I’m back from today and had a pretty awesome time. I initially had some of the same concerns (overall too light, too many maker panels at the expense of not enough other panels and the schedule changing around a bit too much too soon before the show) but by the time the schedule settled, there was enough to occupy myself.
I didn’t get there in time for the ISS stream but I did see the panels with Ben Browder/Michael Shanks of Stargate, Christopher Lloyd, and the Expanse. The Browder/Shanks panel I originally only had a mild interest in but really it turned out to be the favorite panel I’ve attended at any con besides SDCC this year. They were absolutely hilarious. Christopher Lloyd was also great, and I was glad to see the Expanse was a real studio panel (SVCC has been pretty good about getting these in the past.)
I also attended a few of the Conversations with Jonathan Knowles panels. Some were more in my area of interest than others but it was nice to see intelligent discussion. I also tried to attend an author panel at the end of the day but it was ruined by Gary Whitta. There were 4 authors there but Gary Whitta was going on a series of rants that were neither interesting nor insightful and was barely letting anyone else speak. This continued for 15 minutes before I got annoyed and left. Come to think of it, Gary Whitta has ruined pretty much every panel I’ve seen him in the past. Maybe he is a good author but he is a terrible panelist - this is feedback I’ll be passing along to SiliCon.
Exhibit hall wasn’t big, but had a pretty decent turnout. And once again, the SF Giants booth single-handedly made it worth it. They were running a special where if you bought a ticket for the SF Giants Star Wars Night game next Sunday (which includes a limited C-3PO Funko Pop with admission), they would give you a free bobblehead, t-shirt or other gift from the table. I bought a pair and they totally hooked me up. They gave me 2 bobbleheads from previous Giants Star Wars nights, a Giants Hello Kitty lunchbox, and a Giants Harry Potter bat. All of those probably would have cost at least as much as the pair of tickets!
Registration was a breeze. It was in the main building this year (not in the giant blue tent like previous years.) I liked that they actually had badges instead of wristbands this year. They were probably a cost-cutting move but I hope they keep them. There were a couple of scheduling issues. Nearly everything I attended started late, some as late as 20-25 min. Although nothing was cut terribly short. The program schedule constantly changing was kind of nerve-wracking, although I do remember that last minute schedule changes are nothing new to this con. But overall, it was a very enjoyable day.
I’ll also say that I appreciated that they removed the vaccine requirement. I think vaccination is important but it has to be a personal decision and even though I’m vaccinated, tbh I’ve been extremely uncomfortable at being asked to show my medical records to go to things this past year. I understood the rationale for vaccine mandates when they actually provided a decent shield against infection and when covid was more than a mild to average cold in general…but those rationales have passed. Removing the vaccine mandate solidified my decision to go to SiliCon.
