Aresef

Wild Bill's is selling the tumbler they would've had at AB with a coupon you can use for a fill-up at next year's event. Maybe Otakon can get a jump on selling the bottomless mugs, if those are going to be a thing next year. OTOH, when Otakon last had those, I don't recall them being stamped with a year or anything.

Ah, that makes perfect sense. I’m supposed to be going to a con Labor Day weekend out west and their venue just got taken over as a field hospital. This is instructive.

Yep. Like I said in the announcement thread, consider giving some of your con savings to charity. All the money you spend on food at the con could buy a local food bank quite the bounty.

I’ve come to terms with the fact that this announcement was a matter of when, not if. I will miss Otakon. I will miss all the cons that aren’t happening this year (which may well be all the ones that were scheduled to happen this year). Not so much because I’ll miss the concerts or the panels or the guests but because I’ll miss my friends who come from all over, the people I only see at events like these. And there are more important things going on. My heart breaks for everyone touched by this crisis. If you are able—only if you are able—consider donating some of what you would have spent on conventions this summer. Your city, county or state may have funds going. I know Baltimore County has a fund for residents facing food insecurity and other issues right now. Your local food bank and groups like World Central Kitchen are also doing important work. And with all these closures, there are less people giving blood, so hit up the Red Cross and do that, if you can. Edit: Will Otakon do as other events like AB have and publish a list of the artists who would have been there?

--not staff-- Given how Otakon works, I'm not sure if that's something they can do. Because what we pay for isn't a ticket but a membership and Otakon is the annual meeting for members of Otakorp. It's possible they throw members a bone of some kind should insurance kick in, but I'm not privy to any of that.

“Return” implies it will go away in the summer. That would be news to Aussies.

I think postponing the con is going to be difficult. Just because Awesome Con was able to postpone doesn't mean Ota can. Ota depends on conference rooms and lodging not just in the Marriott but in other hotels as well. You also have to pick a weekend when you know the nearby hotels have sufficient inventory. So if it's a weekend where Capital One Arena is in action, it might be a coinflip. There's also no guarantee that the guests, contractors, artists and dealers who are tied to the con now would be available for the new date, to say nothing of the fans whose travel plans may be less portable. And even if fans coming from far away can change their travel plans with little hassle, will most people in the fall, even if we've mostly kicked this thing, be comfortable with the health risk that may be posed by the mass of humanity that attends an anime convention? Even without a pandemic, that's an ask. Postponing Otakon 2020 also takes away, I imagine, from the time and energy that could be better spent planning for 2021. The virtual con plan is a challenge and invariably scales back programming offerings. You have to depend on all these industry folk playing ball. I imagine it would create a particular hurdle for Japanese guests and industry reps, not just because of the language barrier but the time difference. Fan panels could get off, that's the sort of thing I think Balticon is doing, but it would be a feat to make sure panelists can show their videos, their PowerPoints, whatever.

It really would be news when and if a con does go on as scheduled at this point.

They can't back out until either Events DC or the DC government makes holding the convention impossible. Unlikely as it is, it's conceivable that come time for Otakon, the WEWCC could be ready. I'm not saying it's likely, I'm saying that it can't be ruled out until it is ruled out. What that means is if they cancel now, force majeure provisions will not apply. Though they can't and won't issue refunds to members (given the nature of what our memberships are), the nonprofit will be on the hook for boatloads to Events DC, hotels and other vendors and without the revenue of people who haven't yet registered or of dealers, artists, merchandise or sponsors. And as I've outlined, Otakorp is not rich.

AB talked about that when they canceled. The reason they waited until the governor of Massachusetts issued his order on large events was because if they canceled before then, they’d be on the hook with the venue, vendors etc. and it could have bankrupted their organization. And it’s not just the smaller cons. The most recent 990 I could find for Otakorp was filed for the FY ending October 2018. They reported nearly $408,000 in the bank. They pulled in $2.88 million in revenue... but spent $2.72 million to run Otakon and Otakon Vegas. They had actually lost more than $800,000 over the previous two fiscals—that’s presumably why Otakon Vegas had to go. And these aren’t state secrets. You can look Otakorp up on ProPublica’s database. The point is damn near every dime goes into running the con and if they canceled at a time that would leave them holding the bag, well, that’s just not going to happen.

To your point, Liberty University could face lawsuits after students tested positive there, a development anybody could see coming when they announced they were reopening.

Cory in the House is not on Crunchyroll, Hidive or Disney+

Not much else to really be said. Thanks for taking this seriously, especially as other events nationwide are affected and as the first positive tests in Maryland come to light.

To your point, logistics might be a hurdle. I know United just temporarily cut Japan service. Hopefully, this can all blow over in a matter of weeks and not months. I'm not trying to spread hysteria. I think these are legitimate questions.

I am not an epidemiologist and I don't know what the next few months bring. But coronavirus appears to be causing some long-term worries in Asia to the point that the Summer Olympics in Tokyo could be canned. We're also seeing companies like Sony scale back planned appearances at PAX East and AnimeJapan was scrapped. And then you have the entry procedures and policies for people coming to the US particularly from China and, without talking politics, that could easily be extended. To what extent is Otakon preparing and to what extent could Otakon be impacted by hurdles, logistical or otherwise, created by the disease?