The Energon Pub

I'm not going to BotCon this year, but I just wanted to throw this out for discussion: what effect will the swine flu (potentially) have on BotCon?

With it coming up in 3 weeks or so, hopefully it will be early enough in all this pandemic mess to avoid any impact at all. However, with it being in Southern California, that could potentially pose a problem, especially if it gets bad out there. Add to the fact that it's a large group of people coming together and it's not probably going to be catagorized as "essential business", the potential for the organizers to be asked to cancel or postpone things by CA health officials is definitely there. I also wonder what impact the outbreak will have on people's travel plans to get to Pasadena?

Hopefully this thing will start to be contained soon and this thread will wind up being pointless conjecture, but you never know what could happen in three weeks at this rate.

For the people planning on attending this year, what are your thoughts?

You're worrying to much. Because the swine flu is almost exactly like the regular flu, and because there are so few cases in the US, than you have nothing to worry about. The media has blown it WAAAYYY out of proportion. If you DO get it, than just stay home, get some rest, and drink your orange juice and you'll be fine.

Also, it's 4 weeks away.

1 week is a big difference with the flu.

Seems to me that if one is in reasonable health (not immuno-compromised) one doesn't have that much to worry about. The 1918 Influenza was also a swine flu variant I think, and it had a mild eruption in the spring, but only got deadly in the fall. Recent news reports back this up--this variant isn't anywhere near as deadly as they'd feared, but it may mutate in flu season proper. Getcher flu shot this fall. And take B vitamins if you're travelling by plane.

If vendors don't come, or if the event is shut down, (rather unlikely depending on the profit to be made by many businesses in the area: they'll militate against canceling the event unless the bodies start piling up like cordwood or something), that would be the result of a total hysteria epidemic caused by the media that is, apparently, worse than the flu itself. And will make me hate the media even more. If that's even possible.

HK, oh, and don't cough on anyone.