2023 COVID Policy

While my personal preference would be masks-optional for everybody, I understand that this may not be possible yet.

I do have a concern about requiring masks for speakers. I find it difficult to hear masked speakers clearly, and this may also be an issue for the hearing impaired.

I wonder whether an exception could be made for speakers who prefer to not be masked during their talks. If so, perhaps attendees could be encouraged to sit in the first couple rows if they are comfortable around unmasked speakers, reserving the back couple rows for attendees who would prefer the safety provided by the additional distance.

With regard to speakers, my personal view is that if there is a HEPA filter near the podium, we should not require speakers to mask while they are presenting. Studies published by the CDC and others have demonstrated the efficacy of HEPA filters used in a conference room setting, especially when accompanied by masking. Many other conferences use HEPA filters to improve safety for speakers and attendees, including the recent meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

If the venue does not have HEPA filters available, they can be easily constructed using a box fan and furnace filters.

I vote "no masks" for speakers. Other camps have also had this policy for the accessibility concern.

I vote "masks optional" for attendees. Many are going to refuse to follow a mandate at this point in the timeline. I think we would be putting people at risk by advertising a mandate that many will disregard. If it's optional, people can make their own risk assessments and decide whether or not to attend rather than unexpectedly finding themselves in a room of unmasked individuals. Either the enforcement, or lack thereof, will certainly create a level of hostility. Hostility among those with differing views of the mandate as well as between organizers and those that oppose. I am personally unwilling to force someone to put a mask on or remove a person from camp for failing to do so. I think DrupalCon failed to consider that their mandate may do more harm than good to the notion of community. The very thing that sets Drupal apart. We shouldn't make the same mistake.

I'm going to +1 as #1 and #4. At this point, it needs to be an onus to be careful, take risks you're only willing to take and practice hygiene and sanitization.

I think it'd be great to construct the filters that FLDC had at the conference, per #3. I'll be coming in on Tuesday and could come in early to be part of a building session for them. It seems straightforward. At FLDC last year, they constructed them on the morning of the first day before training.

From DePaul

Currently, we don’t have any Covid related policies for external groups renting space at DePaul.

They're looking into availability of filters and data related to that. I'm fine with building Corsi-Rosenthal boxes but don't want to create a bunch of waste if there are already things there.

+1 on not requiring them. We didn't require them at FLDC. We did have several people opt-in.

We didn't get any reports of Covid contracted during the conference (which of course doesn't mean that it didn't happen).

froboy → credited andrewozone → .

froboy → credited kthull → .

froboy → credited mlhess → .

Policy has been posted: https://www.midcamp.org/2023/health-safety

Thanks to all for your input, and the following folks in credits for internal review.

Automatically closed - issue fixed for 2 weeks with no activity.