BayCon – Bay Area SciFi & Fantasy Convention

Update 5÷22÷15: We decided not to attend BayCon this year. We reviewed the schedule, recognized none of the names, found the discussions to be unrelated to our expectations for a SciFi convention, and decided we wouldn’t be continuing our trend of going.
************************************************
BayCon this year was fun and enjoyable but a bit of a let down.
There were a few problems that I saw, some last year that were perpetuated and some this year I may just not have noticed last year since I only went for the day.
I was especially excited this year as my writing has become more important to me and I wanted to attend several publishing and writing classes.
The only problem is BayCon appears to not really be sure what to be. It’s not a fan convention, because there’s not enough cosplayers (they’re all at Fanime), it’s not a science convention (nobody has the credentials for that), it’s not a gamer convention and it’s certainly not a writer’s convention but it tries to be all of these at once.
There was one author on a panel that said, «we never put the genres together in writing groups.» And I feel like this described exactly the mistake BayCon has made.
BayCon doesn’t currently have the focus it needs to bring together a solid packed weekend.
Anyone can stick a day full of different things and have it be a really fun day. But after three days, the disjointed effect of having costumers with potential authors and science geeks with LARPers basically creates a watery three days where most of the classes are Fan lead discussions on a ton of unrelated topics.
I’m fairly sure I’m not alone in being completely confused about what BayCon is really about. Or what kind of convention it is.
Beyond the class issues the vast majority of it’s attendees are now over 45 and not local. This means that many of them have rather serious expectations of treatment, mostly ending in loud discussions when their needs are not being met.
I don’t think I’m going to attend next year as I don’t think I’m BayCon’s target audience. But if I do attend I’ll probably just stick to the Saturday day pass and leave any expectations at the door.

Of all the science fiction conventions of various types that exist in the Bay Area, BayCon is the one that has the most impressive resume. There are bigger cons (Fanime as an example) and ones that draw bigger names, but none of them are as over-​whelming entertaining and strange as BayCon.
First off, the team that puts it on has it’s ups and downs. Some folks have burned a lot of bridges and that sometimes colours the convention reaction of some. It’s understandable.
The programming and panels are well-​done. The last few years have seen an explosion in the kinds of panels and topics covered, as well as an opening up of panelists that has made things better. While many cons seem to be getting older, there’s a strong current of youth with BayCon. I’m sure the Party Scene doesn’t hurt on that one.
And the parties tend to be really fun. Any given night, you can expect three or four top-​notch parties, plus people milling about in the halls and places like the ConSuite and the Fanzine Lounge. Booze flows, though you don’t get too many drunken idiots around.
The committee has chosen good hotels, specifically the DoubleTree for the first 25 years and the Hyatt from 2008 onward.
The minor problems are there. Sometimes communication between staff and attendees isn’t what it could be, but that happens. The problems that affect any convention get to BayCon as well, and they deal with it with speed and clarity most of the time.