Past '''BayCon '82''' was held in 1982, in San Jose, California. '''BayCon '88''' was held May 27–30, 1988, at the San Jose Red Lion Hotel. Honored guests included writer
Somtow Sucharitkul, artist Tom Kidd, and fan John McLaughlin. '''BayCon '89''' was held in 1989, in San Jose, California. '''BayCon'92''' was held May, 1992, at the San Jose Red Lion Hotel. As the "tenth anniversary" of the convention it boasted "26 Guests of honor" including Forrest J. Ackerman, Raymond E. Feist, Ben Bova and others. '''BayCon '95''' was held May 26–29, 1995, at the San Jose Red Lion Hotel. Honored guests included writer
Joe Haldeman, artist Frank Lurz, special music guest
Jordin Kare, and fan Jana Keeler. '''BayCon '96''' was held May 24–27, 1996, at the San Jose Red Lion Hotel. Honored guests included writer
Jennifer Roberson, artist Mary Hanson-Roberts, fan
Forrest J. Ackerman, musician
Heather Alexander, and toastmasters
Kevin J. Anderson &
Rebecca Moesta. Charity efforts raised over $2700 for the
American Cancer Society. Paid attendance for the weekend totaled just over 1750 members. '''BayCon '97''' was held May 23–26, 1997, at the San Jose Red Lion Hotel. The event's theme was "Space Flights of Fancy: Let Your Imagination Take Wing!". Honored guests included writer
Jack L. Chalker, artist
Bob Eggleton, fans Craig & Sharon Nicolai, and toastmaster Tad Williams. Michael Siladi served as convention chairman. '''BayCon '98''' was held May 22–25, 1998, at the San Jose DoubleTree Hotel—the same hotel as in recent years under a new flag. The event's theme was "Alternate Universes and Other Possibilities". Honored guests included writer
S.M. Stirling, artist Alicia Austin, fan Michael Siladi, and toastmaster Lillian Csernica.
BayCon 1999 was held May 28–31, 1999, at the San Jose DoubleTree Hotel. The event's theme was "Bold Deeds and Grand Epics". Honored guests included writers Kevin J. Anderson & Rebecca Moesta, artist Nene Tina Thomas, fan Jan Price, and toastmaster Kent Brewster. Charity efforts raised funds for Bay Area Literacy.
BayCon 2000 was held May 26–29, 2000, at the San Jose DoubleTree Hotel. The convention's theme was "Yesterday's Tomorrows"". Honored guests included writer Esther Friesner, artist Baron Engel, fan Dave Clark, and toastmaster Kent Brewster. Amy-Elyse Patterson served as convention chairman. The weekend's charity efforts raised $4,478 for the Friends of the California Air & Space Center.
BayCon 2001 was held May 25–28, 2001, at the San Jose DoubleTree Hotel. The weekend's theme was "All Your Monolith Are Belong To Us!!!". Honored guests included author
Rudy Rucker, artist
Bill Hartmann, fans Kathryn and James Stanley Daugherty, and special guest
Poppy Z. Brite. The event included a "Towel Day" as a tribute to
Douglas Adams who had died just two weeks before the convention. Charity efforts at the convention raised money for the
Electronic Frontier Foundation/
BayCon 2002, the 20th anniversary convention, was held May 24–27, 2002, at the San Jose DoubleTree Hotel. The event's theme was "The Magic of Now". Honored guests included writer Harry Turtledove, artist Theresa Mather, fan Christian McGuire, and toastmaster Jane Mailander.
BayCon 2008 was held May 23–26, 2008, at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara. The event's theme was "Adventures in Space - A Pirate's Tale". Honored guests included writer
Tim Powers, artist
Todd Lockwood, fan Patty Wells, and toastmaster
Scott Sigler.
BayCon 2009 was held May 22–25, 2009, at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara. The theme for the weekend was "The Lost Sky City of Pyrocumulon". Honored guests included writers
Mercedes Lackey and
Larry Dixon, artist
Tim Kirk, fan
Fred Patten, and toastmaster Jennifer Brozek. Due to separate illnesses, Patten, Lackey, and Dixon were unable to attend the convention in person. The convention also featured a concert by Tempest and a special appearance by actress Chase Masterson. ers at BayCon 2003
BayCon 2010 was held May 28–31, 2010, at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara. The theme was "It's an adventure!" Honored guests included writer
Peter S. Beagle, fans Colleen and Steve Savitzky, toastmaster Tadao Tomomatsu, artist Lee Moyer, and special guests Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon. Events at the convention raised money for the
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. In January 2010, twenty-two staff members resigned after the parent corporation, Artistic Solutions Inc., was suspended by the state of California due to a failure in filing tax returns. The situation was resolved in March 2010, and some of those who resigned agreed to return.
BayCon 2011 was held May 27–30, 2011, at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara. The theme was "Carnivale". Guests of honor included Writer Guest of Honor
Mary Robinette Kowal, Artist Guest of Honor
John Picacio, Fan Guest of Honor Bobbie DuFault (chair for Seattle 2012
Westercon), and Toastmaster Martin Young. Charity events raised over $3000 for
Noisebridge, a San Francisco
hackerspace.
BayCon 2012 was held May 25–28, 2012, at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara. The theme was "30th Anniversary Pleasure Cruise". The Writer Guest of Honor was
Brandon Sanderson, the Artist Guest of Honor was
Stephan Martinière, the Fan Guests of Honor were Scott and Cathy Beckstead, and the Toastmasters were Dani Kollin and Eytan Kollin. $4300 was raised for the charity, the Greater Bay Area chapter of the
Make-A-Wish Foundation.
BayCon 2013 was held May 24–27, 2013, at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara. The theme was "
Triskaidekaphobicon". The Writer Guest of Honor was
Lois McMaster Bujold, the Fan Guests of Honor were Chris and John O'Halloran, and the Toastmaster was
Veronica Belmont.
BayCon 2014 was held May 23–26, 2014, at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara. The theme was "
Got Honor?". The Writer Guest of Honor was
David Weber, the Fan Guest of Honor was Sally Woerhle, and the Toastmaster was
Tom Merritt.
BayCon 2015 was held May 22–24, 2015, at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara. The theme was "Women of Wonder". The Writer Guest of Honor was
Seanan McGuire, the Artist Guest of Honor was
Stephanie Pui-Mun Law, Special Guest were
The Winner Twins, Fan Guest was Caradwen "Saber" Von Brasket Arellanes, and ToastMaster was
Amber Benson. This was the first year there was an All Woman Guest of Honor Lineup. The charity was About-Face, a San Francisco based organization that teaches teen girls and youth media literacy, social media literacy, and activism skills. Circle
BayCon 2016 was held May 27–30, 2016, at the San Mateo Marriott. The event's theme was "It's All About Space!" The Writer Guest of Honor was
David Gerrold, the Artist Guest of Honor was
Chris Butler, the Fan Guest of Honor was
Anastasia Hunter, and the Toastmasters were the
Library Bards. Charity events raised money in support of the
SETI Institute.
BayCon 2017 was held May 26–29, 2017 in
San Mateo, California. The theme was "Dystopia/Utopia". The Writer Guest of Honor was
Daniel Abraham, the Artist Guest of Honor was
Daniel Dociu, the Fan Guest of Honor was Dr. Christine Doyle, and the Toastmaster was
Ty Franck. The charity was Variety.org.
BayCon 2018 was held May 25–28, 2018 in San Mateo, California. The theme was "Patchwork Fandom: Stitching The Generations Together." The Writer Guest of Honor was
Tamera Pierce, the Artist Guest of Honor was Margaret Organ-Kean, Fan Guest Christopher J Garcia, Special Podcast Guest JC Arkham, and Toastmaster was M. Todd Gallowglas.
BayCon 2019 was held May 24–27, 2019. The theme was "Insert Coin to Continue." The Writer Guest of Honor was
David Brin, The Artist Guest of Honor was Gary Villarreal, Fan Guest was Dr. Wanda Kurtcu, and Toastmaster was JC Arkham. The charity for this year was
The Computer History Museum. BayCon 2020 was scheduled for May 2020 but the in-person event was cancelled due to the 2020 Pandemic.
BayCon 2021 was a series of virtual events to keep the community connected.
BayCon 2022 was held July 1–4, 2022 at the San Mateo Marriot. The Theme was "The Sun Rises." Writer Guest of Honor was Steven Baren, Artist Guest of Honor was Galen Dara, and Jean Batt was Community Guest of Honor, Tananarive Due was a featured guest and Bonnie Gordon was toastmaster. The charity was Larkin Street Youth Services.
BayCon 2023 was held July 1–4, 2023. It was a combined event with MantiCon, which is The Royal Manticoran Navy: The Honor Harrington Fan Association, Inc.'s irregular conference. It was held at the Santa Clara Marriott and the 2023's theme is "A Night at the Space Opera (or It's Not Over Until the Space Whale Sings)." The Writer Guest of Honor was
Catherynne M. Valente, Artist Guest of Honor Tehani Farr, Community Guest of Honor Bradford Lyau,
Frank Wu as Toastmaster, and
Brianna Wu as Special Community Guest and Laser Malena-Webber as Special Musical Guest. The charity for 2023 was The Planetary Society, and there was a special Guest
Robert Picardo for the Planetary Society.
BayCon 2024 was held July 4–7, 2024. The theme was "Pure Imagination," and was held at the Santa Clara Marriott.
Ryka Aoki,
Elizabeth Leggett,
Bonnie Gordon, and Raquel Santiago were the guests of honor. The charity was the Society for the Promotion of Speculative Fiction, the new parent
non-profit organization for BayCon.
BayCon 2025 was held on July 4–7, 2025 at the Santa Clara Marriott. It was a combined event with
Westercon 77. The theme was "
A Convenient Parallel Dimension." The announced guests of honor are
J.K. Woodward,
Sasha Graham,
M. A. Carrick,
Catherine Mary Stewart, with community guests Stacy Meyn and Tracy Newby.
BayCon 42 will be held on July 3–6, 2026 at the Santa Clara Marriott. It will be a combined event with Westercon 78. The theme will be "
The Answer." The guests of honor are to be announced. ==References==