SMOF News, volume 2, issue 33

All about fan tables, and news in brief.

How To Convention: Fan Tables

If you’ve been to a nonprofit fan convention, you may have seen tables advertising local clubs and other conventions in the hallways or common spaces of the con. These are fan tables, one of the long-running expressions of fandom as one connected community.

(You may also see similar tables in the dealers’ room at some conventions. In those cases, the tables have usually been purchased as dealer tables, which is a topic for another time.)

Fan tables are given out for free to qualifying organizations. This typically means other nonprofit events and geeky clubs, but can also include anything connected to the host convention’s focus, such as space advocacy organizations at science fiction cons or Asian culture ones at anime cons.

Table activities are limited to providing information and selling items directly related to the entity running the table. Club memberships and event admission are fine, and swag with the logo of the club or event is usually allowed, but general items are not, so that the tables don’t simply become free dealer tables.

So how does your club or event snag one? Sometimes there’s a form to fill out, and sometimes you just need to send an email. Applications may open up as much as a few months ahead of the convention, and will usually close a few weeks ahead. If you’re looking at a con website and can’t tell if fan tables are an option, check the exhibits section if there is one, or see if there is a fan table contact in the committee list.

And then all you have to do is get enough people from your club or event who are attending the convention to volunteer to staff the table, set it up and pack things away each day. That’s the hard part.

In Brief

• Ad Astra, the organization behind the convention of the same name, will “enter a dormant phase” after paying out what money it can to creditors. The convention has not happened since 2019.

• Sandra Bond has won the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund vote and will attend Pemmi-con (Winnipeg, Manitoba, July 20-23) as the TAFF delegate. More details in the TAFF newsletter (PDF).

• Indiana Comic Convention (Indianapolis, Indiana, May 5-7) has added Grant Gustin, Harvey Guillén, and Mark Shepard as guests.

• FanX Salt Lake (Salt Lake City, Utah, September 21-23) has added Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Tom Wilson, Chris Sarandon, Carey Jones, and Yuri Lowenthal as guests.

• Flame Con (New York City, August 12-13) has added Stephanie Williams as a guest.

Event Calendar

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

Weekend of May 19-21

• Metropol Con Berlin (German national sf convention), Berlin, Germany

• Keycon 40: Choose Your Own Adventure!, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

• Das Frühlingsfest der Filksmusik (music), Hanstedt, Germany

• Mephit Mini Con 24: Highland Games (anthropomorphic), Kirchen/Sieg, Germany

• Furry Weekend Holland: Spirit of the West, Baarlo, Netherlands

• CanGames, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

• LinCon (gaming), Linköping, Sweden

• Geekway to the West 2023: Moshin' With Meeples (gaming), St. Charles, Missouri, USA

• Huzzah! Con 2023 (miniatures gaming), Portland, Maine, USA

• Tokyo Alley 11: Marine! (anime), Perth, Australia

• Anime Central, Rosemont, Illinois, USA

• Bak-Anime, Bakersfield, California, USA

• CloverCon (anime), Bridgewater, New Jersey, USA

• Otafest 2023 (anime), Calgary, Alberta, Canada

• Tidewater Comicon, Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA

• Comic Con Revolution, Ontario, California, USA

• Fantasy Basel (media), Basel, Switzerland

• CradleCon (media), Garden City, New York, USA

• Dublin Wizard Con (fantasy media), Dublin, Ireland

• Horrorcon UK (media), Sheffield, UK

• Crypticon Seattle (horror media), Seatac, Washington, USA

• Seaquestria Fest (My Little Pony), Ocean City, Maryland, USA

Coda

• Solar sails now capable of hitting 7 AU/year (The Register)

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