The Steel Guitar Forum

The conversation here in Forumland has been very sparse, if at all, regarding the 800 lb. gorilla in the national room... the coronavirus and its multitude of effects it has had on our national routines.

I'm wondering if anyone here on the Forum has or had plans to attend the TSGA Jamboree but have decided to stay away from the environment of spending 4 days in a closed hotel with many strangers from many different locations.

Since a great percentage of our audience are seniors and therefore technically a high risk group for the ailment, I can certainly understand taking the path of caution and deciding to sit this one out.

Thanks for this post to raise awareness. I know I have been concerned a bit about this event in particular.

I would politely urge attendees to use an elbow bump or a hand wave in lieu of handshakes. I also would urge attendees to refrain from swarming the pro players like Lloyd Green for instance like I have seen in past years. Let's keep a respectful distance from our heroes to reduce of the chance of transmission of this virus.

Be safe everyone!

Herb, good question and a real concern. I couldn't attend this year's event but may have pulled out anyway amidst the recent outbreak. I hope there is no mention of anyone contracting the illness and I pray all of our lives go on unharmed. We need this show and so many more. With any luck they will get it under control soon and stop the spreading of it. God bless all our friends and heroes. Have a wonderful show with record attendance.

Planning on going but will arrive Thursday afternoon and spending 10 days in the mid-Texas area!

News today that a passenger on jetblue flight from new york to san diego has tested positive. Personally if you are over 60 and have any respiratory issues, you would have to be nuts to fly or go to conventions. We have zero idea how widespread it currently is. And the US mortality rate is currently 5%

Herb Steiner wrote: "I'm wondering if anyone here on the Forum has or had plans to attend the TSGA Jamboree but have decided to stay away from the environment of spending 4 days in a closed hotel with many strangers from many different locations."

I had planned to go, but decided not to, it wasn't entirely for the Corona virus fear but the pandemic was heavy in my mind. I worked in the public health field and have followed this for a while. I think the risks are minimal for individuals attending this, however the potential for infection is certainly there. I could be wrong as it seems we might be vastly underestimating the current rate of infection in the US due to inadequate testing. Overall I think not attending or even cancelling this is in line with CDC recommendations.

For a summary of recent recommendations read this:

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/12/health/w ... index.html

I wonder about the situation with international travelers?

I live 15 minutes from the convention....I not going

It seems that most if not all reported cases have been observed in people who have traveled in large, confined groups (cruise ships, planes) or otherwise exposed to close contact with confined groups (conventions). Combine that with all the handshaking and hugging old friends, the motel rooms that you don't know who slept in that bed last night,,or the previous nights,,,and all us old people,,,is it worth taking that risk???? and for those who say yes,,,and don't care about their own health,,,how about all the ones that they will expose to it,,before they even know they have it? I'm certainly not an "alarmist",,or paranoid,,,just common sense realistic.

Sonny Jenkins wrote:It seems that most if not all reported cases have been observed in people who have traveled in large, confined groups (cruise ships, planes) or otherwise exposed to close contact with confined groups (conventions). Combine that with all the handshaking and hugging old friends, the motel rooms that you don't know who slept in that bed last night,,or the previous nights,,,and all us old people,,,is it worth taking that risk???? and for those who say yes,,,and don't care about their own health,,,how about all the ones that they will expose to it,,before they even know they have it? I'm certainly not an "alarmist",,or paranoid,,,just common sense realistic.

The problem is we really don't understand exactly how the virus is transmitted. The people who seem to be most at risk are cruise ship crew, cruise travelers, nursing homes, medical personnel, and Uber drivers. We may be looking at being in an Italy like situation in a few weeks if we don't do everything to halt this tragedy. The health minister of the UK and Tom Hanks and his wife have the virus and they are probably just the tip of the iceberg.

With great sadness I made a decision on Saturday not to make the trip.

The virus can last hours in the air. Days on plastic. Testing is non-existent so we have zero idea how wide spread it is.

If you are over 60, assume everyone you meet and come in contact can potentially kill you. I have personally stopped going to the Y and am holding up at home.

My son freaked me out more than anything. He was particularly concerned because I do smoke weed and he begged me to stop, so I have.

I'm 74 I have a great Thymus gland working properly
making those T cells/antibiotics for my Immune system.
I take a great supply of vitimans that are not under
dosed. Do not get any flue shots Well I had one about 15 years ago. And I can't remember the last time I was sick,
but it's been at least 8 years or so.
And I don't not take any FDA approved drugs.
Since my Immune system is on 100% stand buy, I will be attending the TSGA 2020.
Hope it's a good.
Autry

autry andress wrote:I'm 74 I have a great Thymus gland working properly
making those T cells/antibiotics for my Immune system.
I take a great supply of vitimans that are not under
dosed. Do not get any flue shots Well I had one about 15 years ago. And I can't remember the last time I was sick,
but it's been at least 8 years or so.
And I don't not take any FDA approved drugs.
Since my Immune system is on 100% stand buy, I will be attending the TSGA 2020.
Hope it's a good.
Autry

Your immune system has limited ability to fight something it has never seen before. And consider that there is no guarantee any of us isn't carrying the virus and may transmit it despite the fact that we are healthy. So we need to consider the hazards to others and also overall public health concerns for the country and world.

Read this article about the importance of taking the virus seriously.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archi ... ed/607807/

"Since my Immune system is on 100% stand buy, I will be attending the TSGA 2020.
"
You can still be a carrier and infect those around you.

we have a temporary situation with this virus , but if we don't respect it in the short term it will be here for the long term.

I am being proactive with travel and gigs. I expect a couple of my shows to be suspended for the month of April, I actually hope they are. One of the local Fri Dance Locations has already suspended the Fri night dances . I fully support this and hope others will follow. We're talking about 30 to 60 days.

I have concert tickets ( small rooms +-600 ) coming up, Its not a problem for me if they cancel the shows. In the back of my mind I hope they do that way I won't feel bad for not going !

With great sadness, I pulled out.

For me it was a cluster of things including;

* Several of the folks I was most looking forward to hanging with there had to pull out.

* I was going to play on two borrowed instruments and both of those were the victims of cancellations.

* My wife pointed out that it might be tough to find a more dense cluster of high risk individuals in one place.

The ultimate clincher, though, was realizing that we're caring for elderly family members, already injured or ill in other ways, and the risk of exposure was simply too great to ignore.

I'll hope to be back next year.

At the bequest of my family, I made a last minute decision to cancel....I'm 70 with a chronic heart condition (heart failure which is under control) and I'm in a higher risk group.....

People whom I have spoken with, including my family cannot believe that this convention has not been cancelled, especially with regard to the upper & senior age group which is the majority.....

And this brings me to the question......since almost all other contained large gatherings have been cancelled....why hasn't this been cancelled?.....is it about the financial hit the organization would take?.....if it is (I state "if") shouldn't health concerns override the money?.....

HowardR wrote:....

People whom I have spoken with, including my family cannot believe that this convention has not been cancelled, especially with regard to the upper & senior age group which is the majority.....

After listening to all the experts this morning there is no question in my mind that this should be cancelled. Although the risk may be minimal overall if the virus is acquired here the results could be catastrophic. And we have to also consider our overall contribution to public health...are we working to kill this outbreak or are we contributing to it?

Cancelling the event will have dramatic costs to the organizers. Conferences like this are on the hook to the hotel regardless if the event goes on or not.

My suggestion: cancel the event and start a gofundme page to help the organizers mitigate their losses. But to hold the event at this point seems irresponsible.

I usually stay at my daughter's house, less than a 20 minute drive from the Sheraton. My wife had cancer surgery and radiation treatments just under two years ago. She had a CT scan this morning in an attempt to determine the cause of recently developed pain in her forehead and one side of her face. I could not in good conscience leave her anyway, regardless of the Coronavirus concern, but decided that the added risk is too great. I will not attend this year. An uncle and cousin from out of state planned to attend, but also decided to cancel. My uncle is in his 80s. I will miss seeing old friends, making new ones, and the music. I hope everyome has a great time as usual, but please take all recommended precautions.

I had been curious as to why this hadn't been brought up before. I chose to not attend for several reasons. One was the associated health risks of spending time in close quarters with such a large group of high risk individuals. Myself included. Hopefully I will get to attend next year.

I hope everyone has a great time and gets home healthy.

rick andrews wrote:I had been curious as to why this hadn't been brought up before. I chose to not attend for several reasons. One was the associated health risks of spending time in close quarters with such a large group of high risk individuals. Myself included. Hopefully I will get to attend next year.

I hope everyone has a great time and gets home healthy.

Obviously nobody wanted any backlash and fortunately there has been none. Thanks to Herb for bringing it up and to all for discussing the issue politely and intelligently!

Bill McCloskey wrote: But to hold the event at this point seems irresponsible.

I agree...….

Bill McCloskey wrote:News today that a passenger on jetblue flight from new york to san diego has tested positive. Personally if you are over 60 and have any respiratory issues, you would have to be nuts to fly or go to conventions. We have zero idea how widespread it currently is. And the US mortality rate is currently 5%

29 of the deaths occurred at a retirement facility for seniors. To put this in perspective the average age of the fatalities is 80.