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Aug. 17th, 2016 09:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
psipsyThis past Otakon is going to be the last one in Baltimore until at least 2024. Reasons being, the facilities in DC are going to be much bigger and newer, and there's been a lot of talk about rebuilding the BCC. It needs it. Every year, there's always something extra broken about it, and what was broken before usually doesn't get fixed. So Otakon basically told Baltimore "maybe we need some time apart for you to work out your problems".
It remains to be seen if Baltimore will actually fix and upgrade their facilities, and the general consensus is that they won't, because Baltimore has a terrible habit of not putting any effort into maintaining their public infrastructure. I guess it's like dealing with that significant other who once they get into a relationship, they don't do anything to make it work, and when the inevitable breakup comes around, they don't do anything to stop it.
That said, I'm not looking forward to the change, because Otakon's been at the same place since 1999, and aside from the crumbly bits, it's mostly a known quantity. Everyone who's been to that a few times knows what to expect. Where the food is, what the hotels are like, what the liquor stores have, and so on. And the whole area knows what to expect when Otakon comes to town. All of that is going to be thrown out the window. Everyone will get thrown to the bottom of the learning curve again.
The hotel room situation looks bleak. There are a few hotels near the new convention center, but I can imagine those will fill up fast. The next option is to get a room in the Crystal City area, and take Metro in. If all else fails? I can commute. It's only 80 miles each way! Not all of that would be driving; the last 10 miles would be on the Metro. Because driving into DC is a headache. When the room block opens, I'll decide based on what's available.
The final option, the nuclear option, and thus the least likely would be to just not go at all. Nah, I'll see how 2017 goes first.
It remains to be seen if Baltimore will actually fix and upgrade their facilities, and the general consensus is that they won't, because Baltimore has a terrible habit of not putting any effort into maintaining their public infrastructure. I guess it's like dealing with that significant other who once they get into a relationship, they don't do anything to make it work, and when the inevitable breakup comes around, they don't do anything to stop it.
That said, I'm not looking forward to the change, because Otakon's been at the same place since 1999, and aside from the crumbly bits, it's mostly a known quantity. Everyone who's been to that a few times knows what to expect. Where the food is, what the hotels are like, what the liquor stores have, and so on. And the whole area knows what to expect when Otakon comes to town. All of that is going to be thrown out the window. Everyone will get thrown to the bottom of the learning curve again.
The hotel room situation looks bleak. There are a few hotels near the new convention center, but I can imagine those will fill up fast. The next option is to get a room in the Crystal City area, and take Metro in. If all else fails? I can commute. It's only 80 miles each way! Not all of that would be driving; the last 10 miles would be on the Metro. Because driving into DC is a headache. When the room block opens, I'll decide based on what's available.
The final option, the nuclear option, and thus the least likely would be to just not go at all. Nah, I'll see how 2017 goes first.
