I Attended an In-Person Conference During COVID: What Went Well and What Did NOT

I went to an in-person conference; did I come out with a great learning experience, a case of COVID, or both? 

I attended a conference, my friends. A real-life, in-person, at-a-hotel conference. I didn’t go because I was bored or desperately seeking to reconnect with colleagues (those things may, indeed, be true, but they’re not why I went). It certainly wasn’t an easy decision to go. I would be putting myself and my family at risk. I was anxious. Was it really necessary to go in-person?

I went because it was a conference for people like me trying to figure out how to run COVID-safe (COVID-appropriate? COVID-adjusted?) events. At some point, and in some format, my association will resume in-person gatherings. What will they look like? Will anyone come? And most importantly, can we keep attendees safe? I took the risk because I wanted to learn. I wanted to take stock of how I felt during the event.

I’m going to take a few moments to capture my thoughts about the experience. I’ll share what went well, what made me super uncomfortable, and my follow-up plan for keeping my family healthy. 

FIRST A NOTE: I’m making comments about masks because consistent mask wearing was a clearly outlined expectation for this event. Do what you like in your personal life, but the group expectations and social contract with each other is that everyone attending would, indeed, prioritize mask wearing. Don’t bother with your mask comments; I’m not interested in litigating that here. I’m just sharing that mask wearing was a clearly stated rule for this particular event. 

Here’s what went well:

• Temperature checks and pre-screening: All participants took a pre-screening questionnaire on an app and went through a temperature screening at the start of each day. We put a neon sticker on our badges (a new color each day) and off we went into the conference venue.
• Educational sessions: This was probably the best and easiest aspect of the conference. Space the chairs out. Make people sit at opposite ends of the table. Lots of measuring tapes and spacing diagrams, I’m sure. When everyone was sitting, I felt the safest. 
• Cleanliness: We’re finally moving toward the level of cleaning we should have always had on planes and in hotels. The airline staff handed me a sanitizing wipe on the way into the plane and for the first time in hundreds of flights I’ve taken, I wasn’t the only one wiping down my seat and tray table like a maniac. My hotel room was recently remodeled and very clean. I would come to learn I needed that "safe space" so I was grateful for that.
• Cleanliness, continued: Finally, hand sanitizer in elevators. There should have always been hand sanitizer in elevators. In fact there were hand sanitizing stations everywhere. Like you know how Disney World has trash cans every 30 feet? It’s like that. There were some fancy, scented sanitizer dispensers. Those were my fave. 
• Touchless interactions (or at least touch-limited): They mailed our badges to us ahead of time and everyone seems to be accepting (albeit awkwardly) that we aren’t shaking hands anymore. The hotel either placed your food at the door for room service or provided paper bags at lunch lines so you could grab your own sandwich and chips. 
• In-room happy hour: One of the sponsors had the ingredients and accoutrements for Mai Tais delivered to our guest rooms and we were instructed to tune into the hotel TV station. A bartender greeted us at the appointed time and walked us through the making of our own Mai Tai. It was a festive, safe, fun way for this sponsor to get some conference-wide attention on social media. 
• I wasn’t at home. I was out for a run one afternoon and the thought struck me like a ton of bricks: “Holy crap. I’m not at home. I’m … somewhere else!” As someone who has taken this quarantine seriously, I don’t go anywhere. I’m lucky that I have an office outside my home (my staff is virtual so it’s just me at my location), but it certainly isn’t my normal schedule of getting on a plane multiple times per month year round. I woke up in a hotel room. I took a run around the hotel property. I wore heels. I wasn’t at home. If I’m honest, I had a few giddy moments being somewhere else.  
• Suppliers stepped up. Some suppliers were in person on the trade show floor and others were participating virtually. I give these companies a lot of credit for taking a chance on this "back to business" effort. More about the trade show later.

Here’s what did NOT go well:

• Masks are politicized. Plain and simple. Many, many adults did not wear them. One of my favorite sayings is that “character is how we behave when others aren’t watching.” I learned a lot about the character of folks at this event. For all of the rallying cries of “working together to get us back to work” in the meetings industry, there were a lot of people who apparently felt their right to not wear a mask trumped everyone else’s shared expectations for safety. We received regular admonitions via text and overhead announcements from meeting organizers to “wear masks at all times over mouth AND nose.” 
• The trade show floor was, essentially, "business as usual." Let me be clear that this is not a positive statement. Some trade show booths had small plexiglass dividers and some broader spacing, but they pretty much looked like regular trade show booths and I'll admit that I steered clear. I just couldn't bring myself to engage in a crowd of people that I had watched for two days demonstrate shocking inconsistency in mask wearing. Sorry. I just couldn't do it. I browsed at a distance to see if there was anything to learn. As far as I could tell, there wasn't. We haven't solved the trade show component yet.
• We need a better solution for how to eat and drink in a crowd. Period. In both the opening and closing receptions, the stated expectation (I guess) was that masks would be on unless you were sitting or stationary with food or drink. The reality is that people grabbed a White Claw and wandered around like it was a pre-pandemic networking hour. I DID NOT STAY. I was so incredibly uncomfortable. I took some pictures and hightailed it back to my room. 
• Food and drink, continued: I also went to a sit-down breakfast hosted by a supplier. Most round tables at conferences before COVID sat 8 or 10 chairs; I guess I expected four seats per table...maybe 5. I stopped in my tracks as soon as I walked in. There were 6 seats per table. What do I do? That’s too many people. We’re too close to each other. I wasn’t the only one squirming. The woman across the table from me moved to take off her mask. Then she hesitated. I looked at her and said, “I don’t know what to do either.” I mean, we were there to eat, but we were NOT socially distanced. Or at least we didn’t FEEL socially distanced--and that’s the true measure. We felt uncomfortable. Should we not eat? Should we get up and move? Should we take the risk and just take the mask off and eat? Ultimately, that’s what we all did. It was super awkward. 
• Food and drink, continued AGAIN: Even the grab-and-go stations made me hesitate. The line was not spaced out and people can’t help themselves but pick up a granola bar, see something better, and put the original one back in the pile. Drinks in an iced drink well. In theory, it seems ok… grab your drink and go. I just hope nobody was stupid enough to use that ice that everyone put their hands into to get the sodas. (I was incredibly challenged as a person with a food allergy, but I won't go into that now. Just know that not everybody at a conference can grab a sandwich and eat it. I definitely struggled to manage my food at the event, more so than I usually do.)

My Personal Safety Plan

My husband has pre-existing conditions, so I did not go home when I “got home.” Instead, I stayed at my office and made arrangements with another family member with a basement suite so I could isolate for at least 72 hours. After that, I’ll get a COVID test before I go home. I was in Florida for less than 72 hours; I will spend at least that long away from my family before I go home. My three-day trip may turn in to a week or weeks (if I fall ill) away from my family. Time will tell.

I read a lot of articles written by flight attendants to learn how they are navigating airports these days. I took their recommendations to wear medical-grade masks for the entire journey and gloves for some of the touch points in the process (checking in, dropping bags, going through security). I did not remove my mask a single time during the journey. No food, no drink, nada. I just left the mask on the whole time. 

I was fortunate (?) to get upgraded to first class on my way home. The guy sitting next to me took full advantage of of his maskless time, partaking in several waters and liquor-on-the-rocks drinks during a 7:30am flight (*eye roll* this annoyed me pre-COVID). Basically, he didn’t wear a mask the entire flight. 

All-in-all, I was disciplined about keeping my distance during this journey. However, I do have a confession to make. A friend (not just a professional colleague but a person I consider a friend) was at the conference and I didn’t know she was going to be there. She called my name from right behind me, and I turned to see who it was. Before I even knew what I was doing, my auto-reflex kicked in and I HUGGED HER. I honest to god hugged her. I didn’t mean to. I didn’t decide to. It just happened. And immediately, I was horrified for what I had done. I apologized then, and later texted her again to apologize. She wasn’t bothered (whew!) but I was surprised at my own reaction and how quickly it happened. We are starved for normal social conventions. I am not immune to that, mask or not. 

I’m less than 12 hours into my 72-hour quarantine. I’ll update this post to tie a bow on this conversation and get to the heart of the matter -- I went to an in-person conference, but did I get COVID? 

Update as of 10/27/20: I completed my 72-hour isolation and I have returned home without COVID. Thank you for all your well wishes and for following along on the journey. --Christina

Update as of 10/29/20: Organizers informed attendees this afternoon that three people have tested positive for COVID-19. See my follow-up article on that.