and masking if that can't be met or a population is vulnerable. Why should vulnerable people be excluded from this conference, because that's what you're really implying by not masking or taking precautions.

Thanks for calling this out. I live right near by and was on the verge of payment, but I'm not wasting my time with that.

waynecochran 3y ago
Yeah i live not too far away and was thinking of signing up. Thats a deal breaker for me. Seems to go beyond a concern for health into a weird paranoia.
3g0st 3y ago
In a place where people may be gathering from around the nation or even internationally, i'm not sure what the problem is here, covid or not. I'm sorry that our immunocompromised friends or other at-risk individuals are not important enough for you to change your mind. Panels are always incredibly stuffy and full of odors and other people's coughs and breaths.
- waynecochran 3y ago
  [flagged]
steviedotboston 3y ago
I don't know about this conference, but some conferences with policies like this don't really bother enforcing them. It's 2023, do they really think they're going to get anything close to 100% compliance with a mask mandate? And what will they do if someone isn't wearing a mask? Most likely just politely ask you to put one on and then walk away. I highly doubt they are going to have some kind of punitive policy in place. Nobody wants to deal with that.
- ghaff 3y ago
  In my experience, when things were starting to relax a bit maybe 18 months or so ago, but a lot of events I attended still had masking policies, a lot of people were quick to take off masks when eating and drinking, sitting outside, or in otherwise well ventilated spaces. But even people who thought it was getting a bit performative at that point were pretty compliant about following at least the letter of the rules. This is admittedly 18 months later now but, especially at a community event that pretty much no one is being forced to attend, I expect pretty high compliance.
  - steviedotboston 3y ago
    yeah, not sure how to balance "this is silly, nobody is going to follow this rule" and "this is silly, i'm not going to attend because of this rule"
- neilv 3y ago
  If I was running some event that had some safety rule, and someone was blatantly ignoring the rule, I'd have them removed by security or police. If an event has safety rules and doesn't follow them, a couple concerns: (1) that's irresponsible towards people relying on the rules being followed, potentially exposing them to harm, and others to liability; (2) if the event as a whole doesn't have integrity about safety rules, what else don't they have integrity about, and maybe you should have the books checked for fraud, investigate for vendor kickbacks, consider maybe a higher probability of harassment going on, etc.
  - steviedotboston 3y ago
    There is no tech conference on earth that is having people physically removed by police for not wearing a mask. These policies exist to try to satisfy the different comfort levels people have around covid, but an obvious part of any rule is that if they are impractical or impossible to enforce and a sizable number of people are not following the rule, then it's pretty much pointless. Nobody attending a tech conference with a mask mandate is under the impression that someone who isn't complying with the rule will be removed. They know that some people won't comply. That's been the case with mask mandates in most places for a very long time. Compliance is low, theres no way (or will) to enforce, and that's not to mention the myriad exceptions to the policy (eg, masks not required when eating or drinking) that essentially make the whole think a joke to being with.

LVB 3y ago

Yeah it’s an interesting choice. I’ve not been to a conference in forever and have lost touch of what the norm is. I wonder whether the policy is a net up/downside as they try to build interest and get the thing established. My hunch is that it hurts them in attendance, but idk.

gchadwick 3y ago
I guess it depends upon where in the world you go though my recent conference experience is definitely a post-COVID one. No rules, no masks, no social distancing etc (RISC-V Summit Europe, Barcelona). I went to the US RISC-V summit in December (San Jose) and they had little badges (red/yellow/green to indicate how comfortable you were with people getting close) and I think they asked people to wear masks but very few did. They also asked for a pre-conference test but I don't think they were checking up on results. Mandatory, proper face fitting N95 masks seems out of step there. Though I can appreciate it may aid some in attending it will certainly discourage others.
- ghaff 3y ago
  Basically, Linux Foundation events are back to “normal.” Kubecon in April said that they weren’t allowed by local law to mandate requirements but it was pretty clear that was a fig leaf for what they wanted to do anyway. They did have the comfort level stickers which seems very reasonable. I think you do still see some community oriented events feeling like they need to bend over backwards to accommodate anyone who still doesn’t feel comfortable around unmasked and unvaccinated people. That’s where the sentiment comes from IMO.

the_third_wave 3y ago

[flagged]

rapnie 3y ago

In my country it is like covid never happened. Yet, there are quite a few people for whom covid is still a threat. People with long covid for instance or respiratory illnesses. There are Free Software conferences that take that into account, as part of inclusion.

ksimukka 3y ago
I hear what you are saying. IMO, the mask and covid measures in Portland feels to me to be more political based. I really don’t understand the logic in America when it comes to the current thinking about covid measures. You could say I have a Scandinavian perspective to this, but here in Norway everyone listened and trusted to what the government recommended and/or mandated. It has been a little more than a year since the last pandemic measure was lifted and we have been back to “normal”.
- chrchr 3y ago
  There are no government mandates in effect here in Portland either. Any masking/testing rules in place for the conference are due to the event’s policies.
  - runjake 3y ago
    Government mandates or recommendations[1] for such, at this point. 1. https://www.oregon.gov/oha/covid19/Pages/Masks.aspx https://www.oregon.gov/oha/covid19/Pages/Masks.aspx
  - away271828 3y ago
    Right. And, given who is running this event, there is some backstory that makes it unsurprising that it's trying to be especially accommodating of people who are vulnerable.
- lotsofpulp 3y ago
  > I really don’t understand the logic in America when it comes to the current thinking about covid measures. It is not America. It is a very small subset of the 330M+ people living here. I would venture to say 90%+ have not thought about Covid in a long time.

josephcsible 3y ago

I'm glad they're at least being honest in advance about it, so I didn't have to waste any time thinking about attending. What really stinks is when conferences pretend to be normal in advance but suddenly spring insanity like this on everyone the day they start.

ghaff 3y ago
The opposite has happened as well, perhaps through no fault of the event, when they decide government mandate changes meant they could no longer require vaccinations. But, in general, I have no problem with events laying out clear policies in advance which allow potential attendees to attend or not attend either because they don't want to wear masks/be vaccinated/be tested or because they feel the event isn't being cautious enough.
- anon291 3y ago
  [flagged]
  - away271828 3y ago
    We also seem to be in almost the talismanic phase of the pandemic. By all means, most should IMO get vaccinated to reduce the risk of serious disease. But I'm unconvinced that other mitigations for large indoor events are appreciably more effective than wearing an energy crystal around your neck.

dangerwill 3y ago

A hundred people per day are still dying of covid in the US, and even if you don't die from it, every fresh covid infection is rolling the dice with long covid. Masks and testing for a mass gathering involving lots of out of towners is obviously still appropriate.

away271828 3y ago
It's honestly not clear to me at this point to what degree you can mitigate risks associated with air travel and large gatherings. In late 2021 I finally caught COVID attending an international event with a vaccination and mask requirement. And then it turned out that, in spite of testing negative twice, my very slight cough was in fact COVID when I tested again a week later after attending another event.
- josephcsible 3y ago
  > my very slight cough was in fact COVID If that's all COVID is anymore, then why do we still need to mitigate the risks?
- dangerwill 3y ago
  The tests and masks aren't perfect yes, but they shouldn't be dismissed because they do help improve the odds of avoiding covid. And the cost is really minor, so why not still wear a mask and test? I'm at a massive work event and wearing an n95 the entire time has not been much of a hassle at all.
  - ghaff 3y ago
    You can always mitigate risk more. If I were required to come into a typical office (which I'm not) and wear a mask all day to mitigate against various infections that would be a big FU. You're of course entitled to feel differently.

qbasic_forever 3y ago

Why is it odd? The official CDC guidance now calls out explicit air change guidance and masking if that can't be met or a population is vulnerable. Why should vulnerable people be excluded from this conference, because that's what you're really implying by not masking or taking precautions.