SMOF News, volume 1, issue 20

ConFusion explains its situation, and news in brief.

The Unwanted Guest

The rise of the omicron variant means conventions are once again facing hard tradeoffs and delicate facility negotiations. In addition to Arisia as mentioned last week, Further Confusion (San Jose, California, USA) and Fan Expo Portland (Portland, Oregon, USA) have cancelled their 2022 events and plan to be back next year.

ConFusion (Novi, Michigan, USA) is less lucky. An announcement from the con chair lays out the situation:

Truth is, we have a contract with our hotel. That contract does have what is called an Impossibility Clause. The short explanation of that is as follows; Should the government, be it Federal, State or Local impose orders or regulations which would prohibit us, or the Sheraton from being able to have, or provide what is needed for the event – then we’d be released from the contract with no penalties.  Unfortunately, as of today (Jan 7th, 2022) no such regulations or orders are in place at any level. Thus the Impossibility Clause does not apply.

Cancellation would cost the con a lot:

Could we cancel the event outright? Legally, yes. Financially – absolutely not. Make no mistake, ConFusion Community – this con and community does not have $80k, – $90k dollars to pay out the entire contract.

Also there are operating costs:

Many in the community may not realize,we don’t just have to pay for costs associated with the physical Con we hold, but there are annual costs, over $5000.00 to be precise, just to keep the legal doors open. Storage of possessions, legal fees for staying legal with the state, etc. Website and hosting fees, Banking fees, paypal fees, etc. There is an entire set of bills associated with AASFA and ConFusion that most never even think about. So when you purchase your membership, it not only pays for the physical event costs, but the annual costs. This is why there has been a no refund policy.

So the convention will be happening in person, with the requirements that have become more or less standard by now: masks plus proof of vaccination or a negative test. Attendance is expected to be very low.

Donations to keep the convention alive are being accepted in two ways:

1) You could purchase a membership – and then not attend. This option will not provide you anything other then the knowledge that you did your best to ensure ConFusion lives on, by supporting the con with your membership. To be clear, we will not be rolling over memberships. If you elect to pre-register a membership and then not attend, that membership will not roll over to 2023, and expires at the end of the 2022 con. 

2) You can directly donate to our cost via our Paypal Donation Link. I apologize that we have no nifty swag to send you for a donation. But truthfully, we’d not ask if we had money.  You will have our unending gratitude, and a pride in the knowledge that you helped our community – a community that you belong to.

The post also details changes being made to the convention due to the pandemic situation, and goes into more detail than is usually publicly available about the give and take of negotiating a facility contract.

In Brief

• Jane Hawkins, a founder of Norwescon and Potlatch, died January 7. She was also involved with Corflu, Wiscon, and multiple Worldcons. Remembrance by Greg Bear • Remembrance by Jeanne Gomoll • Fancyclopedia 3 entry

• Willie Siros, a founder of ArmadilloCon, died January 5. Before ArmadilloCon, he chaired two of Texas’s earliest science fiction conventions. Obituary in the Austin Chronicle • Remembrance by Sara Felix • Fancyclopedia 3 entry

• ConClár is an early-stage open-source project for online convention program guides, intended as a successor to KonOpas. GitHub repo • Demo site

• Anime News Network reports that the Days Inn in State College, Pennsylvania, which hosted the very first Otakon 1994, is to be demolished. Otakon is one of the longest-running and largest anime conventions in the US, topping out at over 30,000 attendees in the early 2010s.

Event Calendar

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, Ont

• ario, Canada

• TBRCon (literary/gaming), online

• Wilkes Comic Con, North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, 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

• East Bay Comic Con, Concord, California, USA

Weekend of February 11-13

• Boskone 59, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

• Atlanta Steampunk Expo, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

• ScotiaCon (anthropomorphic), Glasgow, UK

• FurcoNZ 2022 (anthropomorphic), Ōtaki, New Zealand

• ATG Expo (gaming), Waco, Texas, USA

• Game On!, Bellevue, Washington, USA

• Geekway Mini (gaming), St. Louis, Missouri, USA

• Ohayocon 22 (anime), Columbus, Ohio, USA

• Kami-Con Season Thirteen (anime), Birmingham, Alabama, USA

• Anime Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

• Animangapop (anime), Plymouth, UK

• Savannah Animazing Con (anime), Savannah, Georgia, USA

• Brick City Anime Festival, Ocala, Florida, USA

• Animefest 2022, La Jolla, California, USA

• MissouriCon (media), St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Coda

• Moist Towlette Museum (hat tip: Money Stuff)

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