SiliCon 2022: August 27-28

[Transmute Jun]

Dates have just been announced, and badges are now on sale!

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[accelerate]

I decided to skip last year as I felt it wouldn't be worth the $80 for two days for a smaller-than-usual pandemic-era convention, but I decided to buy passes for this year. Still dunno if it'll be worth the $80, but I do want to support a local con, as we definitely don't have any other big ones in the Bay Area, not since Wondercon moved from SF to Anaheim.

Anyone go last year? How was it?

[Transmute Jun]

We went last year. It was actually wonderful, for a few reasons. First, for us, it was our first post-pandemic con. So it was great to be back and also to see some of our con friends. Additionally, it was pretty empty. This meant that we had unprecedented access to the celebrity guests. It was so easy to just walk into panels, or see them walking around. There were so many guests whom we just ran into in the convention center and area around it, and we ewre able to thank them personally for being at the con. Heck, I even (briefly) ran into Shatner on the con floor.

Yes, the exhibit floor was lackluster, and NASA decided to bail last minute. But we were glad that we went.

Here's my review of last year's event.

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[accelerate]

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login Thanks for the writeup. I would've been bummed about the lack of NASA. I really enjoyed the booth the times they've been there. It was either 2018 or 2019 where they had a replica of the Curiosity rover with on display, with a cool VR experience. Also, I'm one of those who enjoys the Exhibit Hall and Artists Alley more than panels, so I think I made a good decision to skip out. I hope this year it's a return to form.

[hikanteki]

I went last year for one day. I almost didn’t go due to how bad 2019 was, but I’m glad I went. They did a good job last year. Like Transmute Jun, it was my first post-pandemic con. The mood was great and everyone (both guests and attendees) was glad to be back. Exhibit hall was very small but I still found a couple cool things (and the carpet was back, too.) Panels were entertaining and easy to get into. Compared to 2019: smaller attendance, smaller exhibit hall but about the same amount of programming and much better organized.

[alyssa]

Get ready for some guest announcements coming next week!

In the meantime, don't miss an opportunity to grab your photo ops and autograph tickets for our current lineup featuring George Takei "Star Trek"), Christopher Lloyd ("Back To The Future"), and Alan Ritchson (Amazon's "Reacher"). Get ready for an amazing year and more action-packed announcements as we focus on creating the improbable!

Team SiliCon!
 

link for tix's

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[Transmute Jun]

An update for those interested in attending SiliCon. Newly announced guests include Karen Gillan and George Takei, and hotel rooms are now available ($139 per night for the Marriott).

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[chocolateshake]

$139 per night at the Marriott?  That's the most amazing news in that announcement.

[Cut That Meat]

This is my local con, but various travel plans have always kept me out of town in previous years. I will likely attend just one day, but looking forward to finally being able to support it!

[Transmute Jun]

This is my local con, but various travel plans have always kept me out of town in previous years. I will likely attend just one day, but looking forward to finally being able to support it!

We would love to see you there!

Who is going this year? Would anyone like to have a FoCC get-together?

[Cut That Meat]

We would love to see you there!

Who is going this year? Would anyone like to have a FoCC get-together?

I'd definitely be down for this!

[accelerate]

Last time I went to SiliCon, we still only got wristbands. Nice to see we get badges now.

[accelerate]

Just got this email on their updated COVID policy

Dear Silicon Attendees,

Until now, all of our ticket purchasers have either been vaccinated or were planning to provide proof of a negative Covid test upon arrival.

Based on CDC guidelines, there are no current requirements in place for providing proof of vaccination or a negative Covid test, and because of this, we have amended our policy to remove onsite testing and/or proof of vaccination.

However, this does not mean we are less concerned about your health and safety. If you plan to attend SiliCon, we recommend testing yourself before arriving if you have not been vaccinated. Please do not attend the convention if you are not feeling well or have any cold-like symptoms. Masks will not be required, but we do strongly recommend wearing one.

We are beyond thrilled to see all of your healthy and happy faces this weekend!

-SiliCon with Adam Savage

I'm kinda sad about this. Yes, I know, you can still very much get COVID even with a vaccination / testing policy (see SDCC 2022 as case-in-point), but I still very much agreed with SDCC's policy in their attempts to mitigate infections, even if it amounted to a few percentage points.

Anyway, definitely keeping my mask on the entire time, like I did at SDCC.

[Transmute Jun]

I was relieved... one less thing to do. And given how disorganized they are this year, I'm sure that the lines would have been very long.

My guess is that this is a financially-motivated move. Did you see the big 'buy tickets' button right under the announcement in the email? They clearly have not sold a lot of badges. And since the majority of people who attend this con are local, my guess is that they made this change last minute to encourage more badge sales amongst those who did not like the restriction.

Regardless, they are abiding my all local and state regulations, so this is not an unreasonable decision. I am really surprised that it came last minute, though.

[accelerate]

I was relieved... one less thing to do. And given how disorganized they are this year, I'm sure that the lines would have been very long.

Huh, I guess I hadn't been paying much attention. I didn't notice much in the way of disorganization. But this con is not one of those events I keep tabs on regularly, unlike SDCC.

My guess is that this is a financially-motivated move. Did you see the big 'buy tickets' button right under the announcement in the email? They clearly have not sold a lot of badges. And since the majority of people who attend this con are local, my guess is that they made this change last minute to encourage more badge sales amongst those who did not like the restriction.

I don't know much in the way of the financial health of SVCC (ugh, I refuse to call it Silicon), but I could definitely see it being a major factor. There was an anime convention in SJ like last month that was sold out. It feels weird that this convention can't generate the same level of interest. Maybe it speaks to the disorganization you mentioned? In any case, I really do hope they are not in dire straits.