SMOF News, volume 2, issue 20

Another convention returns to the virtual world, and news in brief.

Blue Ridge Furfare Goes Back Online

A couple months ago, PaizoCon moved back online due to continuing COVID-19 uncertainty. Now Blue Ridge Furfare, an anthropomorphic convention previously held in Asheville, North Carolina, has announced it will be virtual again in 2023, but for very different reasons:

While we were originally inspired by the beautiful mountains and the eclectic city of Asheville, the amazing show of support from the community has convinced us that we need to focus that we need to focus on finding an area that can fit everyone and our future growing numbers. Unfortunately, we will not be able to make this happen by 2023, but we are aiming to return with a bigger and better convention in 2024!

A convention looking for a bigger venue would have had its pick in 2021, when events were still being cancelled left and right and most cons were threatened by shrinkage rather than growth. But the convention and meeting business has fully rebounded, and nonprofit fan conventions are again competing for space with better-financed business events.

This is the first case SMOF News is aware of where a previously in-person convention has gone virtual for reasons entirely unconnected to COVID-19. It points to this remaining a valid options for cons well into the future.

In Brief

• Arizona Game Fair (Mesa, Arizona, originally scheduled for April 28-30) has cancelled its 2023 event and plans to run no further ones, citing rising costs and “our inability to build the various communities necessary to support the show”. Its game library will be repurposed as a community resource.

• RevelCon (Houston, Texas, March 24-26), a media relaxacon, has announced that its 33rd edition, now dubbed “The Wedding Episode”, will be its last.

• Prolog (Västerås, Sweden, originally scheduled for sometime in March), a gaming convention focusing on LARPs, will skip 2023 due to a previously announced change of administration at its planned venue.

• MidSouthCon 39 (Memphis, Tennessee, also originally announced for March) is skipping 2023 due to unspecified venue problems.

• Anime Recharge (Des Moines, Iowa) is skipping 2023 for undeclared reasons.

• Foolscap (Seattle, Washington, usually February/March) is sticking to low-key online events for now, but hopes to have a small in-person event during the summer.

Event Calendar

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 February 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

Weekend of February 17-19

• Boskone 59, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

• Radcon 8C, Pasco, Washington, USA

• Life, the Universe, and Everything (symposium), Provo, Utah, USA

• DunDraCon 46 (gaming), Santa Clara, California, USA

• Polar Vortex 7 (gaming), Lisle, Illinois, USA

• Con of the North 2023 (gaming), Bloomington, Minnesota, USA

• Orccon 2023 (gaming), Los Angeles, California, USA

• LVL UP EXPO (video games), Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

• Williamsburg Muster (wargaming), Williamsburg, Virginia, USA

• Decepta Con (social deception gaming), Atlanta, Georgia, USA

• J-Popcon (anime), Copenhagen, Denmark

• ExpOtaku Logroño (anime), San Millán, Spain

• Anime STX, San Antonio, Texas, USA

• Katsucon 2023 (anime), National Harbor, Maryland, USA

• Animefest 2023, La Jolla, California, USA

• Con Nooga (media), Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA

• Fan Expo Vancouver (media), Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

• Fan Expo Portland (media), Portland, Oregon, USA

• SD Rocket Con (media), San Diego, California, USA

• Hickory Con (media), Hickory, South Carolina, USA

• Boston Sci Fi Film Festival 48, Somerville, Massachusetts, USA

• Gallifrey One 33⅓: Long Live the Revolution (Doctor Who), Los Angeles, California, USA

Coda

• Science fiction works cited most often by space industry figures (Washington Post)

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