SMOF News, volume 1, issue 34

Eastercon gets back on track, SDCC's paperwork goes missing, and news in brief.

Eastercon is Back on Track

Eastercon, the UK’s national science fiction convention, selected winning bids for its 2023 and 2024 editions this past weekend. This puts it back on its customary cycle of selecting sites two years in advance.

Conversation will be the 2023 Eastercon, defeating a rival bid 148 votes to 98, with 16 abstentions. The event will be both in person and online, with a physical location still to be selected. Guests will be Zen Cho, Niall Harrison, Jennell Jaquays, Kari Sperring, Adrian Tchaikovsky, and Ursula Vernon; Jaquays and Vernon will appear virtually.

Levitation was unopposed for the 2024 Eastercon. It will be held in Telford, and the guests will be Jackie Burns, Genevieve Cogman, Michelle Sagara, and Tade Thompson.

Comic Con Paperwork is Missing

San Diego Comic Con, unlike most of its imitators, is run by a nonprofit organization. Like the science fiction conventions that it cross-pollinated with in its early years, it is organized as a 501(c)(3) educational charity. One of the benefits is a tax exemption, but to maintain its status, it must submit annual paperwork to federal and state authorities.

The state of California did not get the 2020 paperwork. The Times of San Diego reports:

In a letter dated Friday,* California Attorney General Rob Bonta warned organizers of the San Diego Comic Convention that the 501(c)(3) nonprofit risks losing its state tax-exempt status if they don’t meet a deadline or get an IRS extension.

“An organization that is delinquent, suspended or revoked is not in good standing and is prohibited from engaging in conduct for which registration is required, including soliciting or disbursing charitable funds,” Bonta wrote.

The Times has the full letter available here.

SDCC was noncommittal to ICv2 about whose oops it may have been:

"Recently it was brought to our attention that paperwork we filed in November of 2022 with The Registry for Charitable Trusts for the State of California, may not have been received in its entirety," [SDCC Chief Communications and Strategy Officer David] Glanzer explained.  "Out of an abundance of caution, we resubmitted our paperwork on Friday, April 8, 2022, and will continue to monitor the situation closely."

Both sites report that federal paperwork shows SDCC reported a net loss of $8 million in 2020, when it held only a free virtual event.

SDCC this year will be July 21-24. With all registrations for 2020 rolled over to this year, further badge sales are not expected.

In Brief

• Swedish fan Fia Karlsson is the 2022 Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund delegate. She will attend Chicon 8 in September. Full announcement here.

• The Twitter account for Anime Expo (Los Angeles, California, USA, July 1-4) was taken over briefly to hawk NFTs. AX was able to recover the account later on April 18. More at Anime News Network.

• WisCon (Madison, Wisconsin, USA, May 27-30) has topped its goal of raising $30,000 to get the same amount in matching funds. With extra donations and grants, it now has reached $67,000. More is needed to pay penalties to the hotel for not filling its room block.

• Kumoricon (Portland, Oregon, USA, November 11-13) has added Bryce Papenbrook, Max Mittelman, Ray Chase, and Robbie Draymond as guests of honor.

Event Calendar

Weekend of April 22-24

• No Brand Con XIX, Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, USA

• Swancon Not-A-Con, Tuart Hill, Australia

• OmegaCon (relaxacon), Siren, Wisconsin, USA

• JordanCon (fantasy literature), Atlanta, Georgia, USA

• Ice and Fire Convention (Song of Ice and Fire series), Mt. Sterling, Ohio, USA

• Penguicon 2022 (sf/open source), Southfield, Michigan, USA

• Malice Domestic 32-33-34 (mysteries), Bethesda, Maryland, USA

• Farmageddon IX (gaming), Farmer City, Illinois, USA

• Cheyenne Gaming Convention, Cheyenne, Wyoming, USA

• Rising Phoenix Game Con, Milford, Massachusetts, USA

• Jeu au Boute (boardgames), Chertsey, Québec, Canada

• Recon (miniatures gaming), Orlando, Florida, USA

• PAX East (video games), Boston, Massachusetts, USA

• Omnicon Revival (anime), Cookeville, Tennessee, USA

• Oz-Con (anime), West Plains, Missouri, USA

• Kawaii Kon (anime), Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

• Anime St. Louis, St. Charles, Missouri, USA

• ExpOtaku Vitoria-Gasteiz (anime), Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain

• Mobile Bay Anime Festival, Daphne, Alabama, USA

• Beta Quest 2022 (anime), Kingsland, Georgia, USA

• San Diego Comic Fest, San Diego, California, USA

• El Paso Comic Con, El Paso, Texas, USA

• Yellow City Comic Con, Amarillo, Texas, USA

• Fayetteville Comic Con, Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA

• Suncoast Comic-Con, Palmetto, Florida, USA

• Comic-Con Prague, Prague, Czech Republic

• Fanboy Expo Las Vegas (media), Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Weekend of April 29-May 1

• RavenCon 15, Glen Allen, Virginia, USA

• Tulkon, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

• Glasgow International Fantasy Conversations (symposium), online

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

• Furry Weekend Holland: Castles and Peacocks!, Baarlo, Netherlands

• Chupacabracon VIII (gaming), Round Rock, Texas, USA

• TringCon (gaming), Marsworth, UK

• San Marino Game Convention, San Marino

• Great Plains Game Fest, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA

• Congress of Gamers Spring Session, Rockville, Maryland, USA

• 2022 Gaming Hoopla, Mundelein, Illinois, USA

• LoBsterCon XXII (boardgames), Eastbourne, UK

• Jeu au Boute (boardgames), Chertsey, Québec, Canada

• Game Jam South (video games), Huntsville, Alabama, USA

• Midwest Gaming Classic (video games), Milwaukee, Wisconsin

• FnordCon 5 (Steve Jackson Games), Austin, Texas, USA

• aniMUC (anime), Fürstenfeld, Germany

• Castle Point Anime Convention, Seacaucus, New Jersey, USA

• Kameha Con (anime), Allen, Texas, USA

• Anime Athens, Athens, Texas, USA

• Avalon Expo 8 (media), St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada

• Fangaea (media), San Diego, California, USA

• Causeacon (media), Beckley, West Virginia, USA

• Fan Expo Cleveland (media), Cleveland, Ohio, USA

• Wirral Comic Con, New Brighton, UK

• Geek Days Rennes (media), Bruz, France

• Visioncon 2022 (media), Springfield, Missouri, USA

• MonstahXpo (horror media), Fairhaven, Massachusetts, USA

Weekend of May 6-8

• Demicon 2022: The After, Urbandale, Iowa, USA

• Furry Weekend Atlanta: The Enchanted Forest, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

• ChupacabraCon VIII (gaming), Round Rock, Texas, USA

• AniMinneapolis (anime), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

• Hanami (anime), Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany

• South Pacificon Game Fest, San Diego, California, USA

• Heroicon (gaming), Decatur, Illinois, USA

• WagonCon 2022 (gaming), The Dalles, Oregon, USA

• S’mores & Meeples (gaming), Coatesville, Pennsylvania, USA

• Festival Alchemie du Jeu (gaming), Toulouse, France

• GlyphCon 2022 (Pathfinder/Starfinder), Leduc, Alberta, Canada

• 21st Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention (pulp), Lombard, Illinois, USA

• Portsmouth Comic Con, Portsmouth, UK

Weekend of May 13-15

• ColoniaCon 24, Köln, Germany

• SFeraKon 2022, Zagreb, Croatia

• AtomaCon 2022, North Charleston, South Carolina, USA

• StokerCon 2022 (horror), Denver, Colorado, USA

• Geekway to the West 2022: Life Finds a Game (gaming), St. Charles, Missouri, USA

• Huzzah! Con 2022 (miniatures gaming), Portland, Maine, USA

• Romance of the Cyclops Con (D&D), online

• PuchiCon (anime), Tannersville, Pennsylvania, USA

• Metrotham Con Episode 3: Revenge of the ‘80s (media), Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA

• Tidewater Comicon, Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA

• Fan Expo St. Louis (media), St. Louis, Missouri, USA

• Saratoga Comic Con, Saratoga Springs, New York, USA

• Northern FanCon (media), Prince George, British Columbia, Canada

• FrankenCon (horror films), Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

• QFX East (LGBTQ+ media), Tampa, Florida, USA

• Seaquestria Fest (My Little Pony), Ocean City, Maryland, USA

Weekend of May 20-22

• Keycon 39: From Myth to Modern, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

• 2022 Nebula Conference, online

• FurcoNZ: Post-Apocalyptic Punk (anthropomorphic), Ōtaki, New Zealand

• Zomerspel (gaming), Merelbeke, Belgium

• Play (gaming), Modena, Italy

• RPGCON (gaming), Huntsville, Alabama, USA

• BN Video Game Con, Bloomington, Illinois, USA

• Anime Central, Rosemont, Illinois, USA

• IberAnime, Lisboa, Portugal

• Otafest 2022 (anime), Calgary, Alberta, Canada

• Bak-Anime, Bakersfield, California, USA

• Harucon (anime), Klagenfurt am Wörthersee, Austria

• Animefest 2022, Brno, Czech Republic

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

• Megacon Orlando (media), Orlando, Florida, USA

• Comic Con Baltics, Vilnius, Lithuania

• Argentina Comic Con, Buenos Aires, Argentina

• Dublin Wizard Con (fantasy media), Dublin, Ireland

• Horrorcon UK (media), Sheffield, UK

• Crypticon Seattle 2022 (horror media), Seatac, Washington, USA

Coda

• One year of Martian aviation (Science News)

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