The Perl Toolchain Summit 2023 has a COVID Policy
The Perl Toolchain Summit is the annual event that brings together the key developers working on the Perl toolchain. The 13th summit (after a three year hiatus in 2020-2022) is in France this year, in late April.
It is, at its heart, an in-person event: about thirty people will spend four days in confined spaces, exchanging ideas and patches. And also droplets. To keep everyone safe, we have prepared a COVID policy.
Foreword
The pandemic has stopped the PTS from happening for three consecutive years. We're very happy to bring everyone together again to work on the further advancement of the Perl toolchain. One big difference with the previous editions is that we now share the world with the COVID-19 virus and all its variants.
The participants of the summit are all adults in a wide age bracket, with a number of them being middle-aged or more mature, possibly with health pre-conditions that make them more vulnerable to a COVID-19 infection. As the organisers of the event, we do not want to put their health at risk.
We are taking some measures to limit as much as possible the risk of contamination.
Before the event
The single most important step in protecting others is to not show up sick.
Therefore, the organisers expect the attendees to:
- be up-to-date on vaccination against COVID-19
- minimize their risk in the 7 days before the event
- get tested if possible on the day of travel to the PTS, or the day before if that's not possible
- cancel their participation if they test positive before leaving home, or if they have a known exposure (e.g. partner or family member has COVID)
(If the PTS sponsors your travel and accommodation, and you must cancel, we will of course cover the cancellation costs.)
If you have plans for tourism, it's better to stay a few days after the event, than to arrive before. (Although please note that May 1st is a public holiday in France, and that public transport won't work that day in Lyon.)
Travel recommendations
Rules may differ depending on your country of origin, so all we can offer is recommendations for traveling safely and not catching COVID-19 while on your way to the summit:
- wear a FFP2, N95 or KN95 mask while in transit (airplane)
- wear a surgical mask (or better) in public transport (airport shuttle, tram)
During the event
Spending at least 8 hours a day in a closed space with a group, and then going out for dinner all together in a restaurant guarantees more people will be infected if any of the group members is contagious. We'll do our best to mitigate the risk, and it can only work if everyone behaves responsibly (especially doesn't show up sick, as stated above).
The organisers expect the attendees to:
- wear masks indoors
- get tested if they have symptoms (we'll arrange the logistics and cover the costs of testing)
- isolate in their room and participate remotely if they have symptoms or are tested positive
There is a public park besides the hotel, we will arrange for some group discussions to happen there, weather permitting.
Thanks to our sponsors, we can afford investing into our participants safety, and will provide:
- masks, hydroalcoholic gel, and self-test kits
- CO2 detectors and air purifiers in each meeting room
We will also ventilate the rooms regularly.
Remote participation
Although the Perl Toolchain Summit is primarily an on-site event, we will have some ways to participate remotely:
- the participants usually hang out on the #pts IRC channel (on the irc.perl.org network)
- some of the meetings of broader interest will be held via video-conference, to enable remote participation
Note that enabling remote participation is a secondary goal for us. If too many invitees are unable to attend, we will work on making some of the meetings remotely accessible.
Further documentation and links
France's COVID policy
France basically lifted all rules, and what's left is recommendations:
- no mandatory vaccine pass
- mask-wearing is no longer mandatory in establishments open to the public, nor on board maritime, river, land and air transport
- mask-wearing continues to be recommended in enclosed and small spaces, and at large gatherings for vulnerable persons due to their age
Pink.
Sounds like a real blast.