FOSSY 2023 Health and Safety Guidelines

Our attendees' health and safety have been a top priority for us. Our goal with this policy is to balancing our limited resources as a small non-profit while protecting our attendees and their families from COVID-19 and its possible long-term side effects. We are aiming to provide a welcoming and safer environment for people who are immunocompromised, disabled, elderly, have support needs, or are caregivers for children, and those of us who share households with or caretake for people in those groups.

We will provide room for social distancing wherever possible in the venue. Hand sanitizer will be available for all attendees. We will direct people to locations for eating that are as well ventilated or spacious as we can, including providing food in packaging for attendees to take outside if they prefer.

We value all of our attendees and want everyone to feel welcome to participate in any way they can. In turn, we ask that you, as attendees, respect your fellow attendees and do what you can to create an environment that is safe and welcoming to all.

Mask Requirement

Face coverings will be required of everyone inside the conference venue at FOSSY. We will have attendees from all over the world who have traveled and may have unknowingly been exposed to COVID-19.
Exceptions are:

  1. Outdoor spaces
  2. Indoors while consuming food and while socially distanced from other participants
  3. While necessary for communicating with someone who is hearing impaired when the ability to see the mouth is essential for communication
  4. Speakers while presenting
  5. Those who are unable to wear masks due to a medical condition. Please contact us in advance of the conference and we will provide a badge or lanyard that indicates this.
Masks must be worn over the nose and mouth and must be made of a tight-knit, non-permeable material. N95 or equivalent masks are required. As N95 is an American standard, masks certified by other governments to similar standards (e.g. PM2.5, KN95, and KF94) will also be allowed.
We will be distributing masks so long as our supplies last, but attendees should plan to provide their own masks should we run out.

Rapid Testing

We highly encourage attendees to do a rapid test before traveling and each day of the event. Unfortunately providing free, rapid onsite testing for all attendees is not feasible, but if purchasing your own tests is a financial hardship, please contact us and we will help you acquire some.

Badge Indicators

Attendees will be able to indicate their negative tested status each day on their badge with a sticker that can be picked up at the registration table.
We'll also have a way for attendees to indicate what level of social distancing they are most comfortable with.

Attendance

Individuals should not attend the event if they are COVID-positive, are exhibiting COVID symptoms (as defined by the CDC), or have been exposed, within 7 days prior to the event, to someone who was COVID-positive or showed COVID symptoms.
If you are feeling sick or exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19, or test positive for COVID-19, prior to the start of the conference, or on any day of the conference, please contact us at conference@sfconservancy.org, and we will issue you a refund.

These guidelines may change based on health and safety recommendations at the time of the event. We are committing, however, to only make changes in the direction of greater safety.