SMOF News, volume 1, issue 19

Taiyou Con ownership becomes a shell game, and news in brief.

Taiyou Con Shell Game

Last week’s issue quoted a story in the Arizona Republic stating that Kato Tam or Tan, aka Gackto, had stepped down from the management and ownership of Taiyou Con. Gackto had been accused of sexual assault and there was a movement to boycott the convention.

Accusations are circulating on Twitter and on forums that Gackto is not gone, just hidden by a new layer of shell companies. Beskar, LLC, which the Republic reported had been added as a new owner in Gackto’s place, is said to be managed by Limitless Sky Trust, which in turn is owned by AZFoodGuy, LLC. AZFoodGuy is, in turn, Gackto again.

Public records are not quite able to confirm or deny this. The Arizona Corporation Commission currently lists the members of Taiyou Convention, LLC as Rida Son and a blank name at the same address. Beskar, LLC’s only member is a blank name at a different address.

AZFoodGuy, LLC lists Beskar as a member and Limitless Sky Trust as its manager, all at the same address in Scottsdale as Beskar’s nameless member. That address belongs to KEYTLaw, LLC, the agent for both Beskar and AZFoodGuy.

The person behind AZFoodGuy is named as Kay Tea in articles at the Scottsdale Progress and AZ Big Media. On the other hand, the Progress article and the AZFoodGuy’s own website feature pictures of someone who does look a lot like Gackto’s own photos of himself.

It does, in fact, look like Gackto is not entirely divorced from Taiyou Con.

In Brief

• SoonerCon (Norman, Oklahoma, USA) is the latest convention to open a Kickstarter to ensure its next con can happen. As of press time, it has just topped its initial goal of $10,000.

• Wiscon’s fundraiser (covered a few issues ago) has so far brought in $18,700 toward its $30,000 goal.

• Arisia (Boston, Massachusetts, USA), which was to be held January 13-16, has rescheduled to next year.

• The WSFA Small Press Award, voted on by local fans and presented at Capclave (Rockville, Maryland, USA, September 30-October 2), is open for submissions of short speculative fiction from small presses. Full rules are available at its official site.

• The former Winnipeg in 2023 bid for Worldcon is exploring becoming a NASFiC bid and invites comments from the public.

• A bid has formed to hold Corflu in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 2023 (PDF).

Event Calendar

Weekend of January 7-9

• Shadowcon XXV (relaxacon), Memphis, Tennessee, USA

• GAFilk 2022 (music), Atlanta, Georgia, USA

• SuperMAGFest (gaming/videogame music), National Harbor, Maryland, USA

• OrcaCon 2022 (gaming), Bellevue, Washington, USA

• Animé Los Angeles 17, Long Beach, California, USA

• Taiyou Con 2022 (anime), Mesa, Arizona, USA

• Anime-ZAP!, East Peoria, Illinois, USA

• Fan Expo New Orleans (media), New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

• St. Pete Comic Con, St. Petersburg, Florida, USA

Weekend of January 14-16

• Chattacon XLVII, Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA

• Na Meji Nevidnega, Ljubljana, Slovenia

• GenghisCon, Perth, Australia

• MarsCon 2022, Williamsburg, Virginia, USA

• COSine 2022, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA

• DeCONpression 17 (relaxacon), Columbus, Ohio, USA

• Waypoint Norwescon (relaxacon), online

• HexaCon (gaming), Broomfield, Colorado, USA

• Midwinter Gaming Convention 2022, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

• SCARAB 2022 (gaming), Columbia, South Carolina, USA

• Siege of Augusta XXXI (miniatures gaming), Augusta, Georgia, USA

• SaltCON Bryce (boardgames), Bryce Canyon, Utah, USA

• Further Confusion 2022 (anthropomorphic), San Jose, California, USA

• Anime Impulse, Pomona, California, USA

• Ichibancon 12 (anime), Concord, North Carolina, USA

• OtakuFest (anime), Miami, Florida, USA

• Central Florida Comic Con, Lakeland, Florida, USA

• Puerto Rico Comic Con, San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA

• Wintercon (media), Jamaica, New York, USA

Weekend of January 21-23

• Rising ConFusion, Novi, Michigan, USA

• AnthroExpo: CasinOwO Royale (anthropomorphic), Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA

• KapCon 31 (gaming), Wellington, New Zealand

• Polar Vortex 6 (gaming), Lisle, Illinois, USA

• ConTingency (gaming), Hunstanton, UK

• Rocket City Gamefest, Huntington, Alabama, USA

• Cascade Games Convention, Bellingham, Washington, USA

• Cancon 2022 (gaming), Canberra, Australia

• Niagara Boardgaming Weekend, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada

• TBRCon (literary/gaming), online

• Wilkes Comic Con, North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, USA

• Fan Expo Portland (media), Portland, Oregon, USA

• CONsole Room (Doctor Who), Bloomington, Minnesota, USA

• My Hero Convention: TX Smash (My Hero Academia), Irving, Texas, USA

Weekend of January 28-30

• Conflikt (music), online (usually Seatac, Washington, USA)

• Game-iToba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

• MeepleCon (gaming), Melbourne, Australia

• Platypus-Con (gaming), Juneau, Alaska, USA

• Winter War 2022 (gaming), Champaign, Illinois, USA

• Protocon ‘22 (gaming), online (usually Kearns, Utah, USA)

• AmberCon NI (diceless RPGs), online (usually Belfast, UK)

• Setsucon 2022 (anime), Altoona, Pennsylvania, USA

• UChi-Con 2022 (anime), Chicago, Illinois, USA

• Mouse-Con Bakersfield (Disney), Bakersfield, California, USA

Weekend of February 4-6

• Capricon 42, Wheeling, Illinois, USA

• Sci-Fi Fantasy LA (sf and science), Pasadena, California, USA

• Running GAGG 25 (gaming), Geneseo, New York, USA

• TableTopCon (gaming), Southport, Australia

• CaptainCon 2022 (gaming), Warwick, Rhode Island, USA

• Adventure Con 2022 (RPGs), Hamburg, Germany

• Chattanooga Railgaming Challenge, Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA

• SSA+S Toracon (anime), Sarasota, Florida, USA

• WeebCon (anime), Allen, Texas, USA

Coda

• Some Things That Didn’t Go Wrong in 2021 (Washington Post)

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