I'm betting they will have to cancel but for now they don't want to risk cancelling and going bankrupt so they're waiting it out.
Yup, that would be my guess too, that there's a certain date that if we're still under restriction then the convention's insurance kicks in to alleviate some of the burden and it'll be deferred to 2021. Same thing happened with a lot of other events. I guess we'll see what comes late April.
And if that kinda crap is what they actually end up doing, that's gonna create a shitstorm of angry people. By then, most of the people who booked their hotels through Fanime might end up missing their deadline to change their bookings without penalty. A lot of people could be out a lot of money, not just the convention organizers.
And assuming all of this will just magically go away enough in what is now less than two months away...enough that a venue with thousands if not tens of thousands of attendants is going to go off without a hitch... Seriously?
No matter what, I'm not taking the chance and, worst case scenario, I'm writing off my pre-reg as a loss, since their policy still says no refunds. I booked a hotel outside of Fanime and was able to successfully cancel earlier this month without any penalty. I only hope that the bulk of the other attendees are able to do the same.
How disgusting. Other, far bigger bay area events have rescheduled or canceled with a faster response time. Cinequest from the beginning of this month postponed the second half of their film festival to the summer, despite a huge financial hit. They were able to get this done mid-festival, before the shelter in place order was even given. They have, arguably, lot more to lose than Fanime and they handled it beautifully, despite the short notice and it affecting not only San Jose but Redwood City venues.
If Fanime staff waits until the last possible minute to take any action, I think I'm done with Fanime and I've been going since '98.