Hey everyone, long time reader, long time poster.
I'm going to try to address some of the concerns/points that people have been making and try to explain our reasoning behind our decisions. I know I'm not going to convince some of the more vocal participants of this conversation, but this is more for other other people reading this thread.
Why the vaccine and/or mask requirement? I hate vaccines and/or masks. Or I hate showing that I have the vaccine, etc. etc. etc.
The simple fact is, we don't know what's coming down the road. If we've learned anything the last 2 years, is that we have no idea what's coming at us with this pandemic until it's already here. Whenever there's news about a new variant or subvariant, the answer is always that it was here weeks before anyone even knew for sure.
That's exactly what happened at Anime NYC in 2021. Omicron was already here, but no one knew it. Per the CDC investigation, the primary reason it didn't turn into a super-spreader event was the prevalence of vaccinated participants and masks. We don't know what's coming down the road, and we would much rather be prepared than not. No one wants to have their name in headlines as a super-spreader event.
As a corollary to "we have no idea what's coming at us," the city could easily change to require masks and vaccines again if the numbers go up in Boston. Mayor Wu has said the city has metrics to determine when it's necessary in response to rising cases, infection rates, hospital rates, etc. For all we know, we could get to the first week of May and suddenly be required by the city to require masks and/or vaccines to operate.
If we changed our policy at this time, people who had pre-registered would no longer attend. People who weren't going to go would maybe now attend. But then everything could change again in 3 weeks and it's a complete flip. We cannot reasonably predict what the situation is, so we need to make a choice that is the most feasible for what may come and stick with it for consistency.
We also have to be aware of deadlines as far as orders go (advertising, printed material, supplies), and contracts (vendors, contractors, the city and state). It's not feasible to make a decision on all of those, send everything out, and then try to change it all after the fact. At some point you make the best decision you can and run with it.
On top of all that, and absolutely not least, we are a volunteer organization. 100%, top-down. No one gets a paycheck from this. We need to provide an environment that takes into consideration the health and safety of our staff, and do whatever we can to protect it. There are already people on staff who aren't returning for 2022, specifically because they don't feel comfortable with an event this size, regardless of what protection we offer. If we dropped our requirements, I can say with absolute certainty there would be another large segment of staff who don't return.
If we don't have the staff to put on our convention, it doesn't happen. End of line.
I don't like that you're requiring these things, and I'm not going to attend.
We understand. Really, we wish we didn't have to either, but from our point (as I stated above) we believe it's a necessity and in our best interests long term.
If you don't want to attend our event because of this, we understand if you don't. That's your prerogative. We hope you'll come back whenever we can safely hold an event without needing these precautions.
We also know if we didn't require these things, there would be another segment of the attendee base that wouldn't attend.
This is a no-win scenario for everyone. We are doing what we believe is in the best interests of our attendees, staff, guests, exhibitors, and the long-term continuation of this event.
How do I get to where I can enact change about this?
These decisions are not made by any one person, but by a committee of the Anime Boston executives, and approved by the New England Anime Society Board of Directors.
There are 11 members of the Anime Boston Executive Board, and 7 members of the NEAS Board of Directors. The list of members are here:
https://www.animeboston.com/staff/staff_listing/ Everyone on that list is unpaid, from the President of NEAS and Chair of Anime Boston on down.
How do you become one of them? You join Anime Boston staff first. That requires volunteering time and effort to the operation of our organization. You demonstrate an ability to work as a member of a larger team.
You show that you are dependable, respectful, and considerate.
After a few years on Anime Boston staff you may get a promotion to a management position with even more responsibility with the same amount of rewards (none). It's now your job to take care of the staff in your department (3-150 people) and make sure your team hits all of its goals and deliverables. And still provide a safe, fun, and enjoyable experience for our attendees.
Every year AB staff hold an election for the next year's executive board. Anyone can run for any position if they're nominated. But typically (not always) an incumbent executive will win their election. After all, if they're doing a good job, why replace them? But every few years there's no incumbent, and their position is open. The staff will elect the person they believe is best experienced, qualified, and reflects the values we hold as an organization.
Now as an Executive, it's your job to take care of all the staff in all of the departments under your Division (50-300 people), while also being responsible for everything that happens within it. In addition, you have to consider the larger picture of what happens to the convention as a whole, and how your decisions impact it and all of the staff (700-850 people), and all of the attendees, exhibitors, contractors, and guests (25,000 people).
For the NEAS Board, an election is held at the end of every fiscal year. While anyone can be elected to the Board, they have to be nominated by a current board member. To even have a chance of being elected, the nominee will have to have demonstrated to the Board that they are responsible, trustworthy, and serious about the obligations they wish to undertake.
The NEAS Board elections are not taken lightly and a candidates merits are debated and reviewed among the Board Members. The NEAS Board of Directors are the people with actual financial and legal obligations and responsibilities under the law. So the current Board Members have to ensure that whoever follows them are up to their strict requirements. They are ultimately responsible for what happens with the convention and organization, and are the ones who have to answer if anything goes wrong.
All that's a long-winded way to say, I am completely certain that the people who made these decisions absolutely know what they are doing. They are making the best decisions they can with the information they have.
I say this as someone who served for several years on both the Anime Boston Executive Board, and the NEAS Board of Directors. I stepped down a couple years ago because of my own life changes, but also because I was confident in the ability and dedication of my colleagues and knew they would take care of things as well as I would. This has not changed my opinion of them in the slightest.
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Also, thanks for the notice on the NEAS website being out of date. With not much happening the last couple of years, it's fallen off our radar, and I hope to have it cleaned up in the next few months.