Big Bad Con 2020 – On the road again!

We’ve signed the contract and we’re very excited to announce the dates and location for Big Bad Con 2020!

October 22-25
Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport
1333 Old Bayshore Hwy
Burlingame, CA 94010

2019 was our biggest and best year ever. Between the Babble On Equity Project, the scholarship program, and the Kickstarter stretch goal guests we gave financial and logistical assistance to over 70 folks to help them attend Big Bad Con. We had over 600 events and nearly 1,000 attendees. The POC Meet & Greet was an enormously successful industry event that helped several folks find mentoring, freelance work, and even full time jobs.

2019 was also the year that we stretched into every available space the Walnut Creek Marriott had to offer, and even then there were times when folks couldn’t find a table to play a game or sit and chat. This year in reviewing our past growth we realized we either needed to cap our attendance and allow fewer folks than attended in 2019 (shrinking the con) or find a new location that could sustain our growth. When reviewing locations we evaluated them based on the following factors:

  • Guest room rate
  • Parking fees
  • Event space available
  • Cost to the convention
  • Available social gathering spaces
  • Food availability (in the hotel, nearby, and delivery)
  • Physical accessibility
  • Likelihood of maintaining power from PG&E
  • Eagerness of the hotel staff to host a convention

After several months of reviewing the attendee feedback, meeting with the board and with the staff, we signed a contract with the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport, which offered us the best room rates for our attendees, has over four times the event space that the Marriott does, regularly works with gaming conventions, and is thrilled to have us.

What’s next

With the hotel settled, we still have a lot of work to do to prepare for the Kickstarter, event submission, and the growth and development of the con. In the coming months, we’ll send out updates as all of these come together.

This year will be Big Bad Con 10. We’re filled with hope and excitement for what’s to come!

12 comments to Big Bad Con 2020 – On the road again!

  • Antonio Morton

    I would love to see this.

  • John Taber

    Does this post mean the convention room are available?

  • Sad that it won’t be in Walnut Creek, but onward and upward. Agree with the comments about the room temperatures from my experience there at GobbleCon a few years back (the temps were marginal with the number of people, can see how with more it would get roasting quickly).

  • Joe Sondow

    Based on many trips to KublaCon, the atrium sometimes tends to get weirdly hot in the daytime but is heaven at night. Some of the rooms around the edges on the atrium level are where the DnD games all happen at KublaCon and they are as hot as saunas when all the players are in there. The downstairs large halls are quite nice, although there’s virtually no mobile service in there. There’s a nice restaurant down the hall from the atrium, and a bar in the atrium, so I imagine that will likely be the main open hangout area. At Kubla there’s usually a good amount of free parking in the lot across the street, but you’ll need to find an official map online of specifically where it’s okay for convention-attendees to park so the local businesses don’t ticket or tow your car for going outside the designated areas. The Big Bad Con parking map may or may not look like KublaCon’s: https://www.facebook.com/kublacon/photos/a.10150091133491910/10155824857856910/

  • Tomer Gurantz

    For those familiar with KublaCon space, ups and downs, feel free to let us know! I’m totally new to the space and love having expectations.

  • Meguey

    I have to say I’m a bit sad due to attachment to the old space, but I’m real willing to try the new one!

  • WOW. I love the Hyatt SFO, as KublaCon is one of my favorite conventions. This is extremely exciting!

  • Bernie

    Yay! So looking forward to BigBadCon 2020!

  • Rayven

    Although I loved the accessibility (within and without) of the Marriott, I can appreciate that you’re not capping attendance and I hope that the Hyatt can meet our needs. I’m also a regular attendee of KublaCon so I’m familiar with this establishment’s ups and downs.

Leave a Reply to Joe Sondow Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

css.php