I went on Saturday and had a great time as well. I almost didn't go after how 2019 turned out, but I'm glad I went. As far as attendees and vendors goes, it was definitely smaller than 2019, but the panel selection was on par with 2019, maybe even a bit bigger. But the main difference from last time IMO is that this year, they organized it very well. It was a far cry from the dumpster fire that 2019 was. They didn't try to bite off more than they could chew, nor did they pretend to be anything they weren't. Covid protocols were as inobtrusive as they could be; just masks (which is mandated indoors in Santa Clara county) and temperature checks.
I have no opinion of Adam Savage either way, but during the opening ceremony, I'd never been so happy to see him walk on stage. The guests and attendees were clearly happy to be back. I attended panels featuring Gail Simone, Bruce Boxleitner, and Mark Sheppard, all of which were top notch. I went to a Mark Sheppard panel at ECCC some years back and found him annoying, but this weekend I thought his panel was pretty awesome. Maybe it's because last time, Supernatural was still a thing (which I haven't gotten into), it was a nearly all Q&A format, and almost all of the questions people asked him were about Supernatural. But now that has cooled off, he talked more about his career and life in general as well as some of his musical projects. He also gave stupid responses to many of the moderator's stupid questions, which I thought was funny. (The moderator was a good sport about it, though.) The last panel I attended was the Komedio Nerd Comedy Showcase, which was a good endcap.
The only part I thought was shaky was actually the science section. There were a couple of NASA panels added at the last moment, but nearly all of them were zoom calls, which doesn't work. I tried going to some of these but left after a few minutes. IMO, the only one of these with a virtual guest that was watchable was the opening ceremony with astronaut Cady Coleman. Cady Coleman zoomed in and Adam Savage and author/puppeteer Mary Robinette Kowal were in person. The main reason this worked is that Cady Coleman was so charismatic (unlike some of the other science panel guests) that she made me want to pay attention even though she was just on the screen, and her and Savage and Kowal seemed to have very good chemistry.
The exhibitor hall wasn't much, but I wasn't expecting much. The dealers, artist's alley, and guests were all in the main hall, and it wasn't crowded. However, I was glad to see the carpet came back. I picked up a Hello Kitty Bobblehead from the SF Giants booth and an Aggretsuko print from the Artist's Alley. I was also glad that the security didn't take away people's food like in 2019 (which tbh seemed to be security's sole purpose that year), especially given the lack of food booths.
Overall, this was the perfect first con back. They cut things down to the bare essentials, and it worked. Hopefully they can build upon this foundation for future years.