My Gen Con 2022 Swag: Covid | BoardGameGeek News

I just flew back from Indianapolis, and boy, are my lungs tired.

I jest. I had no obvious symptoms of illness throughout Gen Con 2022, and I still don’t at this point. I did have a dry mouth at night, but that happens at every hotel I visit in the U.S. thanks to air conditioning that eliminates all humidity (and I had forgotten to bring my portable humidifier), and I was tired in the evenings, but that was after being on the go from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., so the tiredness seemed reasonable.

I went to bed each evening early enough to get at least eight hours of sleep, something I never used to do, but I’ve finally wised up to the realization that playing 1-2 extra games isn’t worth feeling terrible the next day, especially when I have scheduled meetings for most of my waking hours. Sure, I could more easily hide yawns behind a mask, but better to just get the sleep.

Anyway, someone I met on Friday informed me Sunday night that they had tested positive, and now I’ve tested positive as well. I’ve already started Paxlovid, and I’m confining myself to the guest room at home.

I’m posting about my positive nature in this space because I shared a few words with dozens of people during Gen Con 2022 — many of whom stopped me in passing to give huge “thank you”s for the Gen Con 2022 Preview — so I want to be as public as possible about this. Maybe you’ve already tested yourself after returning home from Indianapolis, but if not, please do. I’ll also write directly to all those I saw in meetings.

After two-and-a-half years, I’m now out of the BGG Covid pool. (Kidding: We don’t actually have one.) Perhaps it was dumb to attend Gen Con 2022, but I had attended Gen Con 2021 and BGG.CON 2021 and BGG.Spring 2022 and all went fine for me at those shows, so I made plans for Gen Con 2022 anyway. In some ways, I figured if my time was up, it’s up. To quote Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security: “You cannot avoid a respiratory virus like this forever, unless you completely cease interaction with all other human beings.”

I wore my mask pretty much all the time, except at dinners, but here I am anyway…possibly because of dinners, but possibly not. Who’s to say? I still support Gen Con’s “mask and vaccine required” policy. I understand that being vaccinated and boosted and that wearing masks in all indoor spaces will not make you immune from infection, but that policy increases the chances of both you not getting sick and you not getting others sick. Those who don’t like the policy are welcome to set up their own convention. (Please DO NOT COMMENT on the effectiveness of masks and vaccines as a preventative measure. The research supports their effectiveness, and we’re not engaging in a debate about this here.)

Over the next several days, I’ll catch up on email as I can, post Gen Con 2022 round-ups of what I saw and played, and get back to updating the SPIEL ’22 Preview. Initially I had planned to attend that show as well as Gen Con 2022, but now this one trip to Indy will keep me away from my family for two weeks instead of one, so I’m rethinking whether I want to risk having this result once again in October. Anyway, that’s my decision to figure out, not yours.

I hope you and your family are well, wherever you are.