Post-Pandemic Production Schedules and Travel

So, first let's get one thing out of the way--the pandemic isn't over. We're doing pretty well with vaccinations here in New Jersey, with 55% of residents fully vaccinated and 64% having had at least one dose, but the rest of the US is lagging behind at 46% fully vaccinated and 54% with at least one dose. Since the population needs to have at least 70% for herd immunity, we're still a long way off from being free to resume our normal lives. Emboldened by the fact that vaccinations are now available, a lot of businesses and events are returning to gathering in-person. Drowning Moon Studios has always worked remotely, so not much changes on my end, but I've had to make some tough choices regarding convention attendance this year; namely, we're not doing it.

I've mentioned in previous posts how a large number of DMS's sales are driven by the company's presence at conventions, so this wasn't an easy decision to make. 2020 was the worst financial year for the company since we opened our doors in 2017. But with vaccination rates being so low, and me being immunocompromised, it's just not safe for me to attend in-person events this year. Instead, I've elected to run DMS games for Origins Online and GenCon Online again, even though that didn't translate to sales last year. This is because, thanks to professional organizations like IGDN, DMS will have physical products in their booth, in lieu of the company actually being there. I'm hoping that having a book at the con that players can physically buy will be a game-changer after both online and booth demos. It's possible, by the end of the year (November/December), vaccination rates will be much higher, and we can potentially attend cons like Metatopia and PAX Unplugged. We'll just have to wait and see.

In the midst of all this, I'm having some health struggles, compounded by the fact that I don't currently have medical insurance. I've applied for Medicaid, but it's now been almost three months and they're still "processing" my application. Unfortunately, I don't have the kind of health that can go three months without medications or doctors' visits, so it's been something of a struggle. A few weeks ago, things had gotten so bad that I had to make a late-night emergency room visit to deal with vertigo, muscle weakness, nausea and light sensitivity caused by a migraine that lasted two weeks. I've been out of the medication that controls my migraines for roughly two months, and my current GP won't prescribe them without a visit to a neurologist, which I simply can't afford without insurance.

Dealing with all of this while trying to fulfill a Kickstarter and continue business-as-usual for DMS has been extremely difficult. While I've managed to mostly stick to our fulfillment timeline so far, it's taken a lot of late nights to make up for days where I was incapable of working. I have another Kickstarter planned for the fall, and I hope that by then I'll have insurance and some of these problems will be handled, but I can't say for sure.

I know that this is a more personal post than the ones I normally make, but I want people to understand just how hard it is to run a small business in the US right now, particularly a gaming business. At this point, we're just trying to make it to the end of the year, and hoping that 2022 will be a 1000 times better.