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SMOF News, volume 2, issue 32

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SMOF News, volume 2, issue 32

COVID and ghosting at Sakura-Con, and news in brief.

Petréa Mitchell
Apr 13, 2023
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SMOF News, volume 2, issue 32

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COVID Policy Trips Up Ghosting Participant At Sakura-Con

Lisa Wallen, comedian and Twitch streamer, was scheduled to do some comedy at Sakura-Con in Seattle this past weekend, but then things went wrong:

after the first 5 min of my set, a guy walked up and told me the panel was cancelled cause I wasn’t wearing a mask. NOBODY enforced it when I was there (cause I’m performing sorry). It was HORRIBLY unprofessional and luckily I came back after that. Seriously fuck @SakuraCon

he didn’t even ask me to put one on the whole time I was waiting to go up. he just walked up during my set and told me I need to leave. I convinced them to let me continue after 10 MINUTES but it fucked up my set and I cannot believe how horribly rude and embarrassing it was.

Sakura-Con’s COVID-19 policy states that masks must be worn at all times except in designated eating and drinking areas. Failure to do so subjects the member to a “three strikes” policy of escalating consequences, detailed on the main policy page. The COVID-19 policy also states that the member’s badge will be marked.

Whether Wallen’s badge had previous strikes against it is not clear, because it was not her badge.

At the start of the convention, Wallen tweeted a complaint about Sakura-Con badges not being free for all program participants. Rey Cabato, who organized the item that included Wallen, also complained, blaming Sakura-Con’s for a weirdly narrow definition of “Asian culture”:

I’ve properly submitted 2 acts @wisalallen and @LemarTheConGuy only to be told day 0 we don’t meet the requirements of “sharing Asian culture” so we don’t qualify for badges. I’m an Asian comedian, comedy has been at the forefront of sharing culture since it’s inception

Sakura-Con’s policy on comped memberships (PDF) requires 3 hours of “on-topic” content or 4 hours of other content to qualify 2 people, and additional time for more people. Cabato’s combined item ran only 90 minutes, so it would not have qualified anyone, regardless of what category it fell into.

The policy also makes it clear that no one should have been surprised after arriving at the convention:

Panelists will be notified if they qualify for membership reimbursement once all panels have been approved in March. If you haven't heard from us by that time but feel that you qualify, please contact the Panels Coordinator at panels@sakuracon.org.

A few hours before the comedy set, Wallen announced that she had found a workaround:

problem solved! someone is giving me their badge after they leave so please still come to the show! 9 PM @ Panels 4 347-348

Sakura-Con’s registration FAQ is very clear that memberships are not transferable.

Wallen followed that tweet up with a challenge to con security to remove her.

Sakura-Con has not yet commented publicly on the incident.

In Brief

  • The 2025 Eastercon (the UK’s national science fiction convention) will be Reconnect, in Belfast, April 18-21. Guests of Honor will be Lauren Beukes, Derek Landy, Jeanette Ng, Rebecca Roanhorse, William Simpson, and Ian McDonald.

  • Jane Yolen, Author Guest of Honor for Balticon 57 (Baltimore, Maryland, May 26-29) will be unable to attend for personal reasons. Her son, author Adam Stemple, will appear instead. Yolen is working with Balticon to provide some pre-recorded content.

  • Indiana Comic Convention (Indianapolis, Indiana, May 5-7) has added Adam Savage, Matt Lanter, Tom Cavanagh, and Ryan Colt Levy as guests.

  • FanX Salt Lake (Salt Lake City, Utah, September 21-23) has added Shannen Doherty, Holly Marie Combs, and Rose McGowan as guests.

  • The winner of the first European Fan Fund vote is Matylda Naczyńska. Naczyńska will attend this year’s Eurocon, Konflikt (Uppsala, Sweden, June 9-11) with the help of EFF funding.

  • The official pizza of Gen Con (Indianapolis, Indiana, August 3-6) will be The Queen’s Hambit, “with pulled pork, BBQ sauce, ham, onions, pickles and a special spicy mustard drizzle.” Voting is currently open to pick the style of its official beer.

Event Calendar

Weekend of April 14-16

  • Swancon 47, Maylands, Australia

  • HAL-CON 2023, Kawasaki, Japan

  • Les Intergalactiques 2023, Lyon, France

  • 221B Con (Sherlock Holmes), Atlanta, Georgia, USA

  • Las Vegas Fur Con 2023: The Enfurtainment Capital of the World, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

  • Jack Williamson Lectureship 2023: Climates of Empire, Portales, New Mexico, USA

  • Conpulsion 2023 (gaming), Edinburgh, UK

  • MEPACON (gaming), Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA

  • CODCON XXVI (gaming), Glen Ellyn, Illinois, USA

  • Jeu au Boute (boardgames), Chertsey, Québec, Canada

  • VGM Con: Oops, All Zelda (videogames/music), Plymouth, Minnnesota, USA

  • Harucon (anime), Klagenfurt am Wörthersee, Austria

  • Riverwalk Anime, San Antonio, Texas, USA

  • Comic-Con Prague, Prague, Czech Republic

  • Bold City Con (media), Jacksonville, Florida, USA

  • SC Comicon, Greenville, South Carolina, USA

  • Quad Cities Comic Con, Davenport, Iowa, USA

  • Supanova 2023 – Gold Coast (media), Broadbeach, Australia

  • Dairycon 2023: The Moo Generation (Transformers), Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, USA

Weekend of April 21-23

  • RavenCon 16, Richmond, Virginia, USA

  • ConStellation 12: Age of Aquarius, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA

  • HELIOsphere, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA

  • LuxCon 2023, Dudelange, Luxembourg

  • Concinnity 2023, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

  • JordanCon (fantasy literature), Atlanta, Georgia, USA

  • Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention, Lombard, Illinois, USA

  • Penguicon 2023 (sf/open source), Southfield, Michigan, USA

  • Costume-Con 39: Things That Go Bump in the Night, San Jose, California, USA

  • Farmageddon IX (gaming), Farmer City, Illinois, USA

  • Cheyenne Gaming Convention, Cheyenne, Wyoming, USA

  • Rising Phoenix GameCon, Milford, Massachusetts, USA

  • LexiCon 2023 (gaming), Lexington, Kentucky, USA

  • Jeu au Boute (boardgames), Chertsey, Québec, Canada

  • Nashville Tabletop Day 2023 (boardgames), Nashville, Tennessee, USA

  • CoMo Retro Con (retro video games), Columbia, Missouri, USA

  • Omnicon Symphony (anime), Cookeville, Tennessee, USA

  • Mang’Azur (anime), Toulon, France

  • Anime St. Louis, St. Charles, Missouri, USA

  • Saluki Con (anime), Carbondale, Illinois, USA

  • Mobile Bay Anime Festival, Daphne, Alabama, USA

  • Anime Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

  • Anime Town Utah, Sandy, Utah, USA

  • FicZone 2023 (anime), Granada, Spain

  • Beta Quest 2023 (anime), Kingsland, Georgia, USA

  • Ithacon 2023 (comics), Ithaca, New York, USA

  • Sci-Fi Scarborough (media), Scarborough, UK

  • Yellow City Comic Con 2023, Amarillo, Texas, USA

  • Fayetteville Comic Con, Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA

  • El Paso Comic Con, El Paso, Texas, USA

  • Wicked Comic Con, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

  • Sci-Fi on the Rock (media), St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada

  • Supanova 2023 – Melbourne (media), Broadbeach, Australia

  • PortmeiriCon (The Prisoner), Portmeirion, UK

Weekend of April 28-30

  • Tulkon, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

  • OmegaCon (relaxacon), Siren, Wisconsin, USA

  • Ice and Fire Convention (Song of Ice and Fire series), Mt. Sterling, Ohio, USA

  • Scheibenwelt Convention (Discworld), Witzenhausen, Germany

  • Malice Domestic 35 (mysteries), Bethesda, Maryland, USA

  • UBCon XXXII (gaming), Buffalo, New York, USA

  • Chupacabracon IX (gaming), Round Rock, Texas, USA

  • 2023 Gaming Hoopla, Mundelein, Illinois, USA

  • Buckeye Game Fest 2023, Columbus, Ohio, USA

  • LoBsterCon XXIV: Couple Dozen (boardgames), Eastbourne, UK

  • LAN All Night VII: SpaceLAN (LAN gaming), Grapevine, Texas, USA

  • Recon 2023: Infantry! (miniatures gaming), Kissimmee, Florida, USA

  • Little Wars 2023: Damn the Torpedoes! (miniatures gaming), Lisle, Illinois, USA

  • Warhammer Fest 2023 (Warhammer miniatures game), Manchester, UK

  • aniMUC (anime), Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany

  • Castle Point Anime Convention, Seacaucus, New Jersey, USA

  • LoboCon (anime), Rohnert Park, California, USA

  • Heroes Made in Asia (anime), Gorinchem, Netherlands

  • Oz-Con (anime), West Plains, Missouri, USA

  • Manga-Comic-Con, Leipzig, Germany

  • MondoCon 2023 (anime), Budapest, Hungary

  • ExpOtaku Vitoria-Gasteiz 2023 (anime), Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain

  • Fangaea (media), San Diego, California, USA

  • Causeacon (media), Beckley, West Virginia, USA

  • Mini-Mini Con (media), Balcones Heights, Texas, USA

  • ASU Nerd Con (media), Boone, North Carolina, USA

  • Central Texas Comic Con, Waco, Texas, USA

Weekend of May 5-7

  • Starbase DemiCon: A New World, Urbandale, Iowa, USA

  • Na meji nevidnega, Ljubljana, Slovenia

  • AtomaCon 2023, North Charleston, South Carolina, USA

  • ChupacabraCon IX (gaming), San Marcos, Texas, USA

  • WagonCon 6 (gaming), The Dalles, Oregon, USA

  • Heroicon (gaming), Decatur, Illinois, USA

  • Festival Alchemie du Jeu (gaming), Toulouse, France

  • Congress of Gamers Spring Session, Rockville, Maryland, USA

  • San Marino Game Convention, San Marino

  • 1d4Con 2023 (gaming), Martinsburg, West Virginia, USA

  • Indiana Comic Convention, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

  • SoCal Gaming Expo (video games), Ontario, California, USA

  • Game Jam South (video games), Huntsville, Alabama, USA

  • MagicCon (Magic: the Gathering CCG), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

  • Shine Con (anime), Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

  • Kogaracon (anime), Edison, New Jersey, USA

  • Anime Arizona, Mesa, Arizona, USA

  • Animefest 2023, Brno, Czechia

  • Pokheimon Festival, Heimsbrunn, France

  • Northern FanCon (media), Prince George, British Columbia, Canada

  • Saratoga Comic Con, Saratoga Springs, New York, USA

  • Apopkon (media), Apopka, Florida, USA

  • Contropolis Pennsylvania (media), Oaks, Pennsylvania, USA

  • The Hero Con (media), Fort Meyers, Florida, USA

Weekend of May 12-14

  • SFeraKon 2023, Zagreb, Croatia

  • Glasgow International Fantasy Conversations (symposium), online

  • Furry Weekend Atlanta: The Lost City, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

  • Furry Down Under 2023 (anthropomorphic), Surfers Paradise, Australia

  • Game Market, Tokyo, Japan

  • North Star (sf RPGs), Sheffield, UK

  • Lan ETS (LAN gaming), Montréal, Québec, Canada

  • Tsunami 41 (anime), Mérida, Mexico

  • Kameha Con 5 (anime), Allen, Texas, USA

  • PuchiCon (anime), Atlantc City, New Jersey, USA

  • IberAnime, Lisboa, Portugal

  • Hazard Con (anime), Erie, Pennsylvania, USA

  • Metrotham Con Episode IV: Return of the '90s (media), Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA

  • Geek Days Lille (media), Lille, France

Coda

  • SF author offers perspective on Uber Eats mystery (LA Times)

Thank you for reading! Send tips, corrections, press releases, and letters of comment to: smofnews@gmx.com.

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