BayCon 2010 in Trouble? Over a Dozen Staff Resign.
I hate to be one to sling convention mud and spread gossip. When one person has a gripe about a convention and makes a bunch of accusations, I try to take it with a grain of salt. But when over a dozen staff members all resign, well, I feel obliged to take notice and report it. No one wants a situation where fans unknowingly sink a bunch of money into a faltering convention, only to have it fold and take their money with it. I’m not saying that is going to happen here, but there it looks like there is some serious trouble brewing for BayCon 2010, and we do want to make con-goers aware of the issue.
BayCon is a medium sized (2,000 or so attendees) science fiction and fantasy convention in Santa Clara, California, USA. It’s scheduled to occur May 28-31, 2010 at The Hyatt Regency, with renowned author Peter S. Beagle as one of the guests of honor.
However, a string of resignations from BayCon 2010 staff may be putting the convention in jeopardy. The following individuals have all apparently resigned as of yesterday:
Erik Bigglestone – Administration Division Head
Meredith Branstad – Publications Division Head
Stephen Nelson – Publications Division Second
Ole “Tycho” Petersen – Hotel Division Head
Kimberly Allbee – Programming Division Head
Daniel Van Den Broeke – Programming Division Second
Matthew Branstad – Operations Division Second
Jim “Sylvan” Sullivan – Programming Event Manager
Megan “Megs” O’Neil – Programming Operations Department Head
Kelly Gallagher – Programming Operations Staff
Alicia Terra – Programming Operations Staff
Cindi Somebody Cabal – Registration Department Head
Christine Doyle – Registration Staff
Donna Leaf – Registration Staff
Karl Thiessen – Registration IT Department Head
Terrance Seddon – Registration IT Department Staff
Steve Libbey – Newsletter Department Head
Tim Bowman – Decorations Department Head
Sandy Benson – Family Friendly Department Head
Why? Well, these individuals are unhappy with Artistic Solutions – the corporation that owns the convention. Apparently they haven’t been paying their taxes on time, resulting in a suspension of the corporation’s legal right to do business in the state of California. There are also some questions as to the ethical standards of Michael Siladi, who is listed as the “Agent for Service” for Artistic Solutions. Michael is said to have been informed that this sweeping list of resignations would be coming his way back in November, should the situation not improve.
For more details, you can visit http://kshandra.livejournal.com/1216029.html.
