SMOF News, volume 1, issue 9

Con or Bust looks for a revival, and news in brief.

Con or Bust Would Like to Avoid a Bust

Con or Bust is a fan fund which operated from 2009 to 2019, helping people from racial minorities attend conventions throughout the United States through donations of money and memberships. Founder Kate Nepveu is looking for people to revive it.

How it went dormant is a story all too familiar to the volunteer world:

In spring 2019, I stepped down from Con or Bust. The existing Board was overcommitted, and subsequently sought volunteers. I offered to help contact people sometime later… and sent out one round of replies and then literally never opened the email account again, because I found it too anxiety-inducing to look at that inbox. (And here you see why I stepped down.) My very belated, but also very sincere, apologies to the Board and those who reached out.

Con or Bust is still a registered non-profit with money, reputation, a domain name, and bylaws that give it leeway to address racial diversity in speculative fiction and its fandom in whatever way its new leadership chooses, even if that is not helping people attend conventions. Nepveu is prepared to help file its missing 2020 and 2021 tax returns and otherwise assist with the transition.

The deadline to volunteer is November 5, 2021. After that:

Immediately after November 5, I will determine—in consultation with any past Board members who are available—whether any plausible candidates have been received. (I say "plausible" to exclude trolls and so forth.) If so, I will report back here and commit a specific period of time to the transition to the new leadership (ideally by the end of the calendar year).

Much more detail is available in Nepveu’s post.

In Brief

• Site selection has opened for the 2023 World Science Fiction Convention. Voters must be supporting, attending, or virtual members of this year’s Worldcon (and it is still possible to join and then vote).

Event Calendar

Weekend of October 29-31

• SpoCon: Revamped, Spokane, Washington, USA

• BristolCon, Bristol, UK

• Les Utopiales, Nantes, France

• Hallowcon 2021: Gambler's Nightmare (fantasy/horror), Dalton, Georgia, USA

• The Surrey Steampunk Convivial, Epsom, UK

• Ohio Valley Filk Festival (music), Worthington, Ohio, USA

• Dragonflight 41 (gaming), Bellevue, Washington, USA

• EuroQuest 2021 (Eurogames), Pikesville, Maryland, USA

• Golden Leaves Con XI (anthropomorphic), Hasliberg, Switzerland

• Furry Blacklight 9: Space Travel, Tremblay-en-France, France

• Anime Halloween, Schaumberg, Illinois, USA

• Oni-Con XVII (anime), Galveston, Texas, USA

• SNAFU Con (anime), Reno, Nevada, USA

• LumiCon (anime), Tampa, Florida, USA

• Manga Barcelona (anime), Barcelona, Spain

• Destination Tokyo (anime), Monthey, Switzerland

• Anime Weekend Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

• DerpyCon 2021 (anime), New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA

• Yunicon 2021 (anime), Schwechat, Austria

• Youmacon 2021 (anime), Detroit, Michigan, USA

• SMASH! (anime), Sydney, Australia

• 31st Festival of Fantastic Films, Manchester, UK

• All-Con (media), Dallas, Texas, USA

• Soda City Comic Con, Columbia, South Carolina, USA

• Fan Expo Denver (media), Denver, Colorado, USA

• Fanboy Expo Knoxville (media), Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

• Cherry Capital Comic Con, Acme, Michigan, USA

• Music City Multi Con (media/video games), Lebanon, Tennessee, USA

Weekend of November 5-7

• ArmadaCon 2021, Plymouth, UK

• IceCon 2021, Rejkjavik, Iceland

• World Fantasy Convention 2021, Montréal, Québéc, Canada

• Pulp Adventure, Bordentown, New Jersey, USA

• Corflu 38 Concorde (fanzines), Bristol, UK

• Carnage 24: Lost in the Carnage Triangle (gaming), Dover, Vermont, USA

• Midwest Gaming Classic, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

• Retro World Expo (gaming), Hartford, Connecticut, USA

• BottosCon 2021 (gaming), New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada

• Hexcon 2021 (gaming), Trondheim, Norway

• AmberCon NW (diceless RPGs), virtual (usually Troutdale, Oregon, USA)

• PAWCon 2021: The Home Furront (anthropomorphic), San Jose, California, USA

• NekoCon 23 (anime), Hampton, Virginia, USA

• Kumoricon (anime), Portland, Oregon, USA

• Anime Destiny 2021, virtual (usually Berkeley, California, USA)

• FACTS (media), Ghent, Belgium

• Comic Con Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden

• CoosaCon (media), Rome, Georgia, USA

• Akron Comiccon, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, USA

• CONjuration (Harry Potter), Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Weekend of November 12-14

• Novacon 50, Nottingham, UK

• TusCon 48, Tucson, Arizona, USA

• Windycon 47: Urban Fantastic, Lombard, Illinois, USA

• OryCon 42, Portland, Oregon, USA

• ArmadilloCon 2021, Austin, Texas, USA

• Multiverse 2021, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

• OmegaCon Fall 2021, Siren, Wisconsin, USA

• New England Crime Bake 2021: Home Sweet Homicide (mysteries), Dedham, Massachusetts, USA

• MEPACon 41 (gaming), White Haven, Pennsylvania, USA

• Heroicon (gaming), Decatur, Illinois, USA

• Bride of Geekway Mini (gaming), St. Louis, Missouri, USA

• MACE 2021 (gaming), Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

• Ludo-Outaouais (boardgames), Gatineau, Ontario, Canada

• Historicon 2021: Aircraft of War (historical miniatures gaming), Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, USA

• MillenniumCon (historical miniatures gaming), Round Rock, Texas, USA

• Flüüfff Grand Casino (anthropomorphic), Brussels, Belgium

• Bewhiskered: Prepare for Blast Off! (anthropomorphic), Durham, North Carolina, USA

• Aquatifur (anthropomorphic), Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, USA

• CanFURence 2021: The Furs Are Back in Town (anthropomorphic), Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

• Anime Dallas, DFW Airport, Texas, USA

• Anime Iwai, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA

• WasabiCon (anime), Jacksonville, Florida, USA

• Thought Bubble (comics), Leeds, UK

• Grand Rapids Comic Con, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA

• Destination Star Trek London, London, UK

• Empire City Con (Steven Universe), Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

Weekend of November 19-21

• Fantastika 2021 (Swedish national sf convention), Stockholm, Sweden

• HispaCón 2021 (Spanish national sf convention), virtual

• Philcon 2021, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, USA

• Anime NYC, New York City, New York, USA

• Consequences O: Otherworldly Consequences (gaming), Christchurch, UK

• U-Con 2021 (gaming), virtual (usually Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA)

• BGG.CON (gaming), Dallas, Texas, USA

• Anthro Northwest 4 (anthropomorphic), Seattle, Washington, USA

• Con Nichiwa (anime), Tucson, Arizona, USA

• Colossalcon Texas (anime), Round Rock, Texas, USA

• Sin City Anime, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

• Anime Town: Pensacola, Pensacola, Florida, USA

• London Film & Comic Con, London, UK

• New England Super Megafest Comic-Con, Framingham, Massachusetts, USA

• Heroes Dutch Comic Con, Utrecht, Netherlands

• Vienna Comic Con, Vienna, Austria

• Time-Flight 2021 (Doctor Who), Holtsville, New York, USA

Weekend of November 26-28

• Loscon 47/Westercon 73, Los Angeles, California, USA

• Chambanacon 50, Normal, Illinois, USA

• Chessiecon 2021, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

• UK Ghost Story Festival 2021, Derby, UK

• Winter Wolfcon 21 (gaming), Chicago, Illinois, USA

• MAG 2021 (gaming/anime), Erfurt, Germany

• Atlanta AnimeDay, Duluth, Georgia, USA

• Comic Con Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany

• Comic-Con Special Edition, San Diego, California, USA

• Chicago TARDIS 2021 (Doctor Who), Lombard, Illinois, USA

• Starbase Indy 2021 (Star Trek), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Coda

• Aromatherapy spray becomes disease vector (CNN)

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