SMOF News, volume 1, issue 37
Current convention COVID policies, and news in brief.
COVID Policies Are Still News
A flurry of articles such as this one at NBC San Diego has followed San Diego Comic-Con’s announcement of the COVID policy for its big event.
The policy is fairly standard for large fan events over the next few months in the United States: proof of a primary vaccination series or a negative test for entry, and masks to be worn at all times.
In much of the world there are national rules regarding COVID measures in any kind of public space or gathering, and cons seem to simply be following those. In the US, though, the lack of a national standard means that cons will have to keep setting their own policies for some time (excepting cons in polities which have banned events from requiring their own health measures).
Most cons have something similar to SDCC’s policy, plus or minus allowing a negative test to substitute for vaccination. However, those seeking a less guarded experience can find it if they want: cons such as PulpFest (Mars, Pennsylvania, August 4-7), StokerCon (Denver, Colorado, May 12-15), or Fan Expo St. Louis (May 13-15) will stand back and let you do as you like.
On the other hand, if you’d like a con which is extra careful, a few like FanimeCon (San Jose, California, May 27-30) require at least one booster on top of your primary vaccination.
Many of these policies come with hopeful disclaimers about adjustments for changing conditions, but with no sign of COVID-19 letting up it is unlikely many policies will be loosened.
In Brief
Origins Game Fair (Columbus, Ohio, USA, June 8-12) has added Michael “Knightmage” Wilson as its special cosplay guest.
Geek’d Con (Shreveport, Louisiana, USA, August 19-21) has announced a partnership with the New Orleans Mardi Gras organization Krewe of Barkus and Meoux for 2023.
Event Calendar
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
StarFest Denver (media), Denver, Colorado, 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
Weekend of May 27-29
Balticon 56, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
ConQuesT 53, Kansas City, Missouri, USA
MisCon 36: Carnival of Wonders, Missoula, Montana, USA
Satellite 7, Glasgow, UK
Fargo CoreCon: The Great Age of Dragons, Fargo, North Dakota, USA
Åcon 11 (relaxacon), Mariehamn, Finland
WisCon (feminist sf), Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Mephit Mini Con 23 (anthropomorphic), Kirchen/Sieg, Germany
ConFuzzled (anthropomorphic), Birmingham, UK
AnthrOhio 2022: Tech Noir (anthropomorphic), Columbus, Ohio, USA
KublaCon (gaming), Burlingame, California, USA
GOBFest (gaming), Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
ReCon (gaming), Kernersville, North Carolina, USA
PrairieCon (gaming), Brandon, Manitoba
Rocky Top Game Con, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
Nordsken 2022 (gaming), Skellefteå, Sweden
Gamex 2022 (gaming), Los Angeles, California, USA
Lincon 2022 (gaming), Linköping, Sweden
Richmond Open 2022 (gaming), Richmond, Virginia, USA
BGG.Spring (boardgames), Dallas, Texas, USA
Enfilade! 2022 (miniatures gaming), Olympia, Washington, USA
FanimeCon (anime), San Jose, California, USA
Naka-Kon (anime), Overland Park, Kansas, USA
Anime Onsen, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
Anime Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Thy Geekdom Con (anime), Oaks, Pennsylvania, USA
Animazement (anime), Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
Momocon (anime), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Mizucon (anime), Miami, Florida, USA
Sabaku Con (anime), Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Naka-Kon 2022 (anime), Overland Park, Kansas, USA
MomoCon 2022 (anime), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Phoenix Fan Fusion (media), Phoenix, Arizona, USA
MCM London Comic Con, London, UK
Fantasy Basel (media), Basel, Switzerland
Star Wars Celebration 2022, Anaheim, California, USA
Weekend of June 3-5
ConCarolinas 2021, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
Oz-Stravaganza 2022 (Wizard of Oz), Chittenango, New York, USA
Biggest Little Fur Con 2022 (anthropomorphic), Reno, Nevada, USA
DieCon 20-22 (gaming), Collinsville, Illinois, USA
UK Games Expo (gaming), Birmingham, UK
Y-Con 2022 (gaming), Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
North Texas RPG Con (vintage tabletop RPGs), Irving, Texas, USA
A-Kon 31 (anime), Irving, Texas, USA
Black Hills Con (anime), Rapid City, South Dakota, USA
KimoKawaii (anime), Conroe, Texas, USA
DoKomi (anime), Düsseldorf, Germany
Anime Riverside 2022, Riverside, California, USA
ExpOtaku Torremolinos 2022 (anime), Torremolinos, Spain
FedCon (media), Bonn, Germany
Awesome Con (media), Washington, DC, USA
3 Rivers Comicon, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
ColossalCon 2021 (media), Sandusky, Ohio, USA
Alabama Comic Con / KimestuCon 2022, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
Whinny City Pony Con 2022: Super Hero Showdown: The Return! (My Little Pony), Schaumburg, Illinois, USA
Weekend of June 10-12
Robert E. Howard Days, Cross Plains, Texas, USA
44th Superman Celebration, Metropolis, Illinois, USA
NEWh3re (music), online
Heroes, Villains, and Blerds (art), Winter Park, Florida, USA
StratosFur (anthropomorphic), Houston, Texas, USA
Origins Game Fair 2022, Columbus, Ohio, USA
NordConline (gaming), online
Bayou Wars 2022 (miniatures gaming), D’Iberville, Mississippi, USA
AnimeCon 2022, Rijswijk, Netherlands
Anime Blues Con, Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Space Coast Comic Con, Viera, Florida, USA
Anime Town: Utah, Farmington, Utah, USA
Anime Marathon, Königslutter am Elm, Germany
Anime Lubbock, Lubbock, Texas, USA
Oz Comic-Con: Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
North Country Comic Con, Watertown, New York, USA
SWFL SpaceCon (media), Fort Meyers, Florida, USA
Coda
Thank you for reading! Send tips, corrections, press releases, and letters of comment to: smofnews@gmx.com.