SMOF News, volume 2, issue 36

Westercon and SiliCon cancellations, and news in brief.

Westercon In Trouble Again

The West Coast Science Fantasy Conference, known better as Westercon, was to hold its 75th annual convention this year, but it has been cancelled:

The Westercon 75 staff and I regret that we cannot fulfill our plans to hold the event which had been scheduled for June 30 – July 3, 2023, in Anaheim, CA. It saddens us to do this, but a cascade of circumstances won’t allow it to happen.

The essential functions of Westercon will be taken up by Loscon 49 (Los Angeles, November 24-26). Loscon will also honor any Westercon memberships which are not requested to be refunded.

Westercon has had a rough few years. Westercon 73 would have been held in 2020, but was moved forward a year. In 2021 its chair announced that it no longer had enough staff to be held, and Loscon became a combined Loscon and Westercon that year as well. Westercon 74, moved forward a year to 2022, was held as planned, but there was a last-minute scramble to find a bid for Westercon 76.

While Westercon 76 is still planned for next year, two failures in three years means there is likely to be debate at Loscon about whether Westercon has outlived its usefulness.

SiliCon Still in Trouble

SiliCon 2023, which would have been held in San Jose, California this October, has been cancelled, ostensibly due to pandemic stresses. SiliCon was originally the Silicon Valley Comic Con, an ambitious celebrity-led media/technology con, as Friends of Comic Con explains:

It began as Silicon Valley Comic Con in 2016, the brainchild of Apple Computer co-founder Steve Wozniak and Marvel Comic’s Stan Lee. The idea was to merge a comic/pop culture convention with technology, and this concept was well-received by the local community. Unfortunately, the con took on too much too soon, and while its 2016, 2017, and 2018 shows were large in scope and enjoyed by attendees, the financial outlook was not as good. Additionally, Stan Lee’s failing health and Steve Wozniak’s reduced involvement left the convention without a firm leader at the helm. The 2019 show fell short in comparison to its first three years, and had less to offer to attendees. In February 2020, the event was rebranded as SiliCon, and taken over by Adam Savage (Mythbusters).

SiliCon had to skip a couple years, but in 2022 was back with Savage having made it over into a heavily maker-focused convention. However, that was not enough to bring it back to financial health. The cancellation announcement says:

As you are likely aware, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a significant disruption to public gatherings and events, and we have seen a slow return to normalcy. We continue to face challenges and uncertainties. The economic impact has been severe, and many individuals and businesses continue to face financial hardships.

Savage has said on Twitter that he is no longer SiliCon’s creative director.

In Brief

• FanX Salt Lake (Salt Lake City, Utah, September 21-23) has added Ashley Eckstein, Matt Lanter, James Arnold Taylor, Melissa Gilbert, and John Rhys-Davies as guests.

• Cincinnati Comic Expo (Cincinnati, Ohio, September 22-24) has added Ashley Eckstein, James Arnold Taylor, Alex Livinalli, John de Lancie, Brent Spiner, and Paul Williams as guests.

Event Calendar

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

• Sunshine City Scare (horror media), St. Petersburg, Florida, USA

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

• Spooky Empire (horror media), Orlando, Florida, USA

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

Weekend of May 26-28

• Balticon 57, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

• MisCon 37: Monster Mash-up, Missoula, Montana, USA

• Satellite 8, Glasgow, UK

• Fargo CoreCon: Portals to Fantastic Worlds, Fargo, North Dakota, USA

• Marcon 2023: Save the World, Columbus, Ohio, USA

• Åcon 12 (relaxacon), Mariehamn, Finland

• WisCon 46 (feminist sf), Madison, Wisconsin, USA

• ConFuzzled (anthropomorphic), Birmingham, UK

• AnthrOhio: To the Fur Flung Regions of Space (anthropomorphic), Columbus, Ohio, USA

• NomadiCon (anthropomorphic), Nashville, Tennessee, USA

• KublaCon 21 (gaming), Burlingame, California, USA

• ReCon (gaming), Kernersville, North Carolina, USA

• PrairieCon (gaming), Brandon, Manitoba, Canada

• Rocky Top Game Con, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

• Evergreen Tabletop Expo, Renton, Washington, USA

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

• TableTopCon '23 (gaming), Southport, Australia

• BGG.Spring (boardgames), Dallas, Texas, USA

• Enfilade 2023 (miniatures gaming), Olympia, Washington, USA

• PaizoCon Online 2023 (Pathfinder/Starfinder RPGs), online

• Otaku Link 6 (anime), Derby, UK

• FanimeCon (anime), San Jose, California, USA

• Thy Geekdom Con (anime), Oaks, Pennsylvania, USA

• Animazement (anime), Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

• Mizucon (anime), Miami, Florida, USA

• AniMinneapolis (anime), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

• ExpOtaku A Coruña (anime), A Coruña, Spain

• Anime Riverside 2023, Riverside, California, USA

• Chibi-Con 2023 (anime), Winterthur, Switzerland

• MomoCon 2023 (anime), Atlanta, Georgia, USA

• Sabaku Con 2023 (anime), Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

• Naka-Kon 2023 (anime), Overland Park, Kansas, USA

• FedCon (media), Bonn, Germany

• MCM London Comic Con, London, UK

• Cherry Capital Comic Con, Acme, Michigan, USA

Weekend of June 2-4

• ConCarolinas 2023, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

• ConQuesT 54, Kansas City, Missouri, USA

• Fantasticon 2023, Copenhagen, Denmark

• Oz-Stravaganza 2023: Over the Rainbow to Oz (Wizard of Oz), Chittenango, New York, USA

• JodiWorld (Chronicles of St. Mary’s/Time Police series), Coventry, UK

• Cogs & Corsets (steampunk), Bloomington, Illinois, USA

• FlaMinGoCon 22 (gaming), Delray Beach, Florida, USA

• UK Games Expo (gaming), Birmingham, UK

• Y-Con 2023 (gaming), Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada

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

• DieCon 2023 (gaming), Collinsville, Illinois, USA

• Zomerspel 2023 (gaming), Merelbeke, Belgium

• Wellycon 2023 (gaming), Wellington, New Zealand

• NordCon (gaming), Hamburg, Germany

• Ultra Gaming Expo (video games), McAllen, Texas, USA

• North Texas RPG Con (vintage tabletop RPGs), Irving, Texas, USA

• A-Kon Episode 32 (anime), Irving, Texas, USA

• My Hero Convention: Alabama (anime), Birmingham, Alabama, USA

• KimoKawaii (anime), Conroe, Texas, USA

• Anime Marathon, Königslutter am Elm, Germany

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

• DoKomi (anime), Düsseldorf, Germany

• Awesome Con (media), Washington, DC, USA

• 3 Rivers Comicon, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

• Austria Comic Con, Wels, Austria

• Portsmouth Comic Con, Portsmouth, UK

• Argentina Comic Con, Buenos Aires, Argentina

• Phoenix Fan Fusion (media), Phoenix, Arizona, USA

• ColossalCon (media), Sandusky, Ohio, USA

• North Country Comic Con, Watertown, New York, USA

• Warsaw Comic Con, Warsaw, Poland

• Etna Comics 2023 (media), Catania, Italy

• Sci-Fi-London 23 (film festival), London, UK

• Whinny City Pony Con 2023: Tropical Getaway (My Little Pony), Schaumburg, Illinois, USA

Weekend of June 9-11

• Konflikt, the 2023 European Science Fiction Convention, Uppsala, Sweden

• 2023 Metropolis Superman Celebration, Metropolis, Illinois, USA

• Heroes, Villains, and Blerds (art), Winter Park, Florida, USA

• áyA Con (indigenous comics and art), Denver, Colorado, USA

• Airikas Traum XVII (music), Erbach, Germany

• Bayou Wars 2023 31 (miniatures gaming), D’Iberville, Mississippi, USA

• AnimeCon 2023, Rijswijk, Netherlands

• Wie.MAI.KAI (anime), Flörsheim am Main, Germany

• Rocket City Anime Convention, Huntsville, Alabama, USA

• JAFAX 2023 (anime), Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA

• OMG!con 2023: Magical Girls (anime), Owensboro, Kentucky, USA

• Space Coast Comic Con, Cocoa, Florida, USA

• Oz Comic-Con: Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

• SWFL SpaceCon (media), Cape Coral, Florida, USA

• Sci-Fi Valley Con (media), Altoona, Pennsylvania, USA

• Fan Expo Dallas (media), Dallas, Texas, USA

• Comic Con Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia

• The Bride of FrankenCon (horror media), Alcoa, Tennessee, USA

Coda

• Distress call answered by ship from wrong century

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