Hi all,
Here at Emory University, we are being asked to explore third-party apps like Bindle for verification of Vaccination or Negative Covid tests. Can you all share what you are doing in this area?
Are you using a third-party app? If so, which one? Do you like it?
Or, do you have someone on sight checking vaccination cards or negative test results? If so, where do they do it, and are they one of your staff members?
Or, do you have more of an honor code, where patrons attest to the fact that they are either vaccinated or will obtain a negative COVID test within (some number of hours) before the event?
Or, something else?
Thank you for your feedback!!
-Kathryn Colegrove
Hi Kathryn,
We do not have a mandate at this time at CU Boulder, but we have discussed it a lot. At this time we have determined that the only reliable way to verify both that a patron is vaccinated is through verification at the doors for the event. The problems with advance digital verification are that there's no recompense in the case of an error with the database, and that there's no way to verify the person who uploaded proof matches the person using the ticket without checking IDs at the door anyway.
It's also very clear to us that to implement we would need to either hire specialized staff to do this verification at the door or contract with a third-party security agency. Our entire campus is struggling with this and all of us (including athletics and performing arts) have stated that we don't have money in our budgets to pay for this, and that some sort of funding from outside our units would be necessary to subsidize this sort of work.
Hello!
At UMS at the University of Michigan, we did look at Bindle and a couple of other apps. U Mich does already have an app that is in use for students, staff, and faculty so we will be accepting that at the door. Instead of trying to get other audience members to download an app we are going the more accessible route of asking non-university folks to just bring their vaccination card or have a photo of it on their phone with their ID (or they can bring a negative test result). We will be using a 3rd party security team to verify at the door before folks can enter the lobby but will pair them with UMS staff or volunteers so that there is someone greeting on behalf of the org and can answer questions that we wouldn't expect the security team to know. We are requiring vaccination or negative test result for entry for all indoor performances.
Good luck to you and your team!
Christina
At NYU Skirball the NYU folks all have to be vaccinated and there is an app. Right now no outside audience is permitted, which is starting to feel very restrictive and certainly means that our primary audience for our professional events is non-existent so we are not planning a season until spring when we will likely use the NYC (Excellsior and NYC Safe) to check.
Just wondering are we the only PAC that is basically closed to the general public by university administration??
Thank you, everyone for sharing what your organizations are doing! So helpful. Amy - that level of restrictiveness has come up in conversation here and is one of the outcomes we are trying to avoid. Maybe this research from peer institutes can help us all advocate for what we need. Fingers crossed!
Cal Performances isn't restricted like that, for now.