===An Update On Future DEFCON 201 Meet-Ups and Coronavirus COVID-19===
Greetings Dirty Jersey Hackers!
If you have been living under a rock (looking at you Tom’s River) you have been assaulted with reports of the COVID-19 pandemic known commonly as the “Coronavirus” that has been sweeping the United States and the globe. Many public activities, including many hacker conventions and gatherings, are being canceled left and right as the infection rate rises and more people succumb to the disease.
This is no laughing matter, this is not a drill and our hearts and minds go out to those who are affected by this plague.
So…where does that leave DEFCON 201?
We thought about it long and hard and here is the simple answer:
Starting March 11th, unless something directly happens to our amazing venue at Sub Culture and/or Jersey City goes on complete lock-down/martial law…
WE ARE NOT CANCELING DEFCON 201 MEET-UPS & EVENTS!
DEFCON 201 will STILL meet up 3rd Friday of every month at Sub Culture located at 260 Newark Ave, Jersey City NJ from 7pm to 10pm unless something changes.
We feel that in a time of pandemic that we should stand together, including understand if people are unable to make it due to fear and/or sick and have to stay home, and being their for one another no matter the situation. (Similar to our cousins at NYC 2600!)
If something does change were we have to delay or cancel an event, similar to the July 2019 heatwave, we will let you know ASAP on our website, blog and social media. Growing up in the nuclear wasteland known as New Jersey we are use to the idea of killer plagues such as SARS, H1N1, Toxic Water and Trenton.
HOWEVER…
Just because the show is going on that does not mean we are going to continue on the same methods and procedures.
We will be educating people on the Coronavirus and following CDC and Jersey City guidelines to protect our attendees and provide a safer meeting environment.
These steps include:
— Educational material presented in person and in handout form on the CDC recommended hygienic methods to avoid contracting Coronavirus, how to identify it and resources on what you can do if you sadly are infected by it.
— Combat and dispel rumors and bad advice about Coronavirus to prevent our attendees and members from being exploited via health, financially, ethically or electronically.
— In addition to the high standards of cleaning our venue Sub Culture already ascribe to, we will disinfect all tables and seats at Sub Culture prior to members showing up and all equipment to be used during presentations and workshops by attendees.
— We will provide hand sanitizer, hygienic wipes and other preventive materials that we can afford for FREE while supplies last.
— Recommend that all attendees, members and staff maintain a minimum of 3 feet away from each other standing distance if possible.
— We will ask attendees to enter their email into a secure, encrypted text-file that is cold storage locally that contains their handle and email. We do not request any other information. Your information that you enter will be kept private with us, will only be used for attendance record purposes and NOT shared by us to any non-CDC affiliated individuals and third parties. This is not only to in case of an outbreak to inform everyone if an infection breaks out but also to comply with Jersey City’s order on private gatherings larger than 25 persons as seen here: https://t.co/MtmEH1fQGi?amp=1
— Finally, starting in April 2020 when applicable for those who are unable or are too worried to attend, we will start streaming talks and activities (never the crowd) with permission at all future events!
If you want to work with Biohackers to develop an open source methodology to safely test for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 using common tools contribute to this project:
https://app.jogl.io/project/118
Please refer to these links to these online resources about Coronavirus safety:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
https://jcnj.org/cms/one.aspx?pageId=16490629
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xl2nA_xuHjY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTYfke545vI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05wyH1-mLGk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCucUd5KeJo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c09m5f7Gnic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEFFZ7uZoFM
Stay tuned and stay safe!
— Sidepocket (Co-Founder of DEFCON 201)
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