Hello friends!
We know that this has been a very challenging year for many, so the staff and Board of Directors of Anthrocon wish to take this opportunity to wish everyone a warm, safe, and happy holiday season. We’d also like to take this opportunity to announce our plans for July of 2021. At this time, we are proceeding, albeit cautiously, with plans to hold our 2021 convention in Pittsburgh.
Anthrocon’s leadership has been in frequent contact with our host hotels, the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, and with VisitPittsburgh throughout the year as we have been monitoring the situation with COVID-19. Based on the most recent information that has been available to us, and after consultation with our Pittsburgh partners and with our staff at large, we are pleased to announce that we are proceeding with tentative preparations to host Anthrocon’s convention in Pittsburgh in July of 2021.
Our online registration system for attendees will open on Monday, January 4, 2021. We are tentatively scheduling the opening of hotel reservations for Friday, April 9, 2021, at 12:00 Noon EST, with Super Sponsor hotel reservations being offered on Wednesday, April 7, at Noon EST. We appreciate that there may be lingering apprehension about social gatherings next summer; thus, we would like to provide some additional information that we hope will address those concerns.
Two vaccines for SARS-CoV2 are already approved and are being distributed in the United States, and there are at least 3 additional vaccines that are showing promise in Phase-3 clinical testing. Worldwide vaccination efforts are expected to be underway relatively soon.
Anthrocon leadership is in communication with all available resources in Pittsburgh and public health organizations to ensure that the convention can be hosted as safely as possible. The health and well-being of our staff, our attendees, and our associates in Pittsburgh are of paramount importance to us.
Anthrocon recognizes that as of this announcement, it is still ill-advised for people to gather in large numbers. Our ability to host the convention will be dependent on the status of the pandemic in July. We plan to abide fully by all municipal requests and/or health mandates in place in Pittsburgh at the time of the convention, but as Summer approaches, should we come to believe that the risks to our attendees’ health will be too great, we will postpone the event until 2022 and offer a virtual convention for 2021.
In order to maintain a safe environment for all, Anthrocon may be obliged to implement some changes to our policies or programming schedule, and we understand that some aspects of the convention may be different in 2021. One change that we anticipate to our Standards of Conduct is an agreement by attendees to wear protective masks. Please be reminded that the primary purpose of these masks is to protect others, not the wearer, and as it is possible that there will be some attendees present who remain at risk for infection, we may require anyone entering convention space to wear a mask that both covers their nose and mouth and does not have vents for exhalation. We would not ask fursuiters to wear extra respiratory protection as part of their suit, although we would strongly suggest that they wear a balaclava that covers their nose and mouth inside their fursuit head.
The theme and guest list from 2020 will carry over into 2021. It is important to note, however, that due to lingering travel restrictions or other circumstances beyond their control, one or more guests may not be able to attend. We will endeavor to announce any changes in our schedule of guests as soon as we ourselves are informed.
Payments for Anthrocon 2021 memberships will not be charged until April 2nd. When registering you will receive a confirmation email stating that you have been pre-registered for Anthrocon 2021. There will be a $1 pre-authorization charge that will be immediately reversed to verify that the card is valid. You will receive another confirmation email when payments are processed on April 2nd.
We will be closely watching the progress of the vaccination program and the status of the pandemic within the US throughout the next few months to ensure that conditions remain favorable for hosting the convention. Our final decision as to whether or not we may proceed with the convention is expected in mid-May. We are hopeful that circumstances will be such that officials will give us the “green light” to proceed with minimal, if any, disruption to our traditional programming and convention offerings. We do ask for understanding from our attendees if we are required to make adjustments.
It is our hope that this announcement may bring a bit of hope and excitement to your holiday during these anxious and unprecedented times. We are eager to return to the beautiful city of Pittsburgh and to its gracious and inviting citizens, and more eager still to see the friends whom we have dearly missed this year. Most of all, we look forward to rekindling that very special feeling of camaraderie and fun that Anthrocon brings with each convention.
We wish all of our best to you and to those you love this holiday season, and hopefully, we will all see one another again in the summer of 2021!
Sincerely
The Board of Directors of Anthrocon