Barking Mad is sad to announce that TCEP has been cancelled for 2021.
When we started planning for TCEP this year, the staff of Barking Mad spent a lot of time discussing how to handle the pandemic. Our original plan was simple: limit attendance, require that all attendees be vaccinated, and that they wear masks. We assumed that with several vaccines available from the start of the year, all adults in the country would be vaccinated by mid-summer, and that most children would be on course to get vaccinated in time for the Fall school semester.
We didn’t expect that the decision to get vaccinated in the middle of a pandemic would become a litmus test for 40% of the US population. We didn’t expect that 40% of Virginians would choose not to get vaccinated.
With the advent of the Delta variant of COVID-19, and the up-swing in infections, hospitalizations, and deaths, it would be foolhardy to hold a convention at this time.
Barking Mad has always prided itself on holding fun events safely; unfortunately, we don’t believe that we can do that this year.
We look forward to seeing everyone in 2022.