I had heard about BAIPA back in the nineties, when self-publishing meant hiring an editor and a designer, and then printing up a supply of books that I kept in our storage locker, getting a box to fill orders as they came in. Using a regular printer (we are talking offset here) was the only way to get decent quality. Print on demand was in it's infancy and the quality just wasn't there.
I went to my first BAIPA meeting almost two years ago when POD was finally coming into it's own with easy pathways to sell on Amazon, along with Kindle and other ebook editions.
I have to credit my fellow members at BAIPA for adding to my knowledge in a BIG way, from my very first meeting to the most recent. Between the Q&A and the high quality speakers, I am always learning, even though I am considered an expert in this field these days.
If you are a writer or an independent publisher, or someone who offers services to those groups of people, BAIPA is THE place to be here in the Bay Area.