View Poll Results: Are you planning to attend SELEM 2020 (Aug 4 - 9)?

Voters
26. You may not vote on this poll
  • Yes. As long as the lockdown is lifted I will be there.

    15 57.69%
  • Unsure. First need to see what happens with COVID-19, my job, etc.

    8 30.77%
  • No. It is too risky, both financially and health-wise.

    3 11.54%
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Thread: Are you planning to attend SELEM 2020?

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
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    I'll be saddened but not terribly surprised if it's cancelled this year; so much else already is.

    I would wear a mask the whole time if it made any difference, though.

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
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    Knoxville, TN, USA
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    Quote Originally Posted by buffo View Post
    I appreciate all the responses so far; please keep them coming. Also, for the record: no one should feel sorry for sharing their honest concerns about this event. COVID-19 has killed over 220,000 people so far, and more than a quarter of those deaths have been right here in the USA. This is deadly serious business!

    Andrew, I completely agree with your comments. Just because the travel restrictions are lifted doesn't mean it's "safe". Safety is all about risk management and we all have different ideas about what "acceptable risk" looks like. Furthermore, if they release the lockdown to soon we are very likely to experience a *large* spike in new cases. That's pretty much the worst-case scenario in my mind. So it's possible that SELEM could still be cancelled even if the travel ban is lifted.

    Limiting personal contact at SELEM would indeed be difficult. There are a few things we could change to help spread people out, but it's not going to work for all cases. Plus there's a good chance we won't be able to access the gym, which would create more of a space crunch. Bottom line: If social distancing is still deemed necessary in August that will force me to cancel SELEM.

    Something that has been suggested by several folks here on the forum is to host a "virtual SELEM" using something like the ZOOM video chat software. We'd need to line up several presenters who would be willing to put on a live broadcast dealing with a given topic, and then everyone could tune in to the presentations that they wanted to watch. We'd also have a general "meeting channel" where people could go to just talk shop and catch up with everyone. I'm sure we could make this work given enough preparation, so as we get closer if it looks like SELEM is a bust I'll start working on alternatives like this.

    Adam
    I'm going to need a bigger projector screen in my office / studio room...
    RR

    Metrologic HeNe 3.3mw Modulated laser, 2 Radio Shack motors, and a broken mirror.
    1979.
    Sweet.....

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
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    Knoxville, TN, USA
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stuka View Post
    I'm going to need a bigger projector screen in my office / studio room...
    I can see how this will go down:

    Me: "SELEM had to be cancelled due to the current global pandemic; so, I need to tear out part of the roof in the bonus room so I can put up a bigger projector screen to support a virtual SELEM"
    Mrs. Stuka: "Nope"
    Me: ...

    RR

    Metrologic HeNe 3.3mw Modulated laser, 2 Radio Shack motors, and a broken mirror.
    1979.
    Sweet.....

  4. #14
    swamidog's Avatar
    swamidog is online now Jr. Woodchuckington Janitor III, Esq.
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
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    santa fe, nm
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    1,545,752

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    oh, just get mrs. stuka a radiator.

    she'll totally want a bigger projection screen then.




    Quote Originally Posted by Stuka View Post
    I can see how this will go down:

    Me: "SELEM had to be cancelled due to the current global pandemic; so, I need to tear out part of the roof in the bonus room so I can put up a bigger projector screen to support a virtual SELEM"
    Mrs. Stuka: "Nope"
    Me: ...

    suppose you're thinkin' about a plate o' shrimp. Suddenly someone'll say, like, plate, or shrimp, or plate o' shrimp out of the blue, no explanation. No point in lookin' for one, either. It's all part of a cosmic unconciousness.

  5. #15
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    Jul 2007
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    Knoxville, TN, USA
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    Quote Originally Posted by swamidog View Post
    oh, just get mrs. stuka a radiator.

    she'll totally want a bigger projection screen then.

    Hmm, twin Radiators...

    All attempts at levity aside, I really hope SELEM can happen, and I would do everything I could {safely} do to attend.
    That said, if it can't happen this year, I would certainly understand, as I'm sure would most of the normally returning attendees.

    I'm afraid the "new normal" is still a long way off from really being defined, and there's likely still a lot of cancellations, changes, and sacrifices yet to be made.
    Last edited by Stuka; 04-30-2020 at 07:15.
    RR

    Metrologic HeNe 3.3mw Modulated laser, 2 Radio Shack motors, and a broken mirror.
    1979.
    Sweet.....

  6. #16
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Charlotte, NC
    Posts
    196

    Default Scary for me but I might attend or at least show up for part of one day

    This is really hard for my wife and I.

    i have not left the house since I came home from the hospital in mid January after being in for
    three weeks. They had to bring me home in an ambulance. But I, hoping to eventually have things cleared up enough to go out. (Mostly a side effect of one of the pills I was taking)

    Im also high risk with COPD and a plethora of other breathing issues.

    that being said, I haven’t missed a SELEM in about ten years, but I don’t want to die doing it. .

    If I come I will be paranoid- I think it will be hard to socialize with the distancing thing, hand washing and concerns with spreading it at tha5 location, especially in view of the small areas we tend to congregate in.

    Think about these:
    Lunch and Dinner
    tend to cram everyone into a very small room for serving.
    Same with the gas room and meeting rooms upstairs for the presentations
    Same with the give away and getting the picture taken

    also there are a few choke points where groups tend to bunch up, like the hallway between the back and auditorium

    im not saying it can’t be done, but if we go with the way it has been setup in the past, there is high potential to “share” anything you are a carrier of.

  7. #17
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    Fort Mill, SC USA
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    I would like to echo aberry's comments. I would also add that I would be quite comfortable attending if it were confirmed that I had already had the virus previously as a result of the anti-body test. Although it is still unknown whether or not you can catch COVID19 a second time or if it will provide a short-term immunity against one or more of the known strains, based on the slow mutation of this virus I think I'd be willing to take that risk.

    -David
    "Help, help, I'm being repressed!"

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
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    Grand Rapids, Mi
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    Was going to be my return to SELEM after way too long. I have the time off work already scheduled. So if this happens I'll be there.

    I wouldn't mind even a smaller scaled back version like years back. Just want to enjoy some time away from life craziness and see some beams etc.
    leading in trailing technology

  9. #19
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    Apr 2006
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    Quote Originally Posted by aberry View Post
    "Yes, as long as the lockdown is lifted and it actually seems reasonably safe to even have the event."
    that would be my thoughts as well... also if there is any confirmation that those with anti-bodies are safe from reinfection (at least for whatever current strain) that would also be a bit more reassuring since I am pretty sure I already had this back in late Jan (got a flu that I was pretty sure was going to kill me) but have been unable to get any kind of tests done yet...

  10. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by flecom View Post
    that would be my thoughts as well... also if there is any confirmation that those with anti-bodies are safe from reinfection (at least for whatever current strain) that would also be a bit more reassuring since I am pretty sure I already had this back in late Jan (got a flu that I was pretty sure was going to kill me) but have been unable to get any kind of tests done yet...
    Probably no reason to now. My friend's wife thinks she got it back in Jan. She travels to NY a lot. She had a really bad flue, pneumonia, etc. She got tested awhile back and came back negative.

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