The Best Intentions
The new standard in COVID precautions is to require proof of vaccination for all attendees and require masks to be worn at all times except when eating and drinking. After more than a year of mask requirements in all sorts of settings, most people have gotten the basic idea of how they work.
Author Seanan McGuire, a guest of honor at Windycon this past weekend, reported that some people thought they had found a clever loophole:
Because I was a GoH, I attended closing ceremonies. As soon as it ended, we were officially no longer at a con.
Several people took their masks off immediately.
Y'ALL. THE PANDEMIC DOESN'T END AT 4PM ON THE DOT. I truly wish it did. But no.
McGuire also noted “quite a few people” taking their masks off for no particular reason throughout the weekend.
Your correspondent, attending Kumoricon and OryCon the last couple weekends, saw similar scenes. Though the vast majority of attendees followed the rules, at Kumoricon there were dozens of people eating and drinking right beneath signs imploring “THIS IS NOT A MASK OFF AREA” and directing them to the eating and drinking area. At each convention I saw somebody taking “eating or drinking” to mean “sitting in the vicinity of a coffee cup”. At OryCon, one panel in a small room started with the moderator asking, “Does anyone mind if we remove our masks?” (People minded.)
Masks may be an unwelcome reminder of the times we are all struggling through, but they do work, so please wear one if you’re going to a large gathering anytime soon.
In Brief
The Comic-Con Museum will have its “soft opening” on November 26th. Timed tickets are required and now on sale. The grand opening will be sometime in summer 2022, probably coinciding with next year’s San Diego Comic-Con, which has not announced dates yet.
Entertainment Weekly reports that Adam Driver, appearing on The Graham Norton Show, did not recall his experience of going to SDCC as a celebrity guest fondly.
Event Calendar
Weekend of November 19-21
Fantastika 2021 (Swedish national sf convention), Stockholm, Sweden
HispaCón 2021 (Spanish national sf convention), virtual
Philcon 2021, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, USA
Anime NYC, New York City, New York, USA
Consequences O: Otherworldly Consequences (gaming), Christchurch, UK
U-Con 2021 (gaming), virtual (usually Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA)
BGG.CON (gaming), Dallas, Texas, USA
Anthro Northwest 4 (anthropomorphic), Seattle, Washington, USA
Con Nichiwa (anime), Tucson, Arizona, USA
Colossalcon Texas (anime), Round Rock, Texas, USA
Sin City Anime, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Anime Town: Pensacola, Pensacola, Florida, USA
London Film & Comic Con, London, UK
New England Super Megafest Comic-Con, Framingham, Massachusetts, USA
Heroes Dutch Comic Con, Utrecht, Netherlands
Vienna Comic Con, Vienna, Austria
Time-Flight 2021 (Doctor Who), Holtsville, New York, USA
Weekend of November 26-28
Loscon 47/Westercon 73, Los Angeles, California, USA
Chambanacon 50, Normal, Illinois, USA
Chessiecon 2021, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
UK Ghost Story Festival 2021, Derby, UK
Winter Wolfcon 21 (gaming), Chicago, Illinois, USA
MAG 2021 (gaming/anime), Erfurt, Germany
Atlanta AnimeDay, Duluth, Georgia, USA
Comic Con Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany
Comic-Con Special Edition, San Diego, California, USA
Chicago TARDIS 2021 (Doctor Who), Lombard, Illinois, USA
Starbase Indy 2021 (Star Trek), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Weekend of December 3-5
Smofcon Europe (con-running), Lisboa, Portugal
Weymouth Steampunk Christmas, Weymouth, UK
Midwest Furfest (anthropomorphic), Rosemont, Illinois, USA
Dragonmeet (gaming), London, UK
Shorehammer (miniatures gaming), Ocean City, Maryland, USA
Anime Frontier, Fort Worth, Texas, USA
Nashville Anime Day, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, USA
For the Love of Sci-Fi 2021 (media), Manchester, UK
Geek Days Lille (media), Lille, France
Emerald City Comic Con, Seattle, Washington, USA
L.A. Comic Con 2021, Los Angeles, California, USA
Naiccon 2021 (media), Nairobi, Kenya
Mini-Mini Con (media), San Antonio, Texas, USA
Weekend of December 10-12
RADP 26 (Disney theme parks), Walt Disney World, Florida, USA
PAX Unplugged (tabletop gaming), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Anime Pasadena, Pasadena, California, USA
Tekko 2021 (anime), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Yama-Con 2021 (anime), Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, USA
Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Ocean City Comic Con, Ocean City, Maryland, USA
TFCon Toronto (Transformers), Missisauga, Ontario, Canada
Weekend of December 17-19
DisCon III, the 79th World Science Fiction Convention, Washington, DC, USA
Sac Gamers Expo (video games), Sacramento, California, USA
Power Up South Bend (video games), South Bend, Indiana, USA
Holiday Matsuri (anime), Orlando, Florida, USA
Con+Alt+Delete (anime), Rosemont, Illinois, USA
AnimeFest 2021, Dallas, Texas, USA
Comic Con Revolution, Ontario, California, USA
Fan Party vol. 5 (media), Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico
Coda
How to Identify That Light in the Sky (Astronomy Picture of the Day)
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