SMOF News, volume 1, issue 1
Introduction, news in brief, and event listings.
Welcome! SMOF News aims to be a newsletter covering fan conventions and related topics of interest. Please send your press releases, your news tidbits, and your outraged letters to smofnews@gmx.com.
Each issue will have 4 parts:
Discussion of the big news of the week. If there is no big news, the space will be filled by editorializing, helpful tips for congoers, Q&As, or whatever else seems appropriate to the moment. Like this introduction, for instance.
News in brief from around the convention world.
Convention listings for the next five weekends.
One interesting link that may or may not have anything at all to do with geek fandoms.
Newsletters will be published every Wednesday evening, Pacific Time.
What’s “SMOF”?
“Secret Master/Mistress of Fandom”, an old tongue-in-cheek fannish term for people who run fan conventions. For more background, see Fancyclopedia 3.
In Brief
Voting in Dragon Con’s Dragon Awards closes at 11:59 pm EDT (UTC-4) Saturday, September 4th. Voters do not need to be convention members. Request a ballot here; list of nominees here.
Erle Korshak, one of the organizers of the second World Science Fiction Convention in Chicago in 1940, died August 25 aged 97. This leaves Bob Madle as the last surviving attendee of the very first Worldcon in 1939. Chicon 8, where he was to be a Guest of Honor next year, will still be honoring his life and contributions.
Obituaries: File 770 • Locus
Event Calendar
Weekend of September 3-5
Dragon Con, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Marcon, Worthington, Ohio, USA
CoKoCon 2021, virtual (usually Phoenix, AZ)
Fantasticon 2021: The Weird, Copenhagen, Denmark
FUTURE·CON (international literary sf), virtual
Narrativity 2021: Take Two (storytelling in literary sf), Plymouth, Minnesota, USA
San Japan 12.5 (anime), San Antonio, Texas, USA
Connichi (anime), Kassel, Germany
Nan Desu Kan (anime), Aurora, Colorado, USA
Saboten Con 2021 (anime), Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Naka-Con 2021 (anime), Overland Park, Kansas, USA
Mizucon 2021 (anime), Miami, Florida, USA
PAX West 2021 (gaming), Seattle, Washington, USA
Gateway 2021 (gaming), Los Angeles, California, USA
Enfilade! 2021 (historical miniatures gaming), Olympia, Washington, USA
Tails & Tornadoes (anthropomorphic), Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
Mephit Fur Meet 2021 (anthropomorphic), Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Oxonmoot 2021 (J. R. R. Tolkien), Oxford, UK
Big River Steampunk Festival 2021, Hannibal, Missouri, USA
Fan Expo Boston (media), Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Hub City Comic Con, Lubbock, Texas, USA
Austria Comic Con, Linz, Austria
Weekend of September 10-12
Les Intergalactiques 2021, Lyon, France
OutsideCon, Burns, Tennessee, USA
Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention, Lombard, Illinois, USA
Keystone Gaming Expo, Pottstown, Pennsylvania, USA
Dice Tower Retreat (gaming), Miami, Florida, USA
Furry Migration (anthropomorphic), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Furvana 2021 (anthropomorphic), Ocean Shores, Washington, USA
Power-Con 2021 (He-Man and She-Ra), Anaheim, California, USA
31st First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony, virtual (usually Boston, Massachusetts, USA)
ConnectiCon XVIII (media), Hartford, Connecticut, USA
ICT Comic Con, Wichita, Kansas, USA
German Comic Con, Dortmund, Germany
Arkansas Comic Con, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA
El Paso Comic Con, El Paso, Texas, USA
Rose City Comic Con, Portland, Oregon, USA
Angers Geekfest (media), Angers, France
Florida Supercon (media), Miami Beach, Florida, USA
Fanboy Expo (media), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Calgary Expo: Limited Edition (media), Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Weekend of September 17-19
FenCon XVII, Irving, Texas, USA
Albacon 2021, virtual (usually Albany, New York, USA)
FIYAHCON 2021 (BIPOC in literary sf), virtual
SIBCON XXV (gaming), Butler, Pennsylvania, USA
Gen Con 2021 (gaming), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Escape Winter Con (gaming), Orlando, Florida, USA
CT Gamer Con, Uncasville, Connecticut, USA
Cardiff Anime & Gaming Con, Cardiff, UK
SWFL SteamCon (steampunk), Ft. Meyers, Florida, USA
Furry Takeover 2021 (anthropomorphic), Fontana Dam, North Carolina, USA
Avalon Expo 7 (media), St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada
Colossalcon East 2021 (media), Pocono Manor, Pennsylvania, USA
AncientCityCon (media), St. Augustine, Florida, USA
Incredible Con (media), North Charleston, South Carolina, USA
Heroes Assemble (media), Richmond, Virginia, USA
GraniteCon 2021 (media), Manchester, New Hampshire, USA
FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Weekend of September 24-26
RustyCon 2021, Bellevue, Washington, USA
Copernicon, virtual (usually Toruń, Poland)
Necronomicon 2021, Tampa, Florida, USA
FallCon 34 (gaming), virtual (usually Calgary, Alberta, Canada)
Nuke-Con (gaming), Omaha, Nebraska, USA
Hurricon 2021: The Seven Seas (historical miniatures gaming), Kissimmee, Florida, USA
Good Game Fest (video games), Westminster, Maryland, USA
Ramencon 2021 (anime), South Bend, Indiana, USA
Bradford Anime & Gaming Con, Bradford, UK
ExpOtaku Vitoria-Gasteiz (anime), Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
WhimsyCon (steampunk), Northglenn, Colorado, USA
FurEver West (anthropomorphic), Cheyenne, Wyoming, USA
Big Apple Comic Con, New York City, New York, USA
NORCON (media), Norfolk, UK
Geek Days Rennes (media), Rennes, France
Westcoast Comic Con, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Power Comicon, Florence, South Carolina, USA
Suncoast Fan Fest (media), Palmetto, Florida, USA
Spa-Con (media), Hot Springs, Arkansas, USA
Northern FanCon (media), Prince George, British Columbia, USA
Retro Con (classic media), Oaks, Pennsylvania, USA
Weekend of October 1-3
Octocon 2021 (Irish national science fiction convention), virtual
MileHiCon 53, Denver, Colorado, USA
Archon 44, Collinsville, Illinois, USA
Fiasco iN3D, Romulus, Michigan, USA
Capclave 2021/1632 Minicon (books/1632 series), Rockville, Maryland, USA
Origins Game Fair 2021, Columbus, Ohio, USA
Tennessee Game Days Fall 2021, Franklin, Tennessee, USA
TringCon (gaming), Marsworth, UK
2021 Gaming Hoopla, Mundelein, Illinois, USA
AppleCon 2 (tabletop games), Standish, Maine, USA
Pittsburgh Gaming Expo (video games), Monroeville, Pennsylvania, USA
FilkCONtinental (music), Wernigerode, Germany
Trans/Inter/Cross: A Symposium on the Fantastic Between Genres, Media, and Cultures, Orlando, Florida, USA
Gaslight Steampunk Expo, San Diego, California, USA
Anime Oklahoma, Midwest City, Oklahoma, USA
Birmingham Anime & Gaming Convention, Birmingham, UK
26th Annual H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival, Portland, Oregon, USA
New Orleans Comic Con, Kenner, Louisiana, USA
Upper Valley Comic Expo, West Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA
Unicon (media), Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Edmonton Expo (media), Edmonton, Alberta, USA
Cape Comic Con (media), Cape Girardeau, Missouri, USA
Twin Cities Con (media), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Coda
Comic store vs. hotel, with graphic novel: See Part V, “Origin Story”. (Hat tip: Gray Anderson)