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Conventions in the Bay Area now have a quarter century tradition. We've hosted two WorldCons, a Westercon or two, and everything from tiny one day relaxacons to the four day monster that is BayCon. There is no shortage of experience in doing these things.
So why did Silicon 2007 fall apart at the seams?
Everything felt like it was thrown together with very little planning and thought. We've been using this hotel for over twenty years, and yet decisions about placing events were made that boggled the mind. The "Meet the Guests" reception was held in a foyer, with no microphone for the MC and excessive noise coming from The Coffee Garden and the long hallways to either side. I couldn't hear myself being introduced!
The program book was a disaster. Typos everywhere, a distinct lack of good information, and the program schedule in the back was completely obsolete before the con even opened. Multiple panels had the wrong time and/or room listed. Additionally, the listing was pulled directly from the blocking file, so we also got "common use" rooms in the schedule. This made for a confusing read. The actual program was distributed on a hard to read paper immediately dubbed "the Errata Sheet." Find an event involved looking it up in the book to see if it was something you were interested in, then trying to find out where and when it actually was. Compounding this problem was the fact that the website was not updated with the new schedule! I heard many people state that they had timed their arrival to see a particular panel or film, only to find it had occurred hours earlier.
Look at the con's home page or the results on a Google search of the name. Based on a quick look of these results, you'd think this was a SF/F convention, right?
Wrong. Despite the con's own description of itself, we were assured at the Hiss and Purr that SC was in fact a "multimedia convention." In this case, it meant we had partnered with a horror film group. Modern horror, meaning guts, blood and sex. I wouldn't mind, except for the numerous merchants in the hallways of the common areas with video loops of their wares! None of what I saw on those monitors should have been in public. Nudity, graphic violence.. you want to have a closed, carded screening? Fine. But some of us do not react to well to gore. There was also a cultural break between the SF/F fans and the horror fans. SF cons are participatory events. You buy a membership and are part of the event. Even panel discussions include audience participation, and most of the action comes in fan-run parties. Horror cons are more on the Creationcon model: Buy a ticket, sit down and get entertained. Needless to say there were some strained relations over this difference.
I keep coming back to the impression that the con was organized in a week. I know for a fact that wasn't the case, but it's how everything felt.
At this point, I'd think twice before buying a membership or agreeing to appear as a guest again. I go to cons to relax, not accumulate more stress.
On the good side, having Bad Boy Bail Bonds as a con sponsor (and provider of lanyards for our badges) was amusing. I meant to ask if we had generated any business for them over the weekend.
So why did Silicon 2007 fall apart at the seams?
Everything felt like it was thrown together with very little planning and thought. We've been using this hotel for over twenty years, and yet decisions about placing events were made that boggled the mind. The "Meet the Guests" reception was held in a foyer, with no microphone for the MC and excessive noise coming from The Coffee Garden and the long hallways to either side. I couldn't hear myself being introduced!
The program book was a disaster. Typos everywhere, a distinct lack of good information, and the program schedule in the back was completely obsolete before the con even opened. Multiple panels had the wrong time and/or room listed. Additionally, the listing was pulled directly from the blocking file, so we also got "common use" rooms in the schedule. This made for a confusing read. The actual program was distributed on a hard to read paper immediately dubbed "the Errata Sheet." Find an event involved looking it up in the book to see if it was something you were interested in, then trying to find out where and when it actually was. Compounding this problem was the fact that the website was not updated with the new schedule! I heard many people state that they had timed their arrival to see a particular panel or film, only to find it had occurred hours earlier.
Look at the con's home page or the results on a Google search of the name. Based on a quick look of these results, you'd think this was a SF/F convention, right?
Wrong. Despite the con's own description of itself, we were assured at the Hiss and Purr that SC was in fact a "multimedia convention." In this case, it meant we had partnered with a horror film group. Modern horror, meaning guts, blood and sex. I wouldn't mind, except for the numerous merchants in the hallways of the common areas with video loops of their wares! None of what I saw on those monitors should have been in public. Nudity, graphic violence.. you want to have a closed, carded screening? Fine. But some of us do not react to well to gore. There was also a cultural break between the SF/F fans and the horror fans. SF cons are participatory events. You buy a membership and are part of the event. Even panel discussions include audience participation, and most of the action comes in fan-run parties. Horror cons are more on the Creationcon model: Buy a ticket, sit down and get entertained. Needless to say there were some strained relations over this difference.
I keep coming back to the impression that the con was organized in a week. I know for a fact that wasn't the case, but it's how everything felt.
At this point, I'd think twice before buying a membership or agreeing to appear as a guest again. I go to cons to relax, not accumulate more stress.
On the good side, having Bad Boy Bail Bonds as a con sponsor (and provider of lanyards for our badges) was amusing. I meant to ask if we had generated any business for them over the weekend.
