I'm not attending, but wanted to say I'm very impressed by how seriously North Bay Python ( @[email protected] ) is taking COVID. They're even monitoring CO₂ levels throughout their conference venue and posting the values. 500-550 ppm--the range the linked post says they're seeing--is barely higher than outside, which averages around 450 ppm most places, and at that level you'd probably be safe without a mask on (though I'd recommend always wearing a good-fitting N95 mask indoors with other people, personally, and if everyone went without a mask the COVID risk would increase even with such good air quality). It means the air is circulating well, which clears the air of virus.

They're showing how's it done, and it's not too onerous (at least, they're making it look easy). Every conference should be doing this kind of thing if they care about their attendees.

https://social.northbaypython.org/@NorthBayPython/112706690227620773

#COVID #COVID19 #COVIDIsNotOver #COVIDIsAirborne #HealthAndSafety #NBPy
North Bay Python (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 image Fresh air once again! Yesterday the peak CO2 was 550ppm on the stage sensor when somebody was setting up their laptop. Excluding that, we never crossed 500! We continue gathering data to better understand the venue, inform attendees, and continue dialing in our approach to indoor air quality: today we've moved a sensor from the green room to audience right, which we suspect might be a relative hotspot. #NBPy #HealthAndSafety #IAQ

Mastodon

@abucci Thank you for saying so! We do our best to make the event safe and accessible.

We're also providing masks for attendees and have a designated mask-only section for those who don't want to be next to people who are unmasked.

But venue choice is far and away the most important decision we made that laid a strong foundation for us to build on. We definitely hope other organizers can learn from our work.

@[email protected] I hope other conference organizers follow your lead!
@NorthBayPython @abucci Ooh, you people are awesome! Any chance you can publish a postmortem after the conference to help future organizers?
@abucci @NorthBayPython I really wish every indoor event would do it this way!