SMOF News, volume 1, issue 38

Anime Central loosens its COVID policy, while Origins tightens its policy.

Anime Central Drops COVID Measures

Last week, this newsletter dared to say:

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.

This Monday, Anime Central, which will be held this coming weekend in Rosemont, Illinois, announced on Twitter that it would be dropping all vaccination and testing requirements for admission. Masks would continue to be strongly recommended in general and required in some areas of the convention.

As of today, the policy requires masks in nearly all convention areas:

Face coverings will be required to enter:

• All guest and panelist events

• The Dances

• The Exhibit Hall

• The Artist Alley

• The Gaming and Entertainment Hall

We strongly recommend wearing masks in all lobbies, hallways, public spaces, and restrooms. Our team will continue to do the best we can to help enforce this in our spaces, we ask that you also join in in masking even where it’s not required.

Anime Central is not allowing refunds.

Reaction to these changes has been almost uniformly negative, with many people pointing out that not only is four days before the convention starts far too late for attendees to adjust their plans, Anime Central promised on April 29 that it absolutely would not change its policy.

The initial change was said to be “Due to changes in COVID protocols by the CDC and requirements by the [Donald E. Stephens Convention Center]”.

A letter purported to be from Anime Central management to staff, posted in several places including this Twitter thread, blames the convention center in stronger terms:

A lack of support from the venue, combined with last-minute communication regarding that lack of support caused the [Midwest Anime Promotion Society] board to bring together everyone at the Committee Chair level, including assistant chairs, and after a set of collaborative discussions, the MAPS board, the Committee Chairs, and Assistant Committee Chairs made the decision to proceed in the direction announced this morning.

Anime News Network tried for more information but didn’t get much of an answer:

ANN reached out to the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center (DESCC) for comment. The convention center replied, "We continue to follow the most current rules sent down by the CDC and IDPH."

This would not be the first convention impacted by a disagreement with its facility over COVID policies. AnimeNEXT had a very public falling out with its own venue when the venue refused to hold its staff to AnimeNEXT’s preferred policy. However, a misalignment of policies should not block a convention from enforcing vaccination checks on its own attendees.

Origins Reinstates Masking

On April 29, as Anime Central was assuring the world it would not change its policy, Origins Game Fair (June 8-12, Columbus, Ohio, USA) dropped its requirement for all attendees to wear masks. On May 17, it announced in its newsletter:

GAMA, the nonprofit organization that manages Origins Game Fair, announced today that based on concerns from GAMA members, exhibitors, GMs and attendees as well as an upward trend in the pandemic, has reinstated the mask requirement in the interest of everyone's health and safety.

Per the event FAQ, anyone who bought a badge while the mask requirement was removed may get a refund.

Origins has also now stated that its COVID policy will not change further.

Event Calendar

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

Weekend of June 17-19

• LibertyCon 34, Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA

• YetiCon, Collingwood, Ontario, Canada

• Pyrkon, Poznań, Poland

• 4th Street Fantasy, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

• CastleCon 11 (anthropomorphic), Horb, Germany

• Arcon 38: Multivertshuset (gaming), Oslo, Norway

• Q-Con Lite (gaming), Belfast, UK

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

• South Texas Gamers Expo (video games), McAllen, Texas, USA

• Wie.MAI.KAI (anime), Flörsheim am Main, Germany

• YUMiCON (anime), San Antonio, Texas, USA

• Anime Ohio, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

• Cosplacon 2022 (anime), Jefferson City, Missouri, USA

• Desucon 2022 (anime), Lahti, Finland

• Fan Expo Dallas (media), Dallas, Texas, USA

• Sci-Fi Valley Con (media), Altoona, Pennsylvania, USA

• Austria Comic Con, Linz, Austria

• Smallville Comic Con, Smallville, Kansas, USA

• CanterCon (My Little Pony), Tempe, Arizona, USA

Coda

• Plants grown in lunar soil (Associated Press)

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