If you like conventions where there are hundreds of media guests, thousands of people and you have to stand in lines for hours to get into a panel room then you’ll hate the Farpoint Convention. Farpoint is a science fiction media convention in the Baltimore area that has been around for 19 years. For the last 8-9 years, I’ve run their dealers room. It’s a mid-size, family friendly convention that attracts 500-800 people each year which means everyone has plenty of room to walk around, get into the panels they want to see and just have a nice relaxing convention weekend (see the photo gallery below).

The media guests at Farpoint this year were Michael Hogan and Kate Vernon (best known for their Battlestar Galactica roles) and Kristin Bauer (of True Blood fame). All three actors had talks and signed autographs all weekend. Unlike other conventions where you are herded through an autograph line, Farpoint attendees could just walk up to the table and get the pictures with the each guest and have time to chat with them as well.

In addition to media guests, Farpoint also features a nice lineup of writers including Peter David, Michael Jan Friedman, Robert Greenberger, Steven H. Wilson, Kieryn Nicolas, Phil Giunta and Howard Weinstein. The writers were on hand not only to sign and discuss their latest books but to give advice to aspiring writers as well. As mentioned earlier, Fapoint is a family friendly convention and there was a programming track for children that included activities like the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, Spiffy, Spacey Balloon Creations, Vex Lego Robotics and make your own steampunk goggles. There was also and art show, Friday night karaoke, Saturday night Masquerade (and party) and a dealers room.

Next year is the 20th Anniversary of Farpoint. The show will be held on February 15-17, 2013. Make plans to attend now!

More information about Farpoint can be found on their website: farpointcon.com.

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