The San Francisco Bay Area Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention
May 22-25, 2009
The Hyatt Regency, Santa Clara, CA
"There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things." –Machiavelli
We set out this year on an expedition of epic proportion into our own
imaginations – one that will give every member an opportunity to
play in the cloud-borne city of "Pyrocumulon." Through sheer
force of will we are able to create worlds of our own imagining. Through
that same power, the people that work and attend BayCon already make up
all the pieces of a burgeoning society – each with their own role
to play. For example, the costumers bring their own visually apparent
flavor to the convention, and some of those people manage
our
Saturday night costume contest, the Masquerade.
This is our opportunity to revel in our own crafts and ideas of fantasy or science fiction. I encourage everyone to keep checking our website in the coming months for theme ideas, city descriptions, and more, so that you can come up with something entirely unique, or repurpose the old for a fresh new fantasy.
Instead of focusing on one aspect of Fandom, BayCon traditionally hosts a wide variety of interests like gaming, costuming, anime, fantasy, and popular media. The (recently found) sky city of Pyrocumulon should be explored by the BayCon community in order to restore its great splendor! We have airships and our imagination to get us there, but that's just the beginning. We have work to do!
What kinds of things did the original inhabitants wear? What did they do for entertainment? Why did they leave? Why do all the bathrooms have towel bars in inconvenient places?
Already I've heard rumors of ancient societies that may know more...
— Tycho Petersen
Chairman
In case you missed it, or just can't remember (has is been 6 months already?) here are some of the highlights from BayCon 2008 "Adventures in Space: A Pirate's Tale."
Special Presentation by Artist Guest of Honor, Todd
Lockwood
Mr. Lockwood gave an impromptu demonstration of how he uses Corel
Watercolor, a drawing tablet, and a stylus to create his art. Over the
course of 45 minutes a dragon came to life on the screen in front of
him. Check out the step by step photos at
www.baycon.org/2008/pubs/lockwood.html.
Harlequins and Hellfire
Forty people participated in this LARP (Live Action Role Playing game),
which was set in the universe of Firefly. It was a great success, so
keep your ears open for news of next year's LARP.
Let's
Make a Movie
Over the course of four panels, BayCon completed its first ever movie
created entirely on-site: The Cult of the Giant Brain.
Many people participated in the making of this film and it is sure to
become a regular feature on BCTV.
Gofers are the rarely noticed engines that help keep BayCon running smoothly year after year. The life of a gopher is changeable, one hour might find them stuffing packets in registration, while the next they guard the party floor. In exchange for their service (a minimum of 18 hours) they receive some floor space in a crash room, access to snacks, and possibly a refund of their membership cost. On behalf of all of BayCon, we'd like to offer a heartfelt thanks to all of our volunteers and take this opportunity to recognize some outstanding volunteers of 2008.
 | Most Hours: Harold Woodward (46.75 hours volunteered). |
 | Almost Most Hours: Ray King (29.25 hours volunteered). |
 | Most Positive Feedback: Aileen Baumann |
 | Bent Over Backward: Dan `Llama, Llama, Duck' – Always willing to help out where needed. |
 | Warrior Gofer: Lara Wells – A crowd control expert without equal. |
 | Perpetual Motion Award: Stewart – Ready to go where needed at the drop of a hat. |
 | Most Caffeinated: Ray King – Fueled by the power of Mountain Dew. |
 | Zombie Gofer: Hieu "Steven" – For best performance on least sleep. |
 | Karl Mundstock Memorial Dead Gofer Award: Jacob – For continuing on in the face of debilitating injury, or in this case, a nasty tooth vs. pool edge confrontation. |
 | Captain's Choice: Dan "The Man" – For outstanding and polite service in the face of all comers. |
 | Blue Ribbon Gofer: Harold Woodward – This first-time BayCon attendee helped with set up and tear down, checked in to offer help on his two days off mid-con, and then helped with other post-convention activities, too. |
If you're feeling inspired by these exemplary 2008 gofers, we'd love to see you in the Den in 2009. Remember, gofers are needed on the days immediately before and after BayCon, as well, to help with set up and tear down. If you'd like to join our expedition team in 2009 please contact volunteers09@baycon.org.
Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon are prolific artists in many mediums of the fantasy world. Mercedes Lackey is perhaps best known for her stories chronicling the world of Valdemar. In addition to her prose writing, she is a prolific lyricist and musician, with recordings available through Firebird Arts. She finds that her song lyrics often make it easier for her to get to the heart of the story while writing. She currently has over 70 books published, both as a solo author and a collaborative author. These include the Gryphon and Owlflight trilogies written with her husband, Larry Dixon.
Larry Dixon is a man of many talents: author, illustrator, race car driver, storm spotter, and movie special effects consultant, among others. His work includes illustrations for many role-playing games, such as Dungeons and Dragons, and illustrations for a number of books. Larry's work is available in almost a dozen languages and has millions of copies in print.
Both Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon are interested in raptors, as can be seen in their body of work. In addition to their work as authors and artists they are raptor rehabilitation specialists, helping injured hawks, owls, falcons, and corbies rehabilitate and return to the wild. For more information look at their websites www.mercedeslackey.com and www.gryphonking.com.
Tim Kirk started as a fan artist, and as such won the Hugo Award five times in the 1970s. After completing his Masters degree in Illustration, he went to work for Disney Imagineering. In his 22 years there, he played a key role in conceptualization of Disney-MGM (now Disney's Hollywood Studios) in Orlando, and was overall senior designer for Tokyo DisneySea. He comments that he watched every episode of The Twilight Zone at least five times, while planning The Tower of Terror attraction at Disney-MGM. Tim, along with brother Steve and sister-in-law Kathy, left Imagineering in 2002 to form Kirk Design, a creative consulting company specializing in the leisure entertainment market. Kirk also sits on the advisory board of the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame. Visit his website at www.kirkdesigninc.com.
Fred Patten has been active in fandom for almost 50 years. He has made substantial contributions to many aspects of fandom from anime and manga to furry society. After becoming interested in manga at Westercon in 1970, he helped open the Graphic Story Bookshop in 1972, and co-founded the Cartoon/Fantasy Association, the first anime fan club in the United States, in 1977. He contributed writings to many magazines from the 1960s through 2005. In 2005 he suffered a stroke, which left him partially paralyzed. Fred has continued his writing despite this setback and currently writes for the bi-monthly online magazine Anthro and contributes weekly to "APA-L" for the Los Angeles Science Fiction Society.
Jennifer Brozek is an author and gamer. She describes herself as a pragmatic dreamer and realistic optimist. She has written and edited many poems and short stories since 1999, and is a frequent contributor to The Edge of Propinquity, a monthly webzine. She is excited about the planned July release of Grant's Pass, a collection of post-apocalyptic stories that she edited. Jennifer has also contributed to a number of role-playing game source and rulebooks including those in the Dragonlance, Castlemourn, and Firefly universes. For more information on Jennifer and her work please visit her website at www.jenniferbrozek.com.
The
Alex Foundation was formed by Dr. Irene Pepperberg, with the aid of Alex
the parrot, to study the intelligence and reasoning abilities of the
African Grey parrot. African Greys have an intelligence to rival that of
3-5 year old children, and they are always thinking. Although Alex has
died, the work continues with Griffin and Arthur (aka Wart).
For more information please visit the Foundation's website at
www.alexfoundation.org.
Now that you've finished your holiday projects, it's the perfect time to start working on your entry for the BayCon Masquerade! Phil and Kathe Gust are returning this year as our Masquerade Directors, and the word is that the Masquerade will be taking place in a new, larger, and better location. Please contact Phil and Kathe if you have questions about the Masquerade or go to www.baycon.org/2009/masquerade.html.
2008 Best in Show Winner: Dumbledore's Army
The BayCon 2009 Masquerade will present a special theme award for "Best Mythical Being from The Lost Sky City of Pyrocumulon." This award recognizes the entry that best helps to explore and create the history, aesthetics, science, and magic of the city through costuming. The entry may represent inhabitants, creatures, gods, or mythological characters from the lost city's past or present, or the intrepid explorers who rediscovered it. Entries that compete for this award must also submit up to a 100 word story or description that explains how the entry relates to the theme. Judging will consider originality, presentation, and how the entry furthers our understanding of the lost city.
We're pleased to announce that Jade Falcon has agreed to be the
official photographer for the BayCon 2009 Masquerade. Jade did a
spectacular job as official masquerade photographer at BayCon 2008
and we're thrilled to be working with her again. Jade is a
well-known professional photographer who has a special talent for
photographing fans. You can see some of her work at the
WyldFire
Studios website.
Do you just have too many great costumes and are bummed you
can't enter them all in the Masquerade? Wear them anyway and you
may win a hall costume award! This year a select band will be
roaming the halls hunting for the best examples of wearable art.
If you're interested in joining the hall costuming team e-mail
Philip Gust at
masquerade09@baycon.org.
Proof that the keyboard is mightier than the boffer.....
... is the annual Writers' Workshop. Due to my mistakenly forgetting to change my sleeping address (just ONCE), I was tracked down and handed the mission of running the Writers' Workshops. My sponsors (Foundation for Massive Exploration) are even now meeting to bring together writers in teams comprised of three participants and three professionals. As we speak, minions are gleefully sharpening their boffers in anticipation of uncovering manuscripts.
Please see the Writer's Workshop page www.baycon.org/2009/writers.html for contact and submission information. Please feel free to send any questions to writers09@baycon.org.
And remember, if we cannot find enough submissions or panelists, we will be sending our crack team of boffer-wielding minions out to, ah, discover manuscripts and panelists.....
Deadlines are coming up fast: we'll need your work by April 15th, 2009!
–Sandy Saidak
aka Thing 1
Adventurer Extraordinnaire
Are you interested in volunteering to work the convention? Maybe you're just curious how the whole show comes together? Or perhaps you have a fantastic idea for a new event that you want to see at BayCon 2009? The answer to any of these quandaries is to come to a BayCon staff meeting. All staff meetings are open to the public and take place at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara. Staff meetings start at 1:00 PM.
Sunday February 22, 2009
Sunday March 15, 2009
Sunday March 29, 2009
Sunday April 5, 2009 – BBQ
Sunday April 26, 2009
Sunday May 3, 2009
Saturday May 9, 2009
Sunday May 17, 2009 (11 AM)
If you can swing an extra day off of work we have a deal for you! BayCon members staying at the hotel the night of Monday, May 25, 2009 can purchase Great America Park tickets at a discounted price of $25 each (maximum of 2 tickets at this price). Additional tickets (beyond the first 2 tickets) are $35 each. Regular ticket price at the gate is $53.99. Enjoy an extra night at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara at the Group Rate and have some fun for Memorial Day! Great America is conveniently located across the street from the hotel.
Our base of operations for the exploration of this floating city is the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara.
Here are a few quick facts to get you started:
Room Rates: $99 dollars per night, plus tax, for either a single king or two double beds. Make sure to register with our reservation code G-BACY, or call the hotel and ask for the BayCon rate.
Smoking: A limited number of balcony rooms are available. No smoking is permitted inside any of the hotel rooms.
Pets: Only licensed companion animals are allowed in the hotel.
Parking: Free! Complimentary parking is available in the parking structure behind the hotel.
Parties: To request a room on the party floor make a normal reservation and then contact our Hotel Division who will move you to the party floor at hotel09@baycon.org.
BayCon 2008 was an exciting year; 2154 people joined us in our brand new hotel for four days of Piratey goodness. We're already hard at work planning for BayCon 2009; 420 far-sighted people have already registered. Are you one of them? If not you can pop right over and buy a membership using PayPal. Youth memberships will be available at the door for $25. A youth is someone who will be between the ages of 8-12 at the time of the convention. Single day, kid in tow and night memberships will be available at the door only.
–Cindi Cabal
Head of Registration
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