SMOF News, volume 1, issue 4

When Your Con Is Pro

Author Kim Yoon Mi was scheduled to be a program participant at FIYAHCON but objected to the terms of a release for archiving program items:

I re-read the BonFIYACON for video and rewrote the contract so it was not an indefinite license and then saying they OWNED my diagrams, words and PDFs I worked hard I created. BTW, shame on you for putting predatory practices in the contract.

Kim followed up with a detailed analysis of what she found problematic, along with complaints of poor communication:

I didn’t know they had a website until a few weeks ago. And I’m supposed to be a panelist. No one particularly informed me what the con was about either. (Their email nor contracts make that clear at all.) I’m also kinda busy with other life crap at the same time, so I don’t have the mental energy to try to figure this out.

Convention director L. D. Lewis gave her perspective:

Here is the game I am being forced to play on the eve of my convention when I could be serving my congoers:

A person who has participated in hostile activities toward myself, my staff, and FIYAHCON as an organization was removed from their programming assignment this morning.

Lewis posted the release language in full for the Internet to debate, which of course it did. The release is similar to what many fan organizations use when recording program items for their archives.

FIYAHCON, run by a for-profit entity but with a community-minded mission, falls into the gray area between nonprofit fan conventions and purely commercial operations. Some detail about where can be found in this retrospective of last year’s convention:

At $40USD a head + about $14k in sponsorship dollars and $3k in assorted individual donations, we were able to provide honoraria for our staff, cover operating costs, put $10k away for next year’s event, and provide $200/year of service in honoraria to our magazine staff. It’s not a lot, but it’s a start.

[…]

The event was staffed by 43 volunteers and 11 (also volunteer) department heads. All staff members were provided the option to receive an honorarium of $50-$200. Contributing booktubers were paid $200 for the “commercials” used particularly during Em-Dash. The Ignyte Awards Host also received an honorarium. 

In Brief

• FIYACON has announced the winners of its publicly-voted Ignyte Awards.

• CanSmof is offering three “scholarships” to assist people in travelling to Smofcon 39 (December 3-5, Lisbon, Portugal). The deadline to apply is September 24th, 23:59 SST (UTC-11).

• DisCon III, this year’s Worldcon (December 15-19, Washington, DC) has posted the WSFS Constitution and business passed along from previous Worldcons (PDF). Of note are several Hugo Award changes requiring a new vote to keep them from sunsetting.

Event Calendar

Weekend of September 24-26

• RustyCon 2021, Bellevue, Washington, USA

• Copernicon, virtual (usually Toruń, Poland)

• Necronomicon 2021, Tampa, Florida, USA

• FallCon 34 (gaming), virtual (usually Calgary, Alberta, Canada)

• Nuke-Con (gaming), Omaha, Nebraska, USA

• Hurricon 2021: The Seven Seas (historical miniatures gaming), Kissimmee, Florida, USA

• Good Game Fest (video games), Westminster, Maryland, USA

• Ramencon 2021 (anime), South Bend, Indiana, USA

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

• WhimsyCon (steampunk), Northglenn, Colorado, USA

• FurEver West (anthropomorphic), Cheyenne, Wyoming, USA

• Brooklyn SciFi Film Festival, New York City, New York, USA

• Big Apple Comic Con, New York City, New York, USA

• NORCON (media), Norfolk, UK

• Geek Days Rennes (media), Rennes, France

• Westcoast Comic Con, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

• Power Comicon, Florence, South Carolina, USA

• Suncoast Fan Fest (media), Palmetto, Florida, USA

• Spa-Con (media), Hot Springs, Arkansas, USA

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

• Retro Con (classic media), Oaks, Pennsylvania, USA

Weekend of October 1-3

• Octocon 2021 (Irish national science fiction convention), virtual

• MileHiCon 53, Denver, Colorado, USA

• Archon 44, Collinsville, Illinois, USA

• Fiasco iN3D, Romulus, Michigan, USA

• Capclave 2021/1632 Minicon (books/1632 series), Rockville, Maryland, USA

• Origins Game Fair 2021, Columbus, Ohio, USA

• Tennessee Game Days Fall 2021, Franklin, Tennessee, USA

• TringCon (gaming), Marsworth, UK

• 2021 Gaming Hoopla, Mundelein, Illinois, USA

• AppleCon 2 (tabletop games), Standish, Maine, USA

• Pittsburgh Gaming Expo (video games), Monroeville, Pennsylvania, USA

• FilkCONtinental (music), Wernigerode, Germany

• Trans/Inter/Cross: A Symposium on the Fantastic Between Genres, Media, and Cultures, Orlando, Florida, USA

• Gaslight Steampunk Expo, San Diego, California, USA

• Anime Oklahoma, Midwest City, Oklahoma, USA

• 26th Annual H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival, Portland, Oregon, USA

• New Orleans Comic Con, Kenner, Louisiana, USA

• Upper Valley Comic Expo, West Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA

• Unicon (media), Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

• Edmonton Expo (media), Edmonton, Alberta, USA

• Cape Comic Con (media), Cape Girardeau, Missouri, USA

• Twin Cities Con (media), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Mid-week convention:Geekway to the West (gaming), St. Charles, Missouri, USA (October 5-7)

Weekend of October 8-10

• Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, Sitges, Spain

• 7th Irish Discworld Convention, virtual (was to be Cork, Ireland)

• EstelCon 2021 (J. R. R. Tolkien), Orduña, Spain

• WPAFW 2021 (anthropomorphics), North Park, Pennsylvania, USA

• Motor City Furry Con, Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA

• Alamo City Furry Invasion: Fire and Furry, San Antonio, Texas, USA

• Lair Con (RPGs), Terrell, Texas, USA

• Too Many Games (video gaming), Oaks, Pennsylvania, USA

• Tsubasacon (anime), Charleston, West Virginia, USA

• Banzaicon (anime), Columbia, South Carolina, USA

• Anime Fiesta, McAllen, Texas, USA

• Animasia (anime), Bordeaux, France

• Made in Asia (anime), Brussels, Belgium

• UK PonyCon 2021 (My Little Pony), Nottingham, UK

• Fallcon XL (comics), St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

• Comiccon de Québec, Montréal, Québec, Canada

• Comic Con Scotland, Edinburgh, UK

• Alabama Comic Convention/My Hero Convention, Birmingham, Alabama, USA

• Powerhouse Comic Con, Pleasanton, California, USA

• Grit City Comic Show, Tacoma, Washington, USA

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

• Fantasy Basel (media), Basel, Switzerland

• Big Texas Comicon, San Antonio, Texas, USA

• The Tomb of Monsterama (retro media), Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Weekend of October 15-17

• ICON 46, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA

• ArmadilloCon 43, Austin, Texas, USA

• VCon 2021, virtual (usually Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)

• Can*Con 2021 (Canadian sf), virtual (usually Ottawa, Ontario)

• Anime Banzai, Davis, Utah, USA

• Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, Sitges, Spain

• Viking-Con 40 (gaming), Kastrup, Denmark

• Phantasm 30th (RPGs), Peterborough, Ontario, Canada

• BETACON 10 (gaming), Carbondale, Illinois, USA

• Effing-Con (gaming), Effingham, Illinois, USA

• Spiel ‘21 (boardgames), Essen, Germany

• Wauke-Con (comics), Waukegan, Illinois, USA

• The Lakes International Comic Art Festival, Kendal, UK

• J-Popcon (anime), Copenhagen, Denmark

• Chizu Con (anime), Madison, Wisconsin, USA

• Tokyo, OK (anime), Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

• WasabiCon (anime), Jacksonville, Florida, USA

• Heroes Made in Asia (anime), Gorinchem, Netherlands

• Geek Days Caen (media), Caen, France

• Motor City Comic Con, Novi, Michigan, USA

• MetaCon (media), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

• Indiana Comic Convention, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

• MagicCon 4 (fantasy media), Bonn, Germany

• Bedford Who Charity Con 6 (Doctor Who), Bedford, UK

Weekend of October 22-24

• BuchmesseCon, Dreieich, Germany

• Sirens (gender and fantasy), Denver, Colorado, USA

• Atlanta Game Fest 36, Alpharetta, Georgia, USA

• GaelCon (gaming), virtual (usually Dublin, Ireland)

• CincyCon 2021 (gaming), Hamilton, Ohio, USA

• LAN All Night: ZombieLAN (video games), Dallas, Texas, USA

• Biggest Little Fur Con (anthropomorphic), Reno, Nevada, USA

• Sci-Fi-London 21 (film festival), London, UK

• MEX (anime), Berlin, Germany

• Anime Nebraskon, Council Bluffs, Iowa, USA

• Anime Fusion, Plymouth, Minnesota, USA

• Another Anime Convention, Westford, Massachusetts, USA

• FedCon (media), Bonn, Germany

• Hal-Con (media), Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

• Baltimore Comic-Con, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

• FicZone 2021 (media/gaming), Grenada, Spain

• TR25 (Tomb Raider), Derby, UK

• TFcon Baltimore (Transformers), Baltimore, Maryland, USA

• VoltCon! 2021 (Voltron), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Coda

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