We looked into our crystal ball, requested feedback from our community, reviewed health and safety guidelines, and asked ourselves some hard questions…
The first big question is: can we host a safe in-person event in October?
Unfortunately, the answer is a resounding “maybe.” And maybe isn’t enough for us to move forward with everything it takes to plan an in-person event. If this was a saving throw against pandemic, we likely would have a good chance to make the roll. But it’s still a chance.
We considered having a con with vaccine requirements, masking and social distancing. However we quickly realized that social distancing isn’t really a possibility at a gaming convention. Also we didn’t want to put our staff and volunteers in a position where they would have to police anyone.
That brings us to our second question: what about an online con?
We’re happy to say the answer is yes, we’ll host a Big Bad Online event this year! We are still deciding what that will look like but right now these are our thoughts:
- It will be a one day event focusing on giving our community a place to gather and promoting a diverse mix of game designers and other creatives in the extended community.
- This event will give us a chance to bring in panelists who haven’t been able to make it to BBC in the past, to grow our panel and workshop programming, and to spotlight small press creators.
- We will not be scheduling games. People will of course be free to start their own impromptu games as part of the online “lobby con” and LFG channels on the discord. Though we know folks will miss having games on the roster (we will too!), keeping this event narrowly focused means that we keep it within our capacity to host it and do it well.
- We will be having a fundraiser — to pay our speakers, to pay any hosting costs, to raise money for our scholarship fund, and to support making Big Bad Con 2022 bigger and badder than ever! Pay attention to our twitter as we will announce more in the coming weeks.
Thank you all for your support and understanding. Big Bad Con couldn’t happen without you amazing people!
As much as I miss Big Bad Con, the social distancing, masks, revealing vaccination status, and other things involved to hold a live convention would just not work. Game conventions and social distancing just don’t mix. I am interested in participating in the Big Bad Con online workshops though.
Now about Big Bad Con 2022. I liked the Walnut Creek Marriot location. It’s not nearly as big as the Hyatt in Burlingame, but I like the idea of keeping Big Bad Con in the East Bay. There are two other hotels near The Walnut Creek Marriot; the Holiday Inn Express and The Motel 6. Rather than move BBC to Burlingame now could be the time to try to get one or more of the hotels near the Walnut Creek Marriot on board with hosting BBC in addition to the Walnut Creek Marriot. Maybe the San Ramon Marriot would be interested in hosting BBC now that Dundra Con has left.
As always always always thanks for your clarity, transparency, and thoughtfulness. Much love to you all, and can’t wait for that one-day when I will sit surrounded by friends new and old in a lobby (con).