Arisia and Wellness (2012 and beyond)

[chaiya.livejournal.com]

There has been some discussion of people contracting norovirus at Arisia 2012. After a phone call with the Boston Public Health Commission, we believe that there were several attendees with norovirus, but that the impact is not at all congruent with an epidemic or with the actions of Arisia volunteers being at fault. The BPHC praised our implementation of food heating and storage, in fact, given a lack of real kitchen space. The BPHC does not intend to follow up with any action at this time, due to the statistically low number of cases compared to the overall population of the convention.

Arisia intends to examine our policies for next year such that people who are ill are encouraged to stay at home rather than attend the convention and infect others. We will also reiterate our policies concerning handwashing, use of antibacterial hand sanitizer, and use of gloves for anyone touching food directly. We are doing our best to be responsive and responsible concerning the health of the Arisia community, and appreciate everyone supporting this effort.

It bears repeating that, in a population of 3200, there will be several people who are ill and contagious and unaware of these facts. We appreciate anyone who was ill and stayed away from the convention in order to not make others sick.

Comments

[noeltheone.livejournal.com]

I think this may be worth discussing with the hotel, but just to clarify, the cancellation policy is actually 6pm the day prior to check-in.

It may well be misstated in some emails, as the hotel is unable to change some of the central reservations controlled information.

[jenwrites.livejournal.com]

That would be helpful to get out there, because the email I got from the hotel said Tuesday.

[noeltheone.livejournal.com]

We try to make people aware of this. For example, the cancellation policy is listed on the Arisia website hotel page. Unfortunately, there is little we or the local hotel staff can do about the automatically generated emails from the central reservations system.

As an aside, if someone needs to cancel a room, they should contact the Arisia Innkeeper.

[jenwrites.livejournal.com]

I did get your mailing, but since it's the hotel that had my credit card number, I worked on the assumption that their date was the one I needed to pay attention to.