Penguicon 2017 - why I won't be there this year

I've attended Penguicon every year since Penguicon 2.0. I loved it back then. But I don't want this post to become a "Pining for the glory days of the past" post.

Over the last few Penguicons, I've noticed some trends:

1. Too much diversity.
   By trying to become everything to everyone, Penguicon has become nothing to everyone. Out of all the tracks, I only like 4. Of course, everyone else is the same, but just a different 4 tracks. The problem is that with 20 tracks, that's only 1/5 of the resources for what I like.
   There's been no big speakers, for example, in any areas.
   This year's talent, for example, is Cory Doctorow and a bunch of other people who I've never heard of and even when I read their bios, don't really care to hear from.
   Cory is a nice person, and a good writer, but he really hasn't done much in the last several years.  I like him, but if this is the best Penguicon do so for a GoH, it's an indication that the con has really slid down.
2. Social Justice "warriors" and other regressives (not "progressives").
   These are people with an attitude of "I can do what I want to offend you, but don't you dare offend me."  There are a growing number of very inconsiderate people at the con.  Keep in mind that I know how inconsiderate geeks can be since we tend to focus on ourselves.  I account for that.  This is different.
   These are people who do things that they know will be offensive and harmful to others.  They do it on purpose for the purpose of offending (or as they call it "to make a statement").
3. Non-con-people.
   I realize that you can't keep the public out completely, but over the last few years, I've noticed a growing number of non-con goers in the hallways in the evenings. It's kinda nice to know that "normals" like geek parties, but these people aren't always nice people to have at the con.

The combination of less content for me and more objectionable people attending has made Penguicon something that's not for me and my wife.

As a geek, changing my routine is something that makes me apprehensive. I tend to resist it. But the more I think about how little I've gotten out the last 3 (at least) Penguicons, and the less I see as far as talent (again) for this year, the apprehensiveness has faded.

We'll probably go to the Vermontville Maple Syrup festival instead. After all, they may be hicks out there, but they don't try to offend or make "statements", and there's more interesting things to do.