I don't live in the Bay area, in fact far from it. From an international visitor point of view, San Francisco has a lot to offer. I would attend BAF, but would also spend time in the San Francisco area. I view the whole thing as an experience, San Francisco traffic and all.
Me too.
Or Calgary. Better steak...
Or the Czech Republic. Better pilsner. No, seriously. Ft. Mason is pretty darn ideal.
Tom
Oh well. The City of SF is an experience I don't want to experience again. We used to go there all the time, my son lived in the Area for years too... we've just seen too many changes to make it a place desirable to visit and park our car.
Mind you, if you're just dropping in town and driving out the 101 North or South you are never exposed to the mess that city has become. Very sad. We used to walk to restaurants and stores all over downtown, Chinatown, Little Italy, etc... you name it. Strolls at midnight even. Even Haight Ashbury was awesome up until the mid 90s. But today it's just a mess. Really sad, actually.
For those who travel from far to SF... whatever. There are much better, nicer, less expensive places in the US. I understand that the core of Pass, etc, "seems near" to SF, so it makes some sense.
Heck, I'd take Sacramento any day over SF. Those who travel from afar can take the train to Sacramento. They have the Best Train Museum in the World.
Indeed, Pass Labs is based in Auburn, which is in Placer County. We've travelled through that place and for the life of me I don't understand why this event needs to be in SF. Placer County is downright beautiful... instead of walking through the City of SF, rent a car and drive and check out historic California. It is actually... AWESOME. People are nice, the landscape is breathtaking, the beer is awesome... go check out the Empire Mine, Placerville, Lake Tahoe, Sutter Creek, Sutter's Mill.... those of you living in crowded cities need to enjoy the beauty of that part of the state!
Oh well...
Mind you, if you're just dropping in town and driving out the 101 North or South you are never exposed to the mess that city has become. Very sad. We used to walk to restaurants and stores all over downtown, Chinatown, Little Italy, etc... you name it. Strolls at midnight even. Even Haight Ashbury was awesome up until the mid 90s. But today it's just a mess. Really sad, actually.
For those who travel from far to SF... whatever. There are much better, nicer, less expensive places in the US. I understand that the core of Pass, etc, "seems near" to SF, so it makes some sense.
Heck, I'd take Sacramento any day over SF. Those who travel from afar can take the train to Sacramento. They have the Best Train Museum in the World.
Indeed, Pass Labs is based in Auburn, which is in Placer County. We've travelled through that place and for the life of me I don't understand why this event needs to be in SF. Placer County is downright beautiful... instead of walking through the City of SF, rent a car and drive and check out historic California. It is actually... AWESOME. People are nice, the landscape is breathtaking, the beer is awesome... go check out the Empire Mine, Placerville, Lake Tahoe, Sutter Creek, Sutter's Mill.... those of you living in crowded cities need to enjoy the beauty of that part of the state!
Oh well...
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Valid point.
I looked up my receipt from last year. Cost was $60 for Saturday and Sunday (live) plus $16 for lunch on Sunday. Higher than I remembered. So 3x more is probably too much. But $80 instead of $60? That seems well within reason. $20 instead of $16 for lunch... Also, if the event returns to the pre-COVID in-person format only we could eliminate EventBrite and their commission.
I really can't relate to that. Sure. SF has its problems like any other major city. I'm sure you can find some trouble spots at night and maybe some during the day too. But I can't imagine parking at Ft Mason during the day or into the evening should result in any more trouble that it would elsewhere. Common sense applies. Don't leave your phone, wallet, and laptop visible in the car.
Tom
Tom... Don't forget the east bay area as an alternative. A couple venues that come to mind are the Alameda County fairgrounds in the heart of Pleasanton and Blackhawk Museum in Danville. Both of these sites are easy to get to from Oakland Airport and offer all the amenities one could want and are safe.
Yes. Santa Rosa has some decent hotels and Healdsburg has some great wine tasting rooms.
Santa Rosa is Nelson's hometown - he grew up not far from where we live! He now lives on the coast, so Sonoma County is his backyard, if that is a factor. There are lots of meeting places such as buildings at the Fairgrounds, Veteran's Hall, and a few hotels that regularly host large gatherings in several rooms.
For what my opinion is worth I strongly agree with you guys. Having to fly from the other side of the ocean and also having to rent a car would not make it very convenient for me (plus I hate driving but that's another story ahah).
I would not mind forking out some extra money to stay close to Fort Mason or to any other place that only requires an Uber ride to reach
Hmmm.. I'm curious about the off hand dismissal... What's wrong with Vegas?
In one afternoon you can ride a gondola in Venice (*), go to the top of the Eiffel Tower, eat some Coney Island Hot Dogs and then watch a Pirate Ship go down in flames.... all within a block.
Then you can go to the Orleans Casino and have a fantastic prime rib at the Loft.
And prices are still reasonable -compared with pretty much anywhere on the West Coast...
Vegas is what you make out of it, it can be a real nice place or a real commercial black hole. I think most people only see the commercial black hole, which is pretty prevalent... we once considered buying a house there but we felt it is too much of a "stressed" town to live in there, there are too many people chasing the money, pulling out the stops on the "bling bling".... Note: I don't gamble, but I sure enjoy a cigar in the casino, so not being into gambling pretty much removes me from that dark side of the town and I can enjoy what it has to offer: M&M museum, the desert, generally restaurants (**), Hoover Dam, hot dogs downtown, Hawai'ian plate lunches at the California Hotel...
Most people see the Cadillac Escalade side of Vegas, we see the Honda Accord side of it.
Sure, it's not like it used to be.... we once saw Rodney Dangerfield at Caesar's... since we were staying at the hotel, they sat us like ten feet from the stage... we made eye contact with Rodney all the time... that is, whenever I got my breath back, 'cause the man was really killin' me with his jokes.
Vegas used to be fabulous... we guys would put on a suit and the ladies would dress up to to go shows. Today it's overrun with... ugh... tourists that get their clothes from the bargain rack at Walmart and their news from Entertainment Tonight on TV. Yuck. And then you see the tourists and gangstas at the Caesar's shopping mall, with the uber fancy stores... their eyes glazed by the crass displays of bling! Absolute ZERO class!
But again, if you look, it's actually a nice town. Plenty of nice people... take the Strip carefully.
(*) OK, our gondolier was actually Bulgarian... his italian singing was abominable. He got pissed off when I rendered my "Oh Sole Mio" in perfect pitch and italian.... my wife tipped him, I would have tossed him into the canal. ;-)
(**) Avoid the "celebrity" restaurants, the All You Can Eat buffets.... if you look just a little bit, there is really good food in there. As usual, ask the locals, off the strip. I find the checkers at the supermarkets the best source or local eateries: steak houses, mexican, french, etc...
In one afternoon you can ride a gondola in Venice (*), go to the top of the Eiffel Tower, eat some Coney Island Hot Dogs and then watch a Pirate Ship go down in flames.... all within a block.
Then you can go to the Orleans Casino and have a fantastic prime rib at the Loft.
And prices are still reasonable -compared with pretty much anywhere on the West Coast...
Vegas is what you make out of it, it can be a real nice place or a real commercial black hole. I think most people only see the commercial black hole, which is pretty prevalent... we once considered buying a house there but we felt it is too much of a "stressed" town to live in there, there are too many people chasing the money, pulling out the stops on the "bling bling".... Note: I don't gamble, but I sure enjoy a cigar in the casino, so not being into gambling pretty much removes me from that dark side of the town and I can enjoy what it has to offer: M&M museum, the desert, generally restaurants (**), Hoover Dam, hot dogs downtown, Hawai'ian plate lunches at the California Hotel...
Most people see the Cadillac Escalade side of Vegas, we see the Honda Accord side of it.
Sure, it's not like it used to be.... we once saw Rodney Dangerfield at Caesar's... since we were staying at the hotel, they sat us like ten feet from the stage... we made eye contact with Rodney all the time... that is, whenever I got my breath back, 'cause the man was really killin' me with his jokes.
Vegas used to be fabulous... we guys would put on a suit and the ladies would dress up to to go shows. Today it's overrun with... ugh... tourists that get their clothes from the bargain rack at Walmart and their news from Entertainment Tonight on TV. Yuck. And then you see the tourists and gangstas at the Caesar's shopping mall, with the uber fancy stores... their eyes glazed by the crass displays of bling! Absolute ZERO class!
But again, if you look, it's actually a nice town. Plenty of nice people... take the Strip carefully.
(*) OK, our gondolier was actually Bulgarian... his italian singing was abominable. He got pissed off when I rendered my "Oh Sole Mio" in perfect pitch and italian.... my wife tipped him, I would have tossed him into the canal. ;-)
(**) Avoid the "celebrity" restaurants, the All You Can Eat buffets.... if you look just a little bit, there is really good food in there. As usual, ask the locals, off the strip. I find the checkers at the supermarkets the best source or local eateries: steak houses, mexican, french, etc...
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