Health & Safety

We have been running cons for a long, long time. Over those years, a metric crap ton of you have trusted us to give you a pretty rad event where you and all your hacker friends could frolic around and have a joyful time. With great power, comes great responsibility and all that jazz. And we take that responsibility pretty damn seriously.

Everyone who occupies the con space we operate have a different risk and threat model, and we want everyone to feel they can experience the con in a way that fits their model. Considering COVID-19 is still in the community, we wanted to make sure that everyone had all the information they needed to make their own risk assessment on ‘if’ and ‘how’ they attended the con. So this is our threat model and all the controls and zones we have in place. It’s ALMOST like we are all nerds in a risk-based industry.

Last updated: 2025-08-12

Attendee Expectations and Masks

Masks are encouraged, but not required. Free masks will be available at the con if you need one. Health NZ have some good info on types of masks if you need it.

Not respecting other attendees and their boundaries is a Code of Conduct violation. We each have our different risk tolerance, just leave others to make the call that is best for them. No one needs your snarky commentary.

Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) are recommended before the event and especially if you become unwell. You can get them from most chemists, and Health NZ has some tips too.

A full virtual con stream is available during the con for those that can’t attend in the main auditorium or the con at all. No ticket required.

Venue Zones

We are at the mercy of Venues Wellington when it comes to venue ventilation options. Because of that, the con is broken down into three zones for people to move between based off their risk profile. Each zone will have ventilation and air quality limits and controls.

In general, the Michael Fowler venue has a single HVAC system, and uses Farr 30/30 filters with a rating of MERV-8. We are working to confirm the air change rates and CO2 set points that the venue expect. We will update this page, along with share a post on our socials once we have confirmed.

  • Zone 1: Michael Fowler main auditorium

    There is only one auditorium, so you really can’t get lost on this one. If there is space, you can physically distance yourself from others but this is less likely during popular talks or stuff like the keynote. The venue doors have to be closed during the talks, which limits the ventilation. Because of that, this is the riskiest zone.

    CO2 monitors will be available for all attendees to see and will be monitored. We will just have very limited options of what we can actually do to reduce them.

  • Zone 2: Renouf foyer (level 1)

    This is the main upstairs area where most of our hallway con events are being held, so a pretty big space that allows for physical distancing (maybe less so when the main auditorium is on break). Windows and emergency exit doors cannot be opened to assist air flow. CO2 monitors will be available for all attendees to see and will be monitored, we will just have limited options of what we can actually do to reduce them.

    The talks inside the auditorium are streamed to a stage in this area with audio and video feeds if you prefer to watch live with more space. Food is available here.

  • Zone 3: Fletcher Challenge foyer (level 0)

    This is the initial entryway to the venue and where reg desk is. Front doors will remain open, with venue security monitoring the doors. With the con being in November, this means we can perhaps get some fresh air in without freezing our butts off. CO2 monitors will be available for all attendees to see, and we will try our best to reduce them if they get too high.

    There is no streaming to this floor, but there will be chairs available for people who just need space to get away from crowds for a bit. Food is available here and outside.

  • Zone 4: Virtual Con

    This is the lowest risk level since you can enjoy the con from where ever you like (that has an internet connection that is). Live stream details are provided closer to the con, and no tickets are required so tune in as you wish.

Where to go with questions

The Crüe are responsible for this policy, so if you have questions you best come to us.

Before the con: You can email us at kiwicon@kiwicon.org which we do monitor quite regularly.

During the con: Find a volunteer (with an orange lanyard) to get someone from Crüe (with a red lanyard).

After the con: You can email us, but maybe expect a delay while we recover from lack of sleep and reduction of stress.

(Also: We are grateful for other cons, like Kiwi PyCon, and other folks in the industry, like Wadepool, who inspired and shared their health and safety research to help us level up. We have shamefully borrowed wording from them. <3 If you want to do more reading for your own personal threat model, check out Keith’s write up traveling here and Violet Blue’s newsletter Threat Model.)