SMOF News, volume 1, issue 53

Ekpeki gets his visa, Fan Expo looks ahead, reflections at the one-year mark, and news in brief.

Numbering Note

SMOF News will begin a new volume on the first Wednesday of September every year. It just happens that I picked a year to start with that had 53 Wednesdays.

International Incident Averted

As reported last week, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, a finalist in two Hugo Award categories, was denied a visa to enter the United States to attend the awards ceremony at the World Science Fiction Convention (Chicago, Illinois, September 1-5).

Ekpeki announced on Monday that he had been granted a new visa interview. This was followed by an ominous day of silence, until he added that he now had his visa and would be travelling to the US on Wednesday.

Fan Expo Is Bullish on the Future

Aman Gupta, the president and founder of Fan Expo, now the largest media-convention-running conglomerate in the world, was interviewed by Forbes on the state his company. Despite the changes wrought by the pandemic, Gupta sees nothing but growth ahead:

With new organizational heft and capital, Fan Expo built some of its shows into international destination events. “Our show in Orlando, MegaCon, surprised us this year with a huge turnout, over 140,000,” he said. The scale nearly overwhelmed the infrastructure in the Florida home of Disney World. They’re expecting big crowds in Toronto this weekend, although Gupta says there is still room to grow in the city and the venue.

Also:

The company is also looking overseas, with a “sister show” slated for Dubai.

It is also noted that even one of the world’s friendliest borders poses logistical headaches:

One issue for Fan Expo as an international company is navigating customs and border issues for events that feature a lot of exhibitors selling expensive items and celebrities running cash-based photo and autograph sales at the shows. Gupta says Fan Expo provides support for exhibitors to navigate the US-Canada regulations.

Reflections on One Year of SMOF News

I once read that only about 10% of fanzines make it as far as their tenth issue. I am proud to have taken SMOF News to over five times that and I hope to keep it going for some years to come.

Not every moment has been proud. Just last week, sharp-eyed reader Kevin Standlee pointed out that despite the repeated mentions of Worldcon here, I had not actually added this year’s Worldcon to the listings when its weekend rotated in. It has been restored to its rightful place this week, and my hope now is that that remains my most embarrassing mistake for some while.

The big convention story of the last year, as it has been in nearly everything since 2020, is the pandemic. As I started this newsletter, conventions which had rescheduled to later in the year to take advantage of receding infections were instead being swamped by the Delta wave. Anime NYC initially looked like a return to normality in November— “Large North American anime con has registration line meltdown” was a routine news story through much of the 2010s— but instead it heralded the arrival of our new friend Omicron. We may be dealing with this pandemic for a good long time, but I still hold out hope for writing it about it less in the coming year as convention policies and international travel regulations converge toward some new generally accepted norm.

Thank you to all my subscribers, whether you subscribed right at the start or just last week. I hope this little newsletter has been of some value to you, and that it will continue to be.

In Brief

• F-Con, the 53rd Japanese national science fiction convention, announced the results of the fan-voted Seiun Awards during the con last weekend.

• The Ohio Valley Filk Festival (October 28-30, Worthington, Ohio, USA) has opened up voting for the 2022 Pegasus Awards. Voters do not need to be members of the convention, but do need to be active in the filk community.

• SNAFU Con, an anime convention typically held in September or October, is skipping 2022 and has announced a “filler arc” of mini-events to tide local fans over until 2023.

• Lumi-Con, an anime convention which was to have been held in late October, has cancelled its 2022 event and plans to hold no more.

Event Calendar

Weekend of September 2-4

• Chicon 8 (80th World Science Fiction Convention), Chicago, Illinois, USA

• Dragon Con, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

• CoKoCon 2022, Tempe, Arizona, USA

• San Diego Afro Con (Afrofuturism), San Diego, California, USA

• Oxonmoot 2022 (J. R. R. Tolkien), Oxford, UK

• Big River Steampunk Festival 2022, Hannibal, Missouri, USA

• Tails & Tornadoes Fur Con: Ren Fur (anthropomorphic), Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

• Mephit Fur Meet 2022: Trick or Treat (anthropomorphic), Memphis, Tennessee, USA

• Pacificon Game Expo 43, Santa Clara, California, USA

• SaltCON End of Summer (gaming), Layton, Utah, USA

• Alamo City Game Convention, San Antonio, Texas, USA

• Electric City Dice and Cosplay (gaming), Great Falls, Montana, USA

• WGGCon (gaming), Croton-on-Hudson, New York, USA

• LincCon (gaming), Merrill, Wisconsin, USA

• PAX West 2022 (gaming), Seattle, Washington, USA

• Gateway 2022 (gaming), Los Angeles, California, USA

• TCEP 2022 (gaming), Sterling, Virginia, USA

• GrandCon 2022 (gaming), Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA

• ConsimWorld Expo 2022 (gaming), Tempe, Arizona, USA

• NOVA Open 2021 (wargaming), Washington, DC, USA

• ReaperCon (miniatures gaming), Denton, Texas, USA

• Pixel Expo (video games), Perth, Australia

• SCG Con (collectible card games), Columbus, Ohio, USA

• Nan Desu Kan 25 (anime), Aurora, Colorado, USA

• San Japan 13 (anime), San Antonio, Texas, USA

• Tracon (anime), Tampere, Finland

• Anime Escape Fest, Grand Prairie, Texas, USA

• Saboten Con 2022 (anime), Phoenix, Arizona, USA

• Comic Con Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine

• Fanboy Expo Orlando (media), Orlando, Florida, USA

• Tucson Comic Con (media)/RinCon (gaming), Tucson, Arizona, USA

• Long Beach Comic Con, Long Beach, California, USA

• Robcon (media), Abingdon, Virginia, USA

• Giganticon (media), Killeen, Texas, USA

• Meta Con Minneapolis (media), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

• Whooverville 13 (Doctor Who), Derby, UK

Weekend of September 9-11

• OutsideCon, Burns, Tennessee, USA

• Bouchercon 2022: Land of 10,000 Thrills (World Mystery Convention), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

• Furry Migration: Galactic Space Race (anthropomorphic), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

• FursonaCon 2022: Academy of Magic (anthropomorphic), Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA

• Impossible Realities #21: Damage Control (gaming), St. John, New Brunswick, Canada

• ZorCon (gaming), Lake Jackson, Texas, USA

• Ludesco (gaming), La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland

• Tabletop Central (gaming), Savoy, Illinois, USA

• Escape Winter Con (gaming), Orlando, Florida, USA

• Dice Tower Retreat (gaming), Miami, Florida, USA

• Sugoi Expo (anime), Orlando, Florida, USA

• Anime Oklahoma, Midwest City, Oklahoma, USA

• Arkansas Comic Con, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

• Rose City Comic Con, Portland, Oregon, USA

• Colossalcon East (media), Pocono Manor, Pennsylvania, USA

• Power Comicon, Florence, South Carolina, USA

• International Comic Expo, Birmingham, UK

• Popcorn! (media), Rotherham, UK

• Ottawa Comiccon, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

• Elstree-Con (media), Elstree, UK

• Unicon & Game Expo (media), Minsk, Belarus

• D23 Expo 2022 (official Disney fan convention), Anaheim, California, USA

Weekend of September 16-18

• FenCon XVIII, Irving, Texas, USA

• 16. Elstercon: (N)IRGENDWO (N)IRGENDWANN, Leipzig, Germany

• Copernicon, Toruń, Poland

• FantasyCon 2022, Heathrow, UK

• Albacon 2022, Albany, New York, USA

• Furry Takeover: Alien Invasion (anthropomorphic), Fontana Dam, North Carolina, USA

• Furdance Budapest (anthropomorphic), Budapest, Hungary

• 8th Annual Steampunk Fair, Kennebunk, Maine, USA

• 32nd First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

• SIBCON XXVI (gaming), Butler, Pennsylvania, USA

• MegaMooseCon (gaming), Richburg, South Carolina, USA

• Strong Tower Gaming Convention, Brookfield, Wisconsin, USA

• B-Con 2022 (gaming), Northglenn, Colorado, USA

• Tabletop Gaming Live 2022, Manchester, UK

• ShireCon 2022 (gaming), Falls Village, Connecticut, USA

• Game Devs of Color Expo, online

• Southern Front 2022 (miniatures gaming), Morrisville, North Carolina, USA

• Anime St. Pete, St. Petersburg, Florida, USA

• Avalon Expo 9 (media), St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada

• AncientCityCon (media), St. Augustine, Florida, USA

• Incredible Con (media), North Charleston, South Carolina, USA

• Granite State Comicon (media), Manchester, New Hampshire, USA

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

• Fandom Kissimmee (media), Kissimmee, Florida, USA

• Extremicon (media), St. Robert, Missouri, USA

• Incredible Con (media), North Charleston, South Carolina, USA

• CaperCon (media), Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada

Weekend of September 23-25

• Necronomicon 2022, Tampa, Florida, USA

• SWFL SteamCon (steampunk), Ft. Meyers, Florida, USA

• PhilliFur 2022: The Cyberspace (anthropomorphic), Quezon City, Philippines

• Nuke-Con (gaming), Council Bluffs, Iowa, USA

• Enbicon (gaming), Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

• Tennessee Game Days Fall 2022, Franklin, Tennessee, USA

• Barrage (miniatures gaming), Havre de Grace, Maryland, USA

• Recruits (wargaming), Lee’s Summit, Missouri, USA

• Hurricon 2022: Persia (miniatures gaming), Kissimmee, Florida, USA

• CEOtaku (anime fighting games), Orlando, Florida, USA

• Made in Asia (anime), Brussels, Belgium

• Anime Fargo: Magical Transformations, Fargo, North Dakota, USA

• AnimeCon Classic 2022: The Roaring Twenties, Almelo, Netherlands

• Microcon II (comics), St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

• Fountain City Fandemonium (media), Bryan, Ohio, USA

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

• NORCON (media), Norfolk, UK

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

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

• Comic Con Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa

• FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

• Cincinnati Comic Expo, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

• Thessaloniki Comic Convention, Thessaloniki, Greece

• Retro Con 2022 (‘80s media), Oaks, Pennsylvania, USA

• Alpha Omega Con (Christian-themed sf media), Whittier, California, USA

• PokeFest SA (Pokémon), San Antonio, Texas, USA

Weekend of September 30-October 2

• Archon 45, Collinsville, Illinois, USA

• XVIII Forum Fantástico, Lisboa, Portugal

• Conflux 16: Visions of Time, Canberra, Australia

• Capclave 2022 (books), Rockville, Maryland, USA

• Gaslight Steampunk Expo, San Diego, California, USA

• Cosplay World Richmond, Richmond, Virginia, USA

• H-Con XVIII: Grown Up Tails - Breiter, Dicker, Länger! (anthropomorphic), Erbach, Germany

• FilkCONtinental (music), Wernigerode, Germany

• OctoGônes 12 (gaming), Villeurbanne, France

• Crucible X (gaming), Orlando, Florida, USA

• Spellenfestival 5e (gaming), Limburg, Belgium

• Lone Star Game Expo, Grapevine, Texas, USA

• S’mores and Meeples (gaming), North East, Maryland, USA

• Meeple-A-Thon (gaming), Kansas City, Missouri, USA

• CuseCon 2022 (gaming), Syracuse, New York, USA

• Michigan GT (wargaming), Lansing, Michigan, USA

• SkålCon 2022 (Pathfinder& Starfinder RPGs), Plymouth, Minnesota, USA

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

• Rappig Crossing (Tales video games), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

• Ramencon: Year of the Kaiju (anime), South Bend, Indiana, USA

• BanzaiKon (anime), South Padre Island, Texas, USA

• ValleyCon 46 (media), Fargo, North Dakota, USA

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

• SiouxperCon: Retromania (media), Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA

• Monster-Mania 51 (horror media), Hunt Valley, Maryland, USA

• PonyCon Holland 2022 (My Little Pony), Zeist, Netherlands

Coda

• The music video that crashes laptops (The Register)

Thank you for reading! Send tips, corrections, press releases, and letters of comment to: smofnews@gmx.com.