SMOF News, volume 2, issue 21

Chengdu Worldcon follows a new tradition by changing its plans, and news in brief.

Chengdu Worldcon Changes Dates and Location

This year’s World Science Fiction Convention in Chengdu, China has switched to a new location, the Chengdu Science Fiction Museum, and dates, October 18-22. It was originally scheduled to be at the Chengdu Century City New International Convention & Exhibition Center.

Despite the name, the Chengdu Science Fiction Museum is also an event facility. New Atlas has details which include:

The building's interior will measure 59,000 sq m (roughly 635,000 sq ft), which will be divided between exhibition spaces, conference halls, event areas, galleries, and theaters. There will also be service areas and a large central atrium.

This is half the size of the Chengdu Worldcon’s original venue, but still large in Worldcon terms, even if a substantial amount of it is taken up by museum galleries. For comparison, last year’s Worldcon at the Hyatt Regency Chicago had 240,000 square feet of event space to work with.

Worldcon is prominently mentioned in every article about the museum, and the architects’ page about the facility even includes a mockup of it hosting the Hugo Awards ceremony.

The Chengdu Science Fiction Museum is scheduled to be completed August 30.

Three of four Worldcons in a row have now been forced to change their dates and venues. The 2021 Worldcon in Washington, DC, Discon III, was originally planned for the Marriott Wardman Park, but was forced to move the whole con into its secondary hotel, the Omni Shoreham, after the Wardman Park closed and filed for bankruptcy due to the travel disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally scheduled for August of 2021, it moved to December to avoid the lingering Delta variant, and, like many other conventions which changed their dates in 2021, wound up in the Omicron surge instead.

The 2020 Worldcon, CoNZealand, was forced to adjust its dates shortly before site selection for 2020, moving from August 12-16 to July 29-August 2. Its announcement said that this was to “ensure that our New Zealand Worldcon will have unfettered access to the facilities and accommodation required to run a successful event, should our bid be awarded the convention”, a statement which now carries a horrible irony since it would later be forced to pivot to being almost entirely virtual when New Zealand’s travel restrictions made international attendance impossible.

In Brief

• The Chengdu Worldcon has bridged the gaps of international finance and is now finally able to take Western credit card payments for memberships. Prospective members can start the process at the “Login or Purchase Membership” button on its English-language homepage.

• The Buffalo in 2024 NASFiC bid has filed official papers with this year’s NASFiC, Pemmi-con (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, July 20-23). Its previously announced date of August 16-20, 2024 has been changed to July 18-21.

Event Calendar

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

Weekend of February 24-26

• MystiCon, Roanoke, Virginia, USA

• Ret-Con, Cary, North Carolina, USA

• Total Confusion 37 (gaming), Marlborough, Massachusetts, USA

• Plattecon XXXVI: Year of the Haunt (gaming), Platteville, Wisconsin, USA

• CalCon 29 (gaming), Kalmar, Sweden

• SoRCon 14 (boardgames), Basildon, UK

• Gamicon Gallium (gaming), Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA

• DualCon (gaming), Charleston, West Virginia, USA

• LootFest (gaming), Fort Worth, Texas, USA

• Festival International des Jeux (gaming), Cannes, France

• K2 Convention (gaming), Dungarvan, Ireland

• GenghisCon (gaming), Aurora, Colorado, USA

• Fire and Ice Convention (gaming), Manitowoc, Wisconsin, USA

• Escape Winter Con 2023 (gaming), Orlando, Florida, USA

• TantrumCon (boardgames), Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

• PrezCon 2023 (boardgames), Charlottesville, Virginia, USA

• Intercon U: Ultraviolet (LARPs), Warwick, Rhode Island, USA

• Monaco Anime Game International Conference, Monaco

• Kawacon (anime), San Antonio, Texas, USA

• Fanime Expo (anime), Pasadena, Texas, USA

• Japan Expo Sud 2023: Ready to Investigate? (anime), Marseille, France

• Anime Crossroads 2023, Plainfield, Indiana, USA

• Nerd Fest (media), Swedesboro, New Jersey, USA

• Alaska ComiCon, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA

• Shawicon (media), Shawinigan, Québec, Canada

• StocktonCon (media), Stockton, California, USA

• Wilkes Comic Con, North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, USA

• ATL Comic Convention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Coda

• Pet fish livestreams YouTuber’s credit card info (Anime News Network)

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