I enjoyed the IAFA Symposium in Orlando this weekend. It had been over two years since I attended a conference in person. It was great to walk through the hotel again and to see some of the veteran staff who’d kept their jobs, and it was fun catching up with and discussing common interests with longtime colleagues and several newcomers.
Precautions were in place. Everyone I talked with had been vaccinated. Masks were generally worn and rooms were session rooms were configured with spacing. The hotel staff members were all vaccinated and in masks, room service was common, and the hotel was obviously proud of its cleaning practices. If we can’t hold a meeting with those risk reduction measures in place, then I fear we can’t hold any meetings at all. To me, that was an appropriate response before we could get shots and knew so much about how COVID spreads. Now it would be an overreaction.
I think there’s a lot of pent up demand for the face to face experience and I can’t wait to see ten times the number in March. I just hope everyone’s funding is restored!
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