chuqui@cae780.UUCP (Chuq Von Rospach) (11/29/83)
I was one of a reported 1200 people who flocked to San Jose for the SF Bay
Area SF and Fantasy convention (baycon 83) over the thanksgiving weekend.
For those that didn't get there, here are a few comments on it (con
committee members, please sharpen pencils):
Overall, this was the most pleasant convention I have ever been to.
Most of the convention started on time (*gasp*) and when there were
delays, they were minimal. The costume show, usually the massive
bottleneck at a con, started about 30 minutes late (much better than
average from the cons I have seen).
Unlike most cons, I came home relaxed and refreshed. Most cons tend to
be exhausting. One big difference is that the Baycon people seem to
have made a committment to not do everything in three days (I mean, God
took 6!). They scheduled conferences for a full hour, and left each
room vacant for half an hour so that overruns and interesting
discussions didn't need to get cut off abruptly. Very few conferences
ended naturally in under an hour, and I know of only one that hadn't
finished in 90 minutes. This saves the hassles of trying to find rooms
to continue discussions and all the attached hassles. This also gives
you a lot of time to look at art and exhibits and get to the next
conference leisurely (hear hear!).
The art show was small, but high quality. Very few horny vulcans. A
number of pro's showed (and sold) work as well as amateurs. Well
represented were Don Maitz (AGoH), Ken Macklin, and Ray Mcginnis. Some
of these authors were also selling limited editions and repros for
those of us who can't afford the original artwork.
There was a LOT of art oriented conferences, lots of slides and
discussion. Looking back, there may have been more about SF art (and
comic art) than about SF literature, but I certainly didn't mind.
The costume show was a little small (40 entries) for 1200 people,
but once again it was very high quality costuming. The main reason for
the smallness was that, for once, there was a high level of self
restraint from the people wearing hall costumes not to walk on stage
and make a fool of themselves. Best of show went to a group (watch for
these at worldcon!) of five costumes from Vinges Snow Queen.
A VERY high quality file program. A film room went on pretty much 24
hours a day. They also had BCTV (Bay Con TV) which was piped into all
rooms in the hotel showing theater level SF (such as Wolfen, Tron,
etc...) that ran through the entire con. A second TV channel was used
for schedules (* gripes: the soundtrack was an apple playing bolero. It
didn't change for three days (May I never hear that song again!). Also,
there were too few monitors in the convention with the schedule on it).
At times security got a little strident. The fact that they were
all dressed in Mad Max outfits didn't make me feel any better
(although they weren't as bad as some Dorsai security I have run
into in the past). I much prefer hobbits for security, simply
because they prefer to ask rather than order (I also prefer orcs
for gofers, just in case asking doesn't work).
They had entertainment during costume judging. No offense to costume
MC's, but this was a nicer way to keep the masses quiet. The magician
they brought in was a little inappropriate, because many of the
audience did not appreciate the razor blade and sword swallowing.
(sidebar: There was an interesting side community of punk at the con,
both in the staff and the members. In some cases the punk influence
was a little strong for my taste (such as the magician) and there were
others who felt the same way. This is not putting down the punks, its
just that not everyone appreciates getting to watch someone stick
needles through their arms waiting for the costume awards... Something
less controversial would have been nice.
Synopsis: GREAT CON, Guys! Keep up the good work, and see you next year!
--
From the dungeons of the warlock: {amd70 qubix}!cae780!chuqui
Chuqui the Plaid *pif*