Most of us were hopeful, but it was looking more and more inevitable as COVID-19 lingered in the northeast. Fall-In! 2020 in King of Prussia has been cancelled.
It's not too surprising. KoP is in Montgomery County, part of the greater Philadelphia metro area, and within the past few weeks, has even seen more daily cases than Philadelphia proper. Even with the legislative processes completed. (A) Montgomery county might still be affected by large gathering restrictions and (B) Even if the process clears the county for late October, financial decisions of HMGS and vendors need to be made now. Tack on the demographics within HMGS membership and it's a no-brainer.
And now we march on and plan for Cold Wars 2021 in Ocean City, Maryland.
Sent to the HMGS membership (and probably previous attendees, from HMGS President John Speiss:
Once again, we hope this email finds you and your families both safe and well. It has been one month since I released the disappointing news that Historicon 2020 would need to be canceled. Since that time, we have been closely monitoring any potential progress on the lifting of restrictions that would affect large gatherings, such as our conventions. While some businesses are starting to open again, there still remain significant restrictions in place with regards to social distancing that would make running a convention unfeasible. Therefore, it is with a heavy heart that we now announce the cancellation of Fall-In! 2020.
We waited as long as possible to finalize our decision. However, the pre-convention planning process needed to begin now. Vendor packets needed to be sent, registration needed to open, further substantial venue deposits were due, advertising materials created, and volunteer staff recruited. We were contacted by the Valley Forge Casino Resort and were informed that their facility remains completely closed, staff has been furloughed, and any re-opening will most likely not be till mid-September at the earliest. In addition, Fall-In! was scheduled earlier this year, in October instead of November, which also compressed our timeline.
The year 2020 has been very difficult on so many levels. The number of canceled conventions is significant: Little Wars, GenCon, Historicon, Enfilade, NJCON, Drums at the Rapids, KublaCon, Huzzah!, and most recently Hurricon and NOVA Open, just to name a few. And across the pond, the cancellation of Bovington, Salute, Partizan, and Colours confirms that this situation is not limited to the United States.
Proceeding with Fall-In! just posed too many risks. Even if the convention took place, facial masks and possibly gloves would be required to be worn by all attendees, volunteers, and vendors. The social distancing requirements would restrict games to no more than two players and a GM. The number of games would be severely cut back since the tables would also need to be spread out. There would be no flea market and no Hobby University classes. Vendor booths would need to be spaced at appropriate distances, and access to the vendor hall would have to be monitored and capped at certain levels.
Even more importantly, the fact that a significant portion of our membership and volunteers are in a high-risk health category needed to be considered. These restrictions would significantly affect attendance, and with our room block obligations, the resulting financial loss projections are very high. Health, safety, and financial exposure are all important, and frankly, the bottom line is that this just wouldn’t be fun. We think this is the right decision, and we hope that you agree.
There is some good news. As with Historicon, we have been provided with paperwork which relieves us from our contractual obligations with no financial loss. Our significant deposits will be rolled over to 2021. Our prepaid advertising commitments have also been re-negotiated for us to receive full credits for our shows in 2021. We are still working on credits for our 2020 liability insurance, so hopefully, we will see some progress there in the coming weeks as well. HMGS, Inc. remains in a very strong financial position, and we will be able to continue our Education and Outreach programs with schools and libraries. Going forward, we are also investigating the possibility of a virtual convention.
Lastly, since our 2020 convention schedule has been canceled, our annual membership meeting which is normally held at Historicon, will need to be held by teleconference. We are still planning for a late July meeting and additional information with the details and instructions will be sent soon.
So in closing, please be well, be safe, and hope for a brighter 2021.
John Spiess
President, HMGS Inc.
president@hmgs.org
It's not too surprising. KoP is in Montgomery County, part of the greater Philadelphia metro area, and within the past few weeks, has even seen more daily cases than Philadelphia proper. Even with the legislative processes completed. (A) Montgomery county might still be affected by large gathering restrictions and (B) Even if the process clears the county for late October, financial decisions of HMGS and vendors need to be made now. Tack on the demographics within HMGS membership and it's a no-brainer.
And now we march on and plan for Cold Wars 2021 in Ocean City, Maryland.
Sent to the HMGS membership (and probably previous attendees, from HMGS President John Speiss:
Once again, we hope this email finds you and your families both safe and well. It has been one month since I released the disappointing news that Historicon 2020 would need to be canceled. Since that time, we have been closely monitoring any potential progress on the lifting of restrictions that would affect large gatherings, such as our conventions. While some businesses are starting to open again, there still remain significant restrictions in place with regards to social distancing that would make running a convention unfeasible. Therefore, it is with a heavy heart that we now announce the cancellation of Fall-In! 2020.
We waited as long as possible to finalize our decision. However, the pre-convention planning process needed to begin now. Vendor packets needed to be sent, registration needed to open, further substantial venue deposits were due, advertising materials created, and volunteer staff recruited. We were contacted by the Valley Forge Casino Resort and were informed that their facility remains completely closed, staff has been furloughed, and any re-opening will most likely not be till mid-September at the earliest. In addition, Fall-In! was scheduled earlier this year, in October instead of November, which also compressed our timeline.
The year 2020 has been very difficult on so many levels. The number of canceled conventions is significant: Little Wars, GenCon, Historicon, Enfilade, NJCON, Drums at the Rapids, KublaCon, Huzzah!, and most recently Hurricon and NOVA Open, just to name a few. And across the pond, the cancellation of Bovington, Salute, Partizan, and Colours confirms that this situation is not limited to the United States.
Proceeding with Fall-In! just posed too many risks. Even if the convention took place, facial masks and possibly gloves would be required to be worn by all attendees, volunteers, and vendors. The social distancing requirements would restrict games to no more than two players and a GM. The number of games would be severely cut back since the tables would also need to be spread out. There would be no flea market and no Hobby University classes. Vendor booths would need to be spaced at appropriate distances, and access to the vendor hall would have to be monitored and capped at certain levels.
Even more importantly, the fact that a significant portion of our membership and volunteers are in a high-risk health category needed to be considered. These restrictions would significantly affect attendance, and with our room block obligations, the resulting financial loss projections are very high. Health, safety, and financial exposure are all important, and frankly, the bottom line is that this just wouldn’t be fun. We think this is the right decision, and we hope that you agree.
There is some good news. As with Historicon, we have been provided with paperwork which relieves us from our contractual obligations with no financial loss. Our significant deposits will be rolled over to 2021. Our prepaid advertising commitments have also been re-negotiated for us to receive full credits for our shows in 2021. We are still working on credits for our 2020 liability insurance, so hopefully, we will see some progress there in the coming weeks as well. HMGS, Inc. remains in a very strong financial position, and we will be able to continue our Education and Outreach programs with schools and libraries. Going forward, we are also investigating the possibility of a virtual convention.
Lastly, since our 2020 convention schedule has been canceled, our annual membership meeting which is normally held at Historicon, will need to be held by teleconference. We are still planning for a late July meeting and additional information with the details and instructions will be sent soon.
So in closing, please be well, be safe, and hope for a brighter 2021.
John Spiess
President, HMGS Inc.
president@hmgs.org
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