B. A. S. F. A.

The San Francisco
Bay Area Science Fiction Association

"We do these things not because they are hard, but because we are weird"

BASFA Meetings Suspended Until At Least April 13

Due to the COVID-19 Coronovirus outbreak, BASFA meetings are canceled through April 6, 2020. Meetings may resume on April 13 if it is safe to do so. Follow the BASFA Facebook Page for more timely updates.

About BASFA

The Bay Area Science Fiction Association is the local weekly science fiction social club that meets every Monday evening at 8:00 PM at the Black Bear Diner, 174 W Calaveras Blvd, Milpitas for discussion of any thing of interest to science fiction fans. Meetings usually start at 8:00 PM, but people arrive starting around 7:00 PM to socialize and dine before the meeting.

The usual meeting order, after approval of previous minutes (which is sometimes an adventure) and officer reports, consists of announcements from members of things they think other members might want to hear, followed by members' reviews of books, movies, events, and other things of potential interest. The evening usually ends with auctions of things donated to the club, followed by the adoption of the club's "Rumor of the Week." Meetings normally end shortly after 9:00 PM, depending on how enthusiastic the members are about discussing things.

Welcome Meetup.com

BASFA now has a page on meetup.com. If you found us through that page, welcome! We hope you'll join us for one of our regular weekly meetings.

Structure & Officers

BASFA has an elected president, vice president, treasurer, and secretary, all of whom serve until a new election is called for any office or until that officer misses 13 consecutive meetings (absenses may be excused). By tradition, complaints about an officer's work are taken as calls for a new election, with the complainant assumed as the first nominee for the office.

As of January 2018, the club officers are:

President: Trey Haddad
Vice President: Ken Patterson
Secretary: Barbara Johnson-Haddad
Treasurer: David Gallaher

Original artwork for BASFA by Frank Wu, 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2009 Hugo winner - Best Fan Artist.

BASFA Turns 1,000!

BASFA was formed at a "meeting zero" in the Quiet Bar at what is now the San Jose Doubletree Hotel after a SiliCon committee meeting in 1991, where people who realized that the only time they were ever seeing their friends was at committee meetings. Michael Wallis proposed that people also start meeting socially and organized the initial meetings of the club.Michael's account of the club's formation:

Dave and Marli Medinnus, Lamont and Mitzi Jones, myself, and several other concom staff were sitting in the Quiet Bar at the (then) Red Lion Hotel after about the 4th or 5th weekend in a row of having concom meetings for one convention or another... and Dave was complaining that we only ever saw each other at committee meetings. I suggested starting a social club where we could actually have fun....

Dave called the next day (a Monday in July) and said "Coco's at Lawrence and Oakmead, 8:00 pm, Wednesday." There were 28 people at the first meeting. The "Numismatic Responsibility Act" was proposed and adopted. Dave was elected President. I think Lamont was Treasurer. We've met (mostly) weekly since then. We've met at various other locations over the years. Activities at meetings have come and gone (we used to be a hotbead of Hearts playing back in the day), but the club goes on. And Death will not release it.

Appropriately, BASFA celebrated its 1,000th meeting by holding it on the final night of SiliCon 2009 at the San Jose Doubletree.

Joining BASFA

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