End-of-Year Acknowledgements
Here we are again, having almost completed yet another trip around the Sun. Thank you to everyone who has read this newsletter this year, everyone who is subscribed, and everyone who took the time to send in feedback of any sort.
The bulk of the convention listings printed this year have again come primarily from my notes from previous years, dating back to an earlier fanzine. But they are constantly updated with additional listings from other sources. For 2022, those sources were:
SF2 Concatenation’s list of national and world conventions
Ansible’s UK event list
Meeple Mountain’s list of gaming cons
Steve Jackson Games’s convention and trade show schedule
Paizo’s convention calendar
Southern Fandom Resource Guide’s convention calendar
Convention Scene’s convention calendar
FanCons.com’s worldwide convention listings
This list is still badly skewed toward English-language conventions in general and conventions in the US in particular, and I welcome any pointers to lists that will help unskew it.
In Brief
The Minneapolis in 2073 Worldcon bid has sprung back to life with a new progress report (PDF) announcing its negative 50th anniversary party and providing some technical details about its long-running registration database.
Event Calendar
Weekend of December 30-January 1
Furvester 4: Mission to Mars (anthropomorphic), Reutlingen, Germany
Painted Desert Fur Con: The Island: Pirates! (anthropomorphic), Phoenix, Arizona, USA
New Year’s Furry Ball, Newark, Delaware, USA
OKiCon (anime), Norman, Oklahoma, USA
Comic Market 101 (amateur comics), Tokyo, Japan
Weekend of January 6-8
Shadowcon (relaxacon), Memphis, Tennessee, USA
GAFilk 2023 (music), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Anthro Northwest 5 (anthropomorphic), Seattle, Washington, USA
CanthroFur (anthropomorphic), Auvergne, France
Spartacon XXXII (gaming), DeWitt, Michigan, USA
Super MAGFest (gaming/videogame music), National Harbor, Maryland, USA
OrcaCon 2023 (gaming), Bellevue, Washington, USA
Animé Los Angeles 18, Long Beach, California, USA
SacAnime, Sacramento, California, USA
Columbia Anime & Video Game Expo, Columbia, South Carolina, USA
Taiyou Con (anime), Mesa, Arizona, USA
Anime-ZAP!, East Peoria, Illinois, USA
Fan Expo New Orleans (media), New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
St. Pete Comic Con 2023, St. Petersburg, Florida, USA
Weekend of January 13-15
Chattacon XLVIII, Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
Na Meji Nevidnega, Ljubljana, Slovenia
GenghisCon, Wembley, Australia
MarsCon 2023, Norfolk, Virginia, USA
Further Confusion 2023: Millennium Edition (anthropomorphic), San Jose, California, USA
MidWinterFrolic 2023 (anthropomorphic), Altura, Minnesota, USA
SnowCon: Lucky 13 (gaming), Orono, Maine, USA
HexaCon (gaming), Broomfield, Colorado, USA
Midwinter Gaming Convention, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Geekway Mini: League of Meeples (gaming), St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Congress of Gamers Winter Session, Rockville, Maryland, USA
SCARAB 2023 (gaming), Columbia, South Carolina, USA
Siege of Augusta XXXI (miniatures gaming), Augusta, Georgia, USA
SaltCON Bryce (boardgames), Bryce Canyon, Utah, USA
Ichibancon 13 (anime), Concord, North Carolina, USA
Anime Impulse, Pomona, California, USA
OtakuFest (anime), Miami, Florida, USA
Setsucon (anime), Altoona, Pennsylvania, USA
Wildwood Comic Con, Wildwood, New Jersey, USA
Weekend of January 20-22
Avatar: The Legend of ConFusion, Novi, Michigan, USA
Arisia 2023, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
COSine 2023, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
Anthro New England 2023: Trains!, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
KapCon 31 (gaming), Wellington, New Zealand
Ice & Dice (gaming), Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
ATG Expo (gaming), Waco, Texas, USA
Evercon 23 (gaming), Rothschild, Wisconsin, USA
Contingency 2023 (gaming), Hunstanton, UK
Cancon 2023 (gaming), Canberra, Australia
Niagara Boardgaming Weekend, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
Ohayocon 23 (anime), Columbus, Ohio, USA
Ikkicon (anime), Round Rock, Texas, USA
Orlando Anime Day, Orlando, Florida, USA
Central Florida Comic Con, Lakeland, Florida, USA
CONsole Room: 10 Years in the TARDIS (Doctor Who), Bloomington, Minnesota, USA
House of Mouse Expo (Disney-owned media), Kissimmee, Florida, USA
Weekend of January 27-29
Conflikt (music), online (usually Seattle, Washington, USA)
AnthroExpo: Furry Scene (anthropomorphic), Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA
Game-iToba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Cascade Games Convention, Bellingham, Washington, USA
Chattanooga Railgaming Challenge, Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
G-Anime Winter Edition, Gatineau, Québec, Canada
UChi-Con 2023 (anime), Chicago, Illinois, USA
Anime Town: Greenville 2023, Greenville, South Carolina, USA
Mouse-Con Bakersfield (Disney), Bakersfield, California, USA
The Vampire Diaries/The Originals Original Reunion Convention, Allen, Texas, USA
Coda
Secrets of the Christmas Tree Trade: Turf wars. Protection money. And my boss, a man who’s half-convinced he’s really Santa. (Curbed, hat tip: Politico Playbook)
Thank you for reading! Send tips, corrections, press releases, and letters of comment to: smofnews@gmx.com.