One of the 5 or 6 biggest comic cons in the country cancelled their show next week. This is run by a monstrous international Corp. Most of the colleges in Boston are going on-line only and are shutting their dorms on the 15th. Boston has cancelled the St Patrick’s day parade. NYC really should, but their bozo of a mayor is being wishy-washyFor all of you saying this is no worse than the flu, look at what NYC did in 1918 and how they had a lower death rate than much smaller cities by limiting opportunities to spread the flu. Then look at how Philadelphia screwed up. There are going to be a lot of major disruptions in our lives, involving events and traditions we love but that’s better than a higher death toll.

Wouldn't a pinball festival be quarantine nirvana?

I really hate that this is happening right now. Going to TPF is the one single annual event which brings me back to Dallas to reconnect with all of my local pals as well as good friends and acquaintances from around the world at my #1 favorite pinball show.

My mother lives in Frisco and is in her late 70’s. I plan to stay with her after the festival. Yes, I know how to properly keep myself clean, but we simply don’t know enough about this virus except that it disproportionately affects older people.

Will everyone get it? Will a vaccine be developed soon? I don’t know. No one knows. The uncertainty is the worst part of it.

Frankly, it is obvious things are going to get worse, perhaps a whole lot worse, before it gets better. The only defense we have aside from keeping our hands clean and not touching our faces is to “minimize contact”.

Why couldn’t this have happened in the middle of summer instead??? Everyone would’ve been A-OK with staying indoors and hugging the AC unit.

Ugh. Hate this so much. My brother is planning to fly to DFW, got an Embassy hotel room reserved, a game to bring, things to haul back... arrrghhhhhhhhh

And yet, possibly endangering my mother versus taking my own chances... that’s a whole different level of responsibility to consider. :/ :/ :/ :/ :/

Similar deal here. My dad is supposed to fly to Utah from Canada to visit for 3 weeks March 24th. We only see him every 2 years or so, and this year I planned it so I could bring him to his first and my favorite pinball show. So I've already bought an extra plane ticket to TPF and a pass for him. He's 79. Being Canadian he gets his share of colds, flu, etc but is also pretty sturdy. Sturdy but not stupid. So we're talking about it and waiting and seeing.

Frankly if half the crowd doesn't show up it wouldn't be the worst thing. TPF has become "pretty" crowded the last couple of years where the crowd you expect on Saturday is already there Friday evening. But this year is/was shaping up to be the best TPF in a long time. Reveal city this year. Gah....

The organizers might not agree with you.

There are significant bills to pay.

Survival is important. But pinball is importanter.

Holy crap!

https://www.click2houston.com/rodeo/2020/03/11/houston-rodeo-canceled-amid-growing-concerns-over-coronavirus/

This is UGE for Houston. Major bummer.

Chances are that the organizers will cancel once (or if) the local government mandates it. Most show insurance policies will cover it in that scenario.

Someone in one of these threads pointed out that insurance companies don't cover 'epidemics'. Don't know if true and/or extends to these sort of things, and really...I'm not sure our government has even classified it as an epidemic or still consider it a media hoax.

The most shocking thing about this story to me is that apparently the Astrodome is still standing?!

It's early yet.

Has all the earmarks of a good old fashioned hoax!

Yeah, the tricky part was getting the 4000 people who have died from it to go along and pretend to be dead.

Not sure if you noticed but other diseases and cars kill way more people!!!!

Therefore it's a hoax. Or we shouldn't care about it. Or something.

I drove by a car accident and my car was spontaneously totaled. Weirdest thing, like the crash was contagious or something.

Cars are the real hoax...I don't think they actually exist.

What would be the point of a car, if it can't carry a pinball machine?

Well, obviously you seem to care more about CrazyLevi than anything else, so that shouldn’t be too hard for ya.

Unfortunately I highly doubt they are covered for something like this.

The big music festivals with multimillion dollar budgets don't have it, which is why huge canceled music festivals like Ultra and SXSW aren't offering refunds, only tickets for 2021 or 2022. That's the same policy MGC said they'd be using which makes sense.

True, unless the Half not showing up are the ones bringing Games to play.

I recommend that everyone listen to this podcast:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/190-how-should-we-respond-to-coronavirus/id733163012?i=1000467992812

If I feared anything about going to TPF this year, this is the one that I fear the most... a total no-show by game bringers, leaving just huge lines at the manufacturers booths.

One local Dentist here is refusing to post the CDC sign on the front door telling people with respiratory symptoms to turn around and go home. He is also making the employees reuse masks now since he can't get more, and he is 100% convinced this whole thing is a hoax because the talking heads he subscribes to says so. Also, doesn't provide insurance for his employees, so its no skin off him if they get sick from a sick patient. This is what is out there, folks.

Might want to double check your facts. I don't envy Dan. Not only does he have to deal with the Corona Virus problem, he has to battle all the misinformation people put out there too which only makes things that much worse.
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Sorry dan!

Good podcast. Thanks for sharing.

I'll listen to this, but when I saw the address my first thought was it's going to be an entire podcast of 'Buy Apple stock'.

I'll be there. Bringing games. Will just be a little more cautious than normal.

Well this just dropped:

• The World Health Organization has formally declared the COVID-19 outbreak a "pandemic."

File that under “no shit Sherlock”...thanks WHO!

Then Im definitely going!

One last trip before the world ends....

WHO are you? WHO WHO, WHO WHO

I don't see Ed and the gang cancelling the event voluntarily as they have too much invested already and are set for having some fun just like me and other folks, playing pinball.

However where they might be losing sleep at nights is that Embassy Suites Corporate could mandate cancelling all conventions within their hotels until further notice and there is nothing the organizers could do. At that point they would at least get a refund from the hotel for the convention room.

Embassy Corporate knows that possible lawsuits against them could happen by letting the show go on if a large amount of folks get sick from attending the show.

One thing I know about corporate is they will always protect their own ass first, always. They wouldn't cancel the show to protect you or me as they could give a rats ass, it is to protect them.

Just my 2 cents.

Was a bit of sarcasm, tongue in cheek, whatever. Of course I don't want any of this to go down poorly. I've been attending TPF since I can remember and it's truly my favorite show of the year. I'm also significantly monetarily invested in going as well. So yeah, make it all go away please....

social security death index is a call away.

OK shit just got real! This is a few blocks from my apartment! Fine, fine...I'll get in line for toilet paper...

https://nypost.com/2020/03/11/nycs-john-jay-college-closes-after-student-tests-positive-for-coronavirus/

I went to my local Costco earlier and pretty much every person's cart had a case of water, paper towel, and toilet paper in it. Several people were pushing and pulling two packed carts around. It was much busier then usual but at the same time quieter which seemed odd.

We’re in a pandemic. No time for pride. E3 was just cancelled. A pinball festival is an event where groups of people are all constantly touching the same thing.

Put a fork in it.

Announce cancellation or postpone.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/28884486/warriors-play-home-games-fans-following-san-francisco-order

The NBA will play a game with no fans in attendance. With more cancellations imminent. Crazy

We are in the beginning of an unprecedented world wide incident. Things that happened 100 years ago didn't have all the things going on we have today or the population numbers. It's not comparable. They failed to get a lid on this early on and it is out. We can hope that this will not be serious, but no matter what happens, some people in charge should REALLY be rethinking how they react to these things the next time around.

https://www.isitcancelledyet.com/ - This list is getting pretty long.

When the dust settles whenever that is im sure the pinball communuty will help out the organizers due to a cancelled event and financial loss. I know im in for 250.00 or more if needed for the organizers to help a future show if tpf needs to reschedule or cancel.

No doubt! Just look at the range of gofundme’s that pop up on this site

Pretty funny....my Avast antiVIRUS would not open that site because it was flagged as a threat.

People can still support the show by buying tickets and just not going. Kinda like how we support our Bengals...

What a great idea! I was actually just thinking how I could 'attend' this year as a show of support.

You need Norton!!

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Nah, that version is outdated!

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Nah, that is ISO 2003, the best standards ever.