Calling all Skepticoners,
Skepticon has worked hard throughout its history to be accessible to people who couldn’t attend other skeptical conferences. We’ve kept the conference free and centrally located. We’ve used live closed captioning. We’ve provided spaces and policies to facilitate social interaction for people who aren’t neurotypical.
For the last two years, our solution to keeping Skepticon accessible during the pandemic has been to take the conference online. This year, as we gather physically again, we feel one of the most important things we can do to improve accessibility is to reduce the health risks of attending as much as possible.
This means we will require up-to-date vaccinations and high-quality masking.
In compliance with all state and federal laws, Skepticon will consider any requests for accommodation concerning this policy and grant reasonable accommodations that are required by law. Reach out to us at [email protected] at any time.
Vaccination: Attendees will be required to show proof of vaccination at registration. Our registration volunteers will verify the proof of vaccination provided before providing name badges, and these badges will be required to enter conference spaces.
Although Skepticon will not prescribe any specific documentation to provide proof of vaccination, we reserve the right to decline documents that provide insufficient proof. Attendees may provide proof of vaccination by showing a vaccine record card, or a clear photo of a vaccine record card, issued by the CDC, a state, or another governmental entity; a letter from a physician; or other suitable means. Proof of vaccination should demonstrate completion of the medically recommended course of vaccination for a given COVID-19 vaccine.
The proof of vaccination policy is applicable to all attendees of at least 5 years of age.
Masking: While federal and state governments no longer mandate masking during indoors gatherings, it is the consensus of epidemiologists that masking significantly reduces the risk of transmitting COVID-19 to others. As current strains of COVID-19 continue to demonstrate the ability to infect the vaccinated at higher rates than past strains, masking becomes more important again. For this reason, Skepticon will require attendees to wear high-quality masks in conference spaces except while actively eating or drinking. We will have a supply of N95 or KN95 masks available at registration during the conference.
We’ll be releasing registration soon, so please keep this important update to our Policy in mind when considering attending Skepticon!
Love,
-Skepticon
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