Yaoi-Con 2008 | A Celebration of Male Beauty & Passion in Anime & Manga

This is a convention centered on a specific topic: Yaoi. Not a convention based loosely on Yaoi with an agenda to be close to Japantown. The biggest problem is that the San Francisco Bay Area is incredibly expensive, increasing almost exponentially as you get closer to SF. My 1 bedroom/1 bath 750 sqft apartment is $1,200/mo, and I'm double the distance away from SF proper than the con was. Everything is extremely expensive, and will probably always be, and honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if they couldn't hold the convention in this area anymore at all. Most of us attendees certainly cannot afford to go back into the city, so most definitely the convention can't go back there. Now, I know I live in the area - I'm lucky - but if they move back to the city, I can't afford to drive there and definitely can't afford to stay in the hotel. I also know several people from my hometown that have very limited funds to come to the convention - if hotel rooms go up, they just won't attend.

We must think about the economic downturn. Hotels are not inclined to lower their prices, especially in this area with all of the international business - and there is truly a whole mess of it. This being, not as many of us can afford these hotels, so the convention must seek better and more cost-effective facilities. This means moving farther away from San Francisco itself, but a better convention experience for the attendees, as we might actually be able to afford attending.

If someone attending wants to go visit the city, then that is their agenda and not at all a responsibility of the convention. The convention should not make the other attendees suffer for the comfort of a few.