Business Trip Planned for January. Sorta.

[canyonwalker]

I now have a business trip planned for January. Sorta. My company is hosting two in-person technical seminars, one in Atlanta and one in Austin. They're pilots for launching a larger series of similar events, around a dozen in all, later in the year.

I say sorta because I volunteered quickly when I saw an open slot needing a presenter at the Austin conference, but almost immediately after signing up I started to have second thoughts. The Coronavirus pandemic is hardly over yet. Infection rates remain alarmingly high overall, and the impact of the new Omicron strain has yet to be seen. And Texas is politically a Covidiot state, with laws enacted by its Republican legislature and governor to ban common-sense health measures such as mask requirements. I seriously may look for a colleague who's interested in taking my place at the seminar.

If I do stick with volunteering for this seminar, tt'll be my first business trip after 23 months. Yeah, it's been a long time. I'm itchy to get back out on the road, in front of people. I've just got to be confident I'm not putting myself at unacceptable risk.

Update: On January 3 the company canceled all in-person events for the month.

Comments

[some_other_dave]

I'm not sure Atlanta is much if any better from a Covidiot standpoint.

At least Austin is somewhat more sane than the rest of Texas.

[canyonwalker]

I agree Austin is saner than other parts of Texas but the fact remains the Republicans who control all the levers of state government are eager to stick it to Democrat municipalities like Austin. Atlanta and Georgia fit the same profile. I'm not sure which is better or worse from the standpoint of Covid-19 public health. If nothing else, going to Austin would be slightly less risky than Atlanta because it's a shorter trip & with more non-stop flight choices.