SMOF News, volume 2, issue 19
A COVID check-in and news in brief.
The Age of Omicron
The Omicron family of COVID-19 has managed to dominate the world for a year without a new truly alarming variant emerging. Instead, virus waves are now one Omicron sublineage chasing after another.
This is good news in the long run, as smaller viral changes mean more chance of population immunity building up. The latest roundup of COVID news from Your Local Epidemiologist says that it’s on its way to becoming just another seasonal virus… eventually:
This gives hope we’ll eventually see seasonal COVID-19 patterns, like we see with other coronaviruses. This may take a decade, but reprieve is eventually coming.
In the short run, Omicron variants are evolving toward better and better antibody evasion, so that they become more and more contagious and one of the major tools for protecting immunocompromised people no longer works.
As the COVID situation becomes a little more stable and predictable, convention policies might be expected to standardize, but this has not happened yet. Policies for conventions coming up soon run the full gamut from requiring proof of a bivalent booster to no policy at all. Further out, the only constant is waiting to see how conditions will be closer to the dates of the con before announcing the policy.
If there is one small area of convergence, it is in mask recommendations. Even conventions which have no plans to enforce any mask or vaccination requirements are currently likely to at least mention that various health authorities recommend wearing masks. And masks are highly effective against all sorts of potential con crud, even if you’re the only one in the room wearing one.
In Brief
The latest update from the Chengdu Worldcon (Chengdu, China, August 18-20) reiterates that Hugo Award nominations will open soon, with finalists to be announced in May. A series of videos will be created to familiarize new Worldcon members with the Hugo voting process and customs.
Event Calendar
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
Weekend of February 3-5
Capricon 43: Eternity Awaits..., Wheeling, Illinois, USA
ScotiaCon (anthropomorphic), Glasgow, UK
Running GAGG 27 (gaming), Geneseo, New York, USA
CaptainCon (gaming), Warwick, Rhode Island, USA
Rocket City Gamefest, Huntsville, Alabama, USA
Winter War 2023 (gaming), Champaign, Illinois, USA
WeebCon Year 3 (anime), Allen, Texas, USA
SSA+S Toracon (anime), Sarasota, Florida, USA
Anime Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
East Bay Comic Con, Concord, California, USA
Geek Days Rennes (media), Rennes, France
Creation Dallas (media), Plano, Texas, USA
My Hero Convention: Texas (My Hero Academia), Irving, Texas, USA
Weekend of Februay 10-12
Atlanta Steampunk Exposition: Steampunks in Space, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
DualCon (gaming), Charleston, West Virginia, USA
Game On! 2023, Bellevue, Washington, USA
AmberCon NI 2023 (diceless RPGs), Belfast, UK
Kami-Con Season 14: Darkness Rises (anime), Birmingham, Alabama, USA
Animangapop (anime), Plymouth, UK
Savannah Animazing Con (anime), Savannah, Georgia, USA
Brick City Anime Festival, Ocala, Florida, USA
SWFL-AnimeFest, Fort Myers, Florida, USA
Zipcon 2023 (anime), Akron, Ohio, USA
Farpoint 30 (media), Hunt Valley, Maryland, USA
Mumbai Comic Con, Mumbai, India
Capital Sci Fi Con (media), Edinburgh, UK
Coda
Emotional support droid for simulated Mars mission (The Register)
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