Westercon 2007: Site Preview

[kevin_standlee]

I have found myself on the staff e-mail list for Gnomeward Bound/Westercon 60, which will be next year (Saturday, June 30 - Tuesday, July 3, 2007) at the Marriott in San Mateo, California, although I've not actually agreed to do anything for the convention, and indeed, I've been severely curtailing my conrunning activities, what with the looming cost of Japan ahead of me. They sent me a notice for a meeting this afternoon, and, having some time available and some curiosity about the site and how they plan to use it, I decided to attend.

Parking at the hotel is not free, although apparently they've negotiated free parking during the Westercon itself. Not wanting to pay even the $5 validated staff rate, I parked in the Rite-Aid parking lot a couple of blocks away and walked. I also could have parked on street nearby. This wouldn't work during the convention itself, but was fine for short-term parking.

That Rite-Aid is open 24-hours, and is about as far from the hotel as the far parking lot was at the San Jose Doubletree. There is also a 7-Eleven on the corner and a Trader Joe's market, all within walking distance. There are lots of other stores in the area, but they're all a drive, being 1-3 miles away, like the Costco in Foster City on the other side of the freeway. Unlike the relatively isolated San Jose Doubletree, this San Mateo Marriott has a few more things nearby it. It's also about a 15-minute walk from the Hayward Park Caltrain station, and it's a relatively straightforward walk, too. You get off the train, walk east on the street that dead-ends at the train station, and there's the hotel.

I'm pretty familiar with the area around the hotel because I work just a couple of miles up the road near the College of San Mateo, and a number of services I use are near the hotel. For example, there is the local AAA office and the San Mateo Post Office, besides the stores I talked about above.

I've attended a couple of conventions at the San Mateo Marriott (formerly the Dunfey Hotel). In fact, the very first convention I attended -- not an SF con, but a gaming convention -- was in that hotel. I also sat behind a dealer table at a Further ConFusion selling memberships for ConJose one year. So I'm not totally unfamiliar with the hotel, but I've never paid it close attention.

For the size of convention that Westercon has become, this may well turn out to be a better fit for Westercon than the originally-announced Doubletree San Jose. While it's smaller than the Doubletree, Westercon is also less than half the size of BayCon, which was just about the right size for the Doubletree. (BayCon is also moving to a new home, but it looks like it may be the San Jose Fairmont, which ought to be very interesting.) We'll be a relatively tight fit at the San Mateo Marriott, but I think it may work well.

There are some particularly nice features about this hotel, including the fact that the block of sleeping rooms that is expected to be the party floor connects directly into the programming room area. They aren't on separate floors. You walk down a corridor past function rooms, and suddenly you're in a sleeping room corridor. You can access the party floor from the ground floor by stairs without elevators. This is excellent.

Room rates are apparently $99/night for regular rooms, but they also have over a hundred mini-suites at $119 including refrigerators and microwave ovens. I may well book one of those myself -- the savings on having breakfast in the room alone would pay for the difference in price for two people.

We were told that wireless (and wired in-room) internet service will be free to hotel guests during the convention, and it's available in the function space as well. (I would suggest anyone not staying in the hotel who wants to use their wireless-enabled computer simply find a friend who is staying in the hotel and get an access code from him/her.)

After the meeting, I popped over the railroad tracks to a Fresh Choice restaurant where I've eaten many times. See what I said about convenient?

I won't say the San Mateo Marriott is perfect -- it doesn't have the social centers of the SJ Doubletree in the Coffee Garden and Quiet Bar -- but it does have things going for it. Those of us who have grown nice and comfortable with the Doubletree/Former Red Lion will have to get used to a different property, but I would say that the forced move may well have also forced Westercon 60 to "right-size" its facilities to the likely size of the convention.

Comments

[fr-john.livejournal.com]

I have to admit I find the moving of Baycon dubious. I didn't like the Fairmont much when I was working ConJose. I kept getting lost trying to find meetings.

The former Dunfey I've only seen from the freeway.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

I think that if the convention was totally in the Fairmont (rather than spread between the Fairmont, the Convention Center, and the Civic Auditorium the way ConJose was), it might be a bit easier to get one's "con legs."

I think a lot of us here in the Bay Area are badly spoiled by the Doubletree, a facility many of us know as well as our own homes. I think I've lived in that hotel close to two months of my life over the past twenty years.

The interesting thing will be to see how, if BayCon does move to the Fairmont, how it will end up interacting with FanimeCon going on only a few hundred meters away at the Convention Center/Marriott. I think it may be a good interaction, myself, if the two conventions show some willingness to work together. I might be tempted to buy a day membership to FanimeCon myself, since it's just a short walk instead of driving off-site.

[fr-john.livejournal.com]

Lets see--four days a year for 22 years: 88 days. Almost three months.

It wasn't the back and forth. I found the hotel itself confusing. It is also short on elevators as I recall. Fanime doesn't interest me particularly. I suspect the proximity might (a) draw some people away from Baycon entirely (there'd be no reason to do any anime, after all) and not likely to draw many Fanime people to Baycon.

I don't quite understand the move anyway. We've been an enormous boost to the Doubletree for over 20 years. Some years I think we made them profitable.

[querldox.livejournal.com]

Talking to Michael at LACon about the move, apparently it's a matter of someone at the Doubletree, who's now left, trying to "maximize revenue" in any number of penny smart pound foolish ways, such as the parking charges. It looks like this will be costing them pretty much every fannish convention, and possibly others.

[fr-john.livejournal.com]

My opinion of Michael can remain unstated other than to say that there is a reason I no longer work Baycon (after over 10 years on committee).

[kshandra]

You're close. (I just came from the baycon staff meeting.) The person who has now left was the hotel's GM. The new director of sales was the person who decided to pursue another event over Memorial Day which promised more food and beverage sales. (Said event has yet to sign a contract with the hotel.)

[bovil.livejournal.com]

Fanime/Baycon in walking distance of each other is an opportunity for both conventions.

Fanime will probably sell some extra day memberships for regular BayCon attendees who want to go shopping, and may sell a few full memberships for people who want to spend more time at their video room or go to anime panels.

BayCon will probably sell a bunch of full memberships for Fanime attendees who are looking for a bit more night-life. Like most anime conventions, Fanime doesn't have a party culture, or much going on at night.

[paradoox.livejournal.com]

Fairmont in general seems to have an "attitude". I've yet to stay in one that I found friendly much less fan friendly.

Alas there are too many cons on Memorial Day weekend, so it would probably be at least a couple of years before I make it back to Baycon. While the Fairmont would put me off, it does have the advantage I could stay at the Hilton and walk.

[fr-john.livejournal.com]

Except, of course, that Fanime is using the Hilton. And the Marriott.

[fr-john.livejournal.com]

Fanime had 8100 attendees this year. Roughly 3 times the size of Baycon.

[paradoox.livejournal.com]

Oh, I thought they were just using the Marriott. No big deal. I've had pretty good luck using Hilton points and getting free stays even when hotels were close to sold out. Before I canceled out of Dragoncon this year, I had booked a free stay at the Atlanta Hilton.

[yourbob.livejournal.com]

I remember the Dunfey well from several years of DunDraCon. It was my most-recent bout of semi-fanish activity before the current one. I was also SCA at the time.

I can't say that any downtown S.J. hotel sounds good opposite fanime. I can see no hope for parking for commuters unless things have changed alot since ConJose. And Baycon late room-bookers will have little hope either. [My experience is entirely ConJose so I may not know what I'm talking about and freely admit it]

If Baycon does move there, it really would behoove them to talk to fanime and see if they can work out a day-membership cross-over special for members of each other's con.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

I have never had any problem parking in downtown San Jose. Oh, sometimes I've had to pay for it, but most of the time, the times I need to be there, it's free. Park in the garage on Third Street, for instance, or the lot across First Street from the Fairmont (if it's still there). I parked there for the entire run of ConJose (as did Lisa) and we paid nothing at all.

The key, of course, is that you have to be either parking on the weekend (when it's free all weekend long), or else you have to stay late. After a certain time (I forget how late), the attendants open the exit gates and go home. The garage is programmed to let you out after that time without having to pay anything at all.

Am I missing something? Admittedly, I'm not someone who would commute to a convention to leave before 8 PM, more than likely, so the parking downtown would never catch me. (That's one reason I hate commuting -- I want to stay late.)

Now, in regards BayCon being a block away from FanimeCon -- it may well be that there are so many con-commuters coming to both that it will overtax the facilities; however, there were always spaces available during ConJose.

Oh, and there is the Light Rail option -- park at Tamien (free) and ride light rail downtown and back. This is cheaper than the lots that do charge for parking.

[yourbob.livejournal.com]

Um.

First, I hope Baycon does as good a job at explaining downtown parking as you just did. Their record with the changes at the Doubletree does not, to me, bode well.

Also - I understand that ConJose with 5000 people didn't fill up the lots - but will the 10000 of Fanime/Baycon? I bet a larger percentage drive and commute to those cons.

I wonder how parking was during Fanime this past year. That would give a better indication, I think.

In my case - whether I'd like to commute or not, I often have to.

[ashi.livejournal.com]

Parking at Fanime was not a problem for me this year. I ran a free service called con rides, and shuttled people between Baycon, Fanime, and occasionally Kublacon in Burlingame. If Baycon does take the Fairmont, next year should be interesting.

[twilight2000.livejournal.com]

ok -- so I don't get it -- if the guy who was making bad choices is gone, why would Baycon want to move? Is there a thread I missed somewhere?

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

I think there may be a lot more going on than any of us know about here. I'm not prepared to speculate too much without more data. But I do know that hotels have certainly been known to decide that SF convention business is no longer in their best interest, even if we do fill their restaurants and hotel rooms. Some hotels do act as though they'd be happier if they were empty.

[howeird]

Well, being the hotel closest to SJC, Doubletree doesn't need fan cons to keep in the black. In fact, I'm guessing the extra staff and resources they have to pile on for a con weekend may offset any profits. By contrast, as a somewhat inaccessible downtown luxury hotel, Fairmont probably has need for more bodies using its facilities, especially with the construction in the neighborhood which has probably driven away lots of businesss. Just guessing, I have no numbers to back it up.

IMHO if they relocate Baycon to the Fairmont, they ought to change the name to SouthBayCon. ;-)

[ashi.livejournal.com]

Well, this would throw out my whole con rides concept, if Baycon moves to the Fairmont. It will, however, naturally open up more cross-pollination, which was the goal of the con rides thing anyway (that and having fun).

Through con rides, I met a woman who had travelled to San Jose with friends attending Fanime, though she wanted to attend Baycon. I also met a man who runs SF and anime cons in Chicago, who wanted to try out Fanime while he was in the area.

I must re-think what my role could be if Baycon does take the Fairmont.