SMOF News, volume 4, issue 37

Plea deal for one defendant in Gen Con heist, romantasy convention underdelivers, GeekGirlCon in trouble, and news in brief.

Guilty Plea in Gen Con Heist

Thomas J. Dunbar, one of two men awaiting trial for stealing a pallet of Magic:the Gathering cards from Gen Con in 2023, has pled guilty to a lesser charge of theft, with a felony charge being waived. Dunbar has been given a 2-year suspended jail sentence, and ordered to pay $542 to Alan Hochman (head of Pastimes Games, the vendor the cards were taken from) and $27,141 to Wizards of the Coast.

Dunbar will serve probation in place of the jail sentence, and is required to stay away from the Indiana Convention Center for the next 728 days. He has also been ordered to complete 40 hours of community service.

Andrew Giaume is still scheduled to stand trial for the theft on July 2.

A Million Lives Book Festival Underdelivers

A Million Lives Book Festival, a romantasy convention held May 2-3 in Baltimore, Maryland, is the rare genre get-together to have gotten coverage from major publications like People, Newsweek, and The Guardian. Unfortunately, the coverage was prompted by its failure to live up to its billing.

Attendees reported a very uncrowded event, missing swag bags and badges, an unfurnished “content room”, and an advertised Saturday night ball that turned into a DIY party, per the Guardian:

But when they arrived at the same brightly lit conference room as the event, there was no decor or music. A small cash bar and a plate of macarons were the only signs of a party. As they sat around in chairs, the security guard went home to retrieve his portable bluetooth speaker. They named him “DJ Steve” and took turns playing music from their phones.

A list of “authors, narrators, and vendors” who lost money travelling to the event has been set up to encourage people to support them by buying their work.

Comparisons have been made to the Fyre Festival or, for those with longer or more genre-specific memories, DashCon. But the phenomenon of the first-time convention with big plans that badly underperforms has been part of fandom almost since the first big media cons made drawing a big crowd look easy.

GeekGirlCon In Peril

GeekGirlCon (Seattle, Washington, November 8-9) has warned that it may not be viable beyond 2025. It blames the current political climate in the US:

With rising costs and calls for defunding organizations that support DEI efforts, GeekGirlCon has found itself in the same position as so many other amazing nonprofits.

However, this is followed by a chart of revenue and expenses that shows it has been struggling since the emergence of COVID-19.

GeekGirlCon also provides a high-level look at expense categories, with “Venue” taking up most of it, at $152,885 of $240,212 in estimated 2025 expenses. But moving to a new location is absolutely not on the table, says the con:

We love having the convention in downtown Seattle because it allows for greater accessibility by public transportation and has plenty of amenities within walking distance for con attendees and staff. In the past year, we have considered different venue options both inside and outside of Seattle but any change would have required us to greatly reduce our space in exchange for minimal savings and a less accessible location. Ultimately we decided to stay with our current location. However, keeping it downtown does come with a high sunk cost. Every year, venue costs alone account for about 60% of our budget.

This is why so many Seattle-area fan conventions are held in SeaTac instead. And this phenomenon is replicated in many metropolitan areas, where a hotel in the suburbs is far more effective than a slice of a convention center.

GeekGirlCon will try to reduce its space used, angle for more grants and sponsorships, and hold fundraising events, with details to be announced later.

In Brief

• Seattle Worldcon 2025 (Seattle, Washington, August 13-17) has posted a small update on its progress in re-evaluating program participants without the use of AI.

• JAFAX (Grand Rapids, Michigan, June 27-29) has added Zach Giering.

• Delta H Con (Houston, Texas, July 18-20) has added Tom Fahn, Dorothy Fahn, and Kieshar Cosplay.

• Florida Supercon (Miami, Florida, July 18-20) has added Kate Mulgrew and Robert Picardo.

• ATL Comic Convention (Atlanta, Georgia, July 18-20) has added Jackson Rathbone, Ashley Greene, and Kellan Lutz.

• Pretty Heroes (Toronto, Ontario, July 19-20) has added Brian Beacock.

• Gen Con (Indianapolis, Indiana, July 31-August 3) has named Elizabeth Hargrave its Guest of Honor.

• Terrificon (Uncasville, Connecticut, August 8-10) has added Kaitlyn Robrock, Brett Breeding, Mitch Gerads, Tom King, and Keith Silverstein.

• Tucson Comic-Con (Tucson, Arizona, August 29-31) has added David Forman, Leif Tilden, Michelan Sisti, and Josh Pais.

• FanX Salt Lake (Salt Lake City, Utah, September 25-27) has added Marta Svetek, Tim Downie, Tom Kenny, and Dave Foley.

• PonyCon Holland (Zeist, Netherlands, October 25-26) has added Imalou.

Event Calendar

Weekend of May 16-18

• Keycon 41, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

• Roleplay Verse, Oberhausen, Germany

• FaRK (fantasy), Schiffweiler, Germany

• Wild Wild West Steampunk Convention 13.5, online

• Calfurry (anthropomorphic), Calgary, Alberta, Canada

• ZodiaCon 2025 (anthropomorphic), Horní Bradlo, Czechia

• CanGames, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

• Zomerspel (gaming), Merelbeke, Belgium

• San Marino Game Convention, San Marino

• Geekway to the West 2025: One Con to Bring Them All (gaming), St. Charles, Missouri, USA

• Huzzah! Con 2025: The Crossing (miniatures gaming), Portland, Maine, USA

• Final Boss Con (video games), Rio Grande, Ohio, USA

• 64 Bits or Less (retro video games), Corvallis, Oregon, USA

• Drums at the Rapids (historical miniatures), Perrysburg, Ohio, USA

• West Wars 2025 (historical miniatures), Denver, Colorado, USA

• Anime Central, Rosemont, Illinois, USA

• Amikon (anime), Dublin, Ireland

• CloverCon (anime), Bridgewater, New Jersey, USA

• Riverwalk Anime, San Antonio, Texas, USA

• IberAnime, Lisboa, Portugal

• Otafest 2025 (anime), Calgary, Alberta, Canada

• East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

• Comic Con Revolution, Ontario, California, USA

• CradleCon (media), Garden City, New York, USA

• Geek Days Lille (media), Lille, France

• Comic Park (media), Erfurt, Germany

• Rogue Comic Con, Medford, Oregon, USA

• Horrorcon UK (media), Sheffield, UK

Weekend of May 23-25

• Balticon 59, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

• WisCon 47 (feminist sf), online

• Fargo CoreCon 15: Halfoween, Fargo, North Dakota, USA

• Satellite 9, Glasgow, UK

• Na meji nevidnega, Ljubljana, Slovenia

• Jodiworld Convention 2025 (Jodi Taylor), Coventry, UK

• ConFuzzled: Fashion Week (anthropomorphic), Birmingham, UK

• AnthrOhio2025: Of Fae and Fur (anthropomorphic), Columbus, Ohio, USA

• PrairieCon 44 (gaming), Brandon, Manitoba, Canada

• KublaCon (gaming), Burlingame, California, USA

• ReCon (gaming), Kernersville, North Carolina, USA

• Rocky Top Game Con, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

• Gamex 2025 (gaming), Los Angeles, California, USA

• TableTopCon 2025 (gaming), Southport, Australia

• Winsome Choose Some (Winsome Games), Carnegie, Pennsylvania, US

• BGG.Spring (boardgames), Dallas, Texas, USA

• Enfilade 2025 (miniatures gaming), Tacoma, Washington, USA

• Oldenburger Rollenspiel Convention (RPGs), Oldenburg, Germany

• PaizoCon Online 2025 (Pathfinder/Starfinder RPGs), online

• FanimeCon: Fan Prix (anime), San Jose, California, USA

• Thy Geekdom Con (anime), Oaks, Pennsylvania, USA

• Animazement (anime), Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

• Mizucon (anime), Miami, Florida, USA

• Anime North, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

• ExpOtaku A Coruña (anime), A Coruña, Spain

• Animefest 2025, Brno, Czechia

• MomoCon 2025 (anime), Atlanta, Georgia, USA

• Sabaku Con 2025 (anime), Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

• MCM London Comic Con, London, UK

• Cherry Capital Comic Con, Acme, Michigan, USA

• CaperCon (media), Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada

• Anime Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

• Comic Con Baltics, Vilnius, Lithuania

• Peter Cushing Celebration, Whitstable, UK

Weekend of May 30-June 1

• Fantasticon 2025 (Danish national sf convention), Copenhagen, Denmark

• Swancon 49, Perth, Australia

• Tremendicon, Springfield, Missouri, USA

• ConCarolinas 2025, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

• Scheibenwelt Convention (Discworld), Witzenhausen, Germany

• Das Frühlingsfest der Filksmusik 2025 (music), Hanstedt, Germany

• Mephit Mini Con 26: The Roaring Twenties (anthropomorphic), Freusburg, Germany

• Steampunk Alchemy Fest, Budd Lake, New Jersey, USA

• Chicago Steampunk Exposition, Schaumburg, Illinois, USA

• ChupacabraCon XI (gaming), San Marcos, Texas, USA

• UK Games Expo (gaming), Birmingham, UK

• Mega XP (gaming), Mexico City, Mexico

• Y-Con 2025 (gaming), Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada

• LinCon (gaming), Linköping, Sweden

• CORGSCon (retro video games), Columbus, Ohio, USA

• Bak-Anime, Bakersfield, California, USA

• Anime Riverside 2025, Riverside, California, USA

• FedCon 33 (media), Bonn, Germany

• ColossalCon (media), Sandusky, Ohio, USA

• Hall of Heroes Comic Con, Elkhart, Indiana, USA

• Fantasy Basel (media), Basel, Switzerland

• Great Mills Comicon, Great Mills, Maryland, USA

• Armageddon Expo Auckland Winter (media), Auckland, New Zealand

• Fan Expo Dallas (media), Dallas, Texas, USA

• Etna Comics 2025 (media), Catania, Italy

• Trek Long Island 3 (Star Trek), Hauppauge, New York, USA

• Purgatory 9 (Supernatural), Düsseldorf, Germany

Weekend of June 6-8

• Cymera 2025 (sf writing), Edinburgh, UK and online

• Oz-Stravaganza 2025 (Wizard of Oz), Chittenango, New York, USA

• StratosFur: All-Star League (anthropomorphic), Houston, Texas, USA

• Once Upon a Time (steampunk), Dortmund, Germany

• FlamingoCon #29 (gaming), Delray Beach, Florida, USA

• OttoCon IV (gaming), Pleasant Valley, New York, USA

• Spielfest Wien (gaming), Vienna, Austria

• SaltCON Summer (gaming), Layton, Utah, USA

• CoBo Brettspiel Convention (cooperative games), Halberstadt, Germany

• SoCal Gaming Expo (video games), Ontario, California, USA

• North Texas RPG Con (vintage tabletop RPGs), Irving, Texas, USA

• Sand Wars 2025 (historical miniatures), Chandler, Arizona, USA

• KimoKawaii 4 (anime), Conroe, Texas, USA

• Anime Blues Con, Memphis, Tennessee, USA

• Oz Comic-Con: Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

• SWFL SpaceCon (media), Cape Coral, Florida, USA

• EM-Con (media), Nottingham, UK

• North Country Comic Con, Watertown, New York, USA

• Argentina Comic Con, Buenos Aires, Argentina

• Phoenix Fan Fusion (media), Phoenix, Arizona, USA

• 3 Rivers Comicon, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

• Los Amigos MOTU Convention VII (He-Man), Neuss, Germany

• Vampire Fan Weekend (Vampire Diaries), Whippany, New Jersey, USA

Weekend of June 13-15

• Norcon 31, Oslo, Norway

• YetiCon, The Blue Mountains, Ontario, Canada

• Pyrkon, Poznań, Poland

• 4th Street Fantasy, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

• StokerCon 2025 (horror), Stamford, Connecticut, USA

• Robert E. Howard Days, Cross Plains, Texas, USA

• Tolkien Tage 2025, Geldern, Germany

• Cosplay World, Richmond, Virginia, USA

• CastleCon 14 (anthropomorphic), Horb, Germany

• Game Con Canada, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

• Board Game Fest, Chavdar, Bulgaria

• NordCon (gaming), Hamburg, Germany

• ATG Expo (gaming), Waco, Texas, USA

• Q-Con 2025 (gaming), Belfast, UK

• Bayou Wars 2025 (miniatures gaming), D’Iberville, Mississippi, USA

• AnimeCon 25, Birmingham, UK

• Desucon 2025 (anime), Lahti, Finland

• Geekworld (comics/gaming), Viernheim, Germany

• Space Coast Comic Con, Cocoa, Florida, USA

• Sci-Fi Valley Con (media), Altoona, Pennsylvania, USA

• Metropolis Superman Celebration, Metropolis, Illinois, USA

Coda

• Original Lovecraft manuscript and other rarities recovered (The Oregonian)

Thank you for reading! Send tips, corrections, press releases, and letters of comment to: smofnews@gmx.com.