SMOF News, volume 2, issue 23

Star Trek Missions have vanished, and news in brief.

Star Trek Missions Are AWOL

In April 2021, ReedPop took over from Creation Entertainment as the officially licensed runner of Star Trek conventions. The first event was Star Trek: Mission Chicago in April 2022.

At the close of the Chicago event, it was announced that the followup would be Star Trek: Mission Seattle, to be held May 26-28, 2023. However, tickets never went on sale, and ReedPop only released this brief statement a few months ago:

After careful consideration, unfortunately the decision has been made to not move forward with the Star Trek Mission Seattle event in 2023. We are working on new ways to bring our favorite Trek fans the optimum experience, and we look forward to celebrating together again in the future.

Nothing further has been announced since then, and speculation about the reasons has run rampant. One theory is that the date of the Seattle convention was supposed to be linked to the production of the next Star Trek movie, and with that “shrouded in mystery and defeat”, the convention was no longer workable. But there is still plenty of new TV Star Trek to promote, and Star Trek conventions have of course been able to keep going strong through periods where there was no new Star Trek being produced at all.

More prosaic explanations seem unlikely as well. ReedPop runs the Emerald City Comic Con in the same venue that was planned to host Mission Seattle, so venue problems can be ruled out. Even if the venue were the problem, ReedPop is a big enough operation that it could have moved the event to an alternate city. And if the issue was that the event framework that was debuted in Chicago wasn’t turning enough profit, the Seattle announcement could simply have been held back.

It is possible that Mission Seattle was killed by the same thing that ended Destination Star Trek London last year. As reported here previously, the marketing director for Destination Star Trek put the blame on Paramount’s new fan events team. The new team had wanted to micromanage the events into cutting back, and at one point wanted to cancel permission for Destination Star Trek’s Germany event as well.

One would hope that in making a contract with a company that has extensive experience in running fan events, Paramount would have trusted that company’s experience to run the best event possible, but the Destination Star Trek situation suggests that the new team might have had unresolvable creative differences with ReedPop as well.

Ironically, Creation Entertainment will still be running its now-unofficial Star Trek event in Las Vegas this year. Now called STLV: 57-Year Mission, it will take place August 3-6.

In Brief

• A bid to hold the 2025 Eastercon (the UK national science fiction convention) in Belfast is reportedly coming together. Any other incipient bids should contact the chair of this year’s Eastercon, Conversation 2023 (Birmingham, UK, April 7-10). The winning bid will be selected on April 9 at Conversation.

• The inagural European Fan Fund, which launched last November, has two candidates, Matylda Naczyńska and James Shields, for this year’s trip. Voting is open until April 10. Candidate platforms and voting rules are available at Fandom Rover.

• Aselia Con (Irving, Texas) has been retired.

• Tulkon (Tulsa, Oklahoma) is skipping 2023 to retool and expects to return in 2024.

• Norwescon 45 (SeaTac, Washington, April 6-9) has added Grace L. Fong as its Artist Guest of Honor.

• ATL Comic Convention (Atlanta, Georgia, February 24-26) has added Kevin L. Johnson and Daryl Mitchell as guests.

Event Calendar

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

• 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

Weekend of March 3-5

• AggieCon 52, College Station, Texas, USA

• CoastCon 45, Biloxi, Mississippi, USA

• Cleveland ConCoction, Aurora, Ohio, USA

• Roscon-2023, Moscow, Russia

• VancouFur 2023: Beyond Furmageddon (anthropomorphic), Surrey, British Columbia, Canada

• Fur the ‘More 2023: Time Travelers' Reunion (anthropomorphic), Arlington, Virginia, USA

• Cardboard*Con (cardboard sf costuming), Atlanta, Georgia, USA

• BashCon 37 (gaming), Toledo, Ohio, USA

• Dice Tower West (gaming), Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

• SaltCON Spring (gaming), Layton, Utah, USA

• CincyCon 2023 (gaming), Hamilton, Ohio, USA

• Tennessee Game Days Spring 2023, Franklin, Tennessee, USA

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

• FreeCon 19 (anime), Tallahassee, Florida, USA

• Made in Asia (anime), Brussels, Belgium

• Tora-Con 2023 (anime), Rochester, New York, USA

• PeoriaCon 2023 (media), Peoria, Illinois, USA

• Middle East Film & Comic Con, Abu Dhabi, UAE

• Hill Country Comicon, New Braunfels, Texas, USA

• Hall of Heroes Comic Con, Elkhart, Indiana, USA

• Emerald City Comic Con, Seattle, Washington, USA

• Sunrise Comic Con, Sunrise, Florida, USA

• Cult Classic Convention (media), Bastrop, Texas, USA

Mid-week convention: Harucon 2023 (anime), Jerusalem, Israel

Weekend of March 10-12

• Picocon 40, London, UK

• Nerdi Gras, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

• MarsCon 2023: When Books Come Alive!, Bloomington, Minnesota, USA

• Pulp Fiction Central, Dania Beach, Florida, USA

• Wild Wild West Steampunk Convention 11, Tucson, Arizona, USA

• World Steampunk Exposition, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA

• Cosplay Up! 2023 (costuming), Manila, Philippines

• AireCon (gaming), Harrogate, UK

• Granite Game Summit, Nashua, New Hampshire, USA

• Great Plains Game Festival, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA

• Terminal City Tabletop Convention (gaming), Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

• Arizona Game Fair, Mesa, Arizona, USA

• GAD-CON 2023 (gaming), Aberdeen, Maryland, USA

• ShushCon 2023 (gaming), Pawleys Island, South Carolina, USA

• MidWinter ‘23 (gaming), Haugesund, Norway

• Sioux City Game Con Spring 2023, Sioux City, Iowa, USA

• Louisville Arcade Expo, Louisville, Kentucky, USA

• PrinceCon 46: Le Petit PrinceCon (marathon RPG), Princeton, New Jersey, USA

• Lost Golaricon 2023 (Pathfinder & Starfinder RPGs), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

• Cold Wars 2023 (miniatures gaming), King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, USA

• MinamiCon 28 (anime), Southampton, UK

• Banzaicon (anime), Columbia, South Carolina, USA

• Animeverse Fest (anime), Pasadena, Texas, USA

• Banzaicon (anime), Columbia, South Carolina, USA

• Mississippi Anime Fest, Jackson, Mississippi, USA

• Colorado Anime Fest 2023, Denver, Colorado, USA

• ACEcon 2023 (anime), Palm Harbor, Florida, USA

• TFcon (Transformers), Burbank, California, USA

Coda

• That time a rogue Canadian weather balloon defeated three air forces (CBC)

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