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SMOF News, volume 2, issue 4
Technical difficulties, virtual queue snafu, and Smofcon scholarships.
Please Stand By
Do not adjust your calendars. This issue really is being published on Thursday rather than Wednesday. Publication was held up by technical difficulties which are not fully resolved, but have been worked around for now.
Virtual Lines Can Back Up Too
New York Comic Con (New York City, October 6-9) had some problems with its reservations, as noted by CBR:
New York Comic Con is already off to a start that's either delightfully auspicious or frustratingly inconvenient -- depending on your point of view since obstacles have arrived for those making reservations to attend.
The event's official Twitter posted an apologetic note acknowledging that their servers are unable to handle the initial volume of reservations being made by would-be attendees. While the planners had anticipated a significant influx, they still failed to predict the onslaught of activity that bombarded their hardware, rendering attempts by customers temporarily useless.
The convention world has largely moved from seeing long lines as an endorsement of a con’s popularity to seeing them as a logistical failure, and the apologetic tones of NYCC’s messaging shows that this holds even in the virtual world.
NYCC uses Thuzi, which claims an impressive roster of clients, but whose Twitter feed shows that this exact same problem happened last year.
Smofcon Scholarships Available
CanSMOF, a Canadian conrunning organization, has announced a set of scholarships to help out those who want to attend Smofcon 38 (Montréal, Canada, December 2-4). Smofcon (no relation to this newsletter) is a worldwide get-together of volunteer conrunners of science fiction and related conventions, held in a different location every year.
From the press release:
The first Scholarship, of up to 500 CAD is open to a Canadian citizen or
resident living outside of Quebec or Southern Ontario involved in running
conventions with a preference for those who have not previously attended a
SMOFCon.
The second scholarship of up to 1000 CAD is open to anyone involved in
running conventions with a preference for those who have not previously
attended a SMOFCon.
All scholarships come with an attending membership to SMOFCon 38,
graciously donated by Smofcon 38.
Applicants will automatically be considered for any and all scholarships
for which they are eligible. Preference will be given to fans who have not
previously attended a SMOFCon, but this is not necessary to be an
applicant. The submission deadline is October 5th, 2022, 23:59 SST
(UTC-11). We reserve the right to not award any or all scholarships. Any
questions should be directed to smofcon.scholarship@gmail.com.
To apply for a scholarship, simply follow this link:
https://forms.gle/bCQhStypCYovWfG38
Event Calendar
Weekend of September 30-October 2
Archon 45, Collinsville, Illinois, USA
XVIII Forum Fantástico, Lisboa, Portugal
Conflux 16: Visions of Time, Canberra, Australia
Capclave 2022 (books), Rockville, Maryland, USA
Gaslight Steampunk Expo, San Diego, California, USA
Cosplay World Richmond, Richmond, Virginia, USA
H-Con XVIII: Grown Up Tails - Breiter, Dicker, Länger! (anthropomorphic), Erbach, Germany
FilkCONtinental (music), Wernigerode, Germany
OctoGônes 12 (gaming), Villeurbanne, France
Crucible X (gaming), Orlando, Florida, USA
Spellenfestival 5e (gaming), Limburg, Belgium
Lone Star Game Expo, Grapevine, Texas, USA
S’mores and Meeples (gaming), North East, Maryland, USA
Meeple-A-Thon (gaming), Kansas City, Missouri, USA
CuseCon 2022 (gaming), Syracuse, New York, USA
Michigan GT (wargaming), Lansing, Michigan, USA
SkålCon 2022 (Pathfinder& Starfinder RPGs), Plymouth, Minnesota, USA
Pittsburgh Gaming Expo (video games), Monroeville, Pennsylvania, USA
Rappig Crossing (Tales video games), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Ramencon: Year of the Kaiju (anime), South Bend, Indiana, USA
BanzaiKon (anime), South Padre Island, Texas, USA
ValleyCon 46 (media), Fargo, North Dakota, USA
Upper Valley Comic Expo, West Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA
SiouxperCon: Retromania (media), Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA
Monster-Mania 51 (horror media), Hunt Valley, Maryland, USA
PonyCon Holland 2022 (My Little Pony), Zeist, Netherlands
Weekend of October 7-9
CONtraflow X, Kenner, Louisiana, USA
Decongestant 5/Arcanacon (relaxacon/dark fantasy), Bloomington, Minnesota, USA
Direbrook (dark fantasy), Portland, Oregon, USA
The Global Fantastic (symposium), online
WPAFW 2022 (anthropomorphic), Allison Park, Pennsylvania, USA
Alamo City Furry Invasion: A Tell Tail Mystery, San Antonio, Texas, USA
Save Against Fear (gaming), York, Pennsylvania, USA
U-Con (gaming), Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA
Con on the Cob Episode 2022: Cryptid Party (gaming), Richfield, Ohio, USA
CinCityCon 2022 (gaming), Sharonville, Ohio, USA
Spiel ‘22 (boardgames), Essen, Germany
Furnace (RPGs), Sheffield, UK
Lair Con (RPGs), Pensacola, Florida, USA
Atlanta Game Fest 38, Alpharetta, Georgia, USA
Nintendo Live 2022 (official Nintendo), Tokyo, Japan
Tsubasacon (anime), Charleston, West Virginia, USA
Anime Fiesta, McAllen, Texas, USA
Animasia (anime), Bordeaux, France
Ani-Medford (anime), Grants Pass, Oregon, USA
Anime Senpai, Collinsville, Illinois, USA
Overload (anime), Auckland, New Zealand
Connichi (anime), Kassel, Germany
Wauke-Con (comics), Waukegan, Illinois, USA
Cartoon Crossroads Columbus (comics and animation), Columbus, Ohio, USA
Toon-Con (comics and animation), Pasadena, California, USA
Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, Sitges, Spain
Brooklyn SciFi Film Festival, New York City, New York, USA
27th Annual H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival, Portland, Oregon, USA
New York Comic Con, New York City, New York, USA
Level Up ICT Con (media), Wichita, Kansas, USA
Comiccon de Québec, Montréal, Québec, Canada
Comic Con Scotland, Edinburgh, UK
MagicCon 5 (fantasy media), Bonn, Germany
Monsterama Jr. (retro media), Peachtree Corners, Georgia, USA
Ponies Exhibition: Back to the 80’s (My Little Pony), Phoenix, Arizona, USA
UK PonyCon 2022 (My Little Pony), Nottingham, UK
VoltCon! 2022 (Voltron), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Midweek convention: Icon Festival, Tel Aviv, Israel
Weekend of October 14-16
ICON 47: The Prime Universe, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA
MultiverseCon IV, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Octocon 2022 (Irish national sf convention), Dublin, Ireland
VCon 2022, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Can*Con 2022 (Canadian sf), Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, Sitges, Spain
Viking-Con 41 (gaming), Kastrup, Denmark
Festival Internacional de Juegos de Córdoba (gaming), Córdoba, Spain
Effing-Con (gaming), Effingham, Illinois, USA
G.A.M.E. Expo, Springfield, Missouri, USA
Conecturday (video games), San José, Costa Rica
Portland Retro Gaming Expo (retro video games), Portland, Oregon, USA
Banzaicon 10 (anime), Larvik, Norway
WasabiCon (anime), Jacksonville, Florida, USA
AmeChibi (anime), Northampton, UK
Anime USA, Arlington, Virginia, USA
Anime Banzai, Davis, Utah, USA
Another Anime Convention, Westford, Massachusetts, USA
The Lakes International Comic Art Festival, Kendal, UK
Geek Days Caen (media), Caen, France
Motor City Comic Con, Novi, Michigan, USA
LeakyCon Denver (Harry Potter), Denver, Colorado, USA
Weekend of October 21-23
DeepSouthCon 60, Huntsville, Alabama, USA
MileHiCon 54, Denver, Colorado, USA
BuchmesseCon, Dreieich, Germany
Sirens (gender and fantasy), Denver, Colorado, USA
Corflu 39 Pangloss (fanzines), Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Bantucky Con (steampunk), Bandera, Texas, USA
The Surrey Steampunk Convivial, Epsom, UK
Confuror 2022: Día de Muertos (anthropomorphic), Guadalajara, Mexico
Bewhiskered 2022: A Furry Murder Mystery, Durham, North Carolina, USA
TsunamiCon (gaming), Wichita, Kansas, USA
Wellycon (gaming), Wellington, New Zealand
Congress of Gamers Fall Session, Rockville, Maryland, USA
AVL Scarefest 6 (RPGs), Montreat, North Carolina, USA
Retro Palooza (retro video games), Arlington, Texas, USA
MEX (anime), Berlin, Germany
Anime Fusion Remastered, Plymouth, Minnesota, USA
Iberanime, Matosinhos, Portugal
Anime Nebraskon 2022: Year of Magical Transformation, Council Bluffs, Iowa, USA
NW Idolfest (anime idols), Seattle, Washington, USA
FACTS (media), Flanders, Belgium
Grit City Comic Show, Tacoma, Washington, USA
TFcon Chicago (Transformers), Chicago, Illinois, USA
Weekend of October 28-30
Les Utopiales, Nantes, France
SpoCon: Revamped, Spokane, Washington, USA
BristolCon, Bristol, UK
Hallowcon 2022 (fantasy/horror), Dalton, Georgia, USA
Cabbagecon 6 (Discworld), De Rijp, Netherlands
MorgulCón 2022 (J. R. R. Tolkien), Salamanca, Spain
Ohio Valley Filk Festival 38: Year of the Cat (music), Worthington, Ohio, USA
Golden Leaves Con 12: Cead Mile Faílte (anthropomorphic), Hasliberg, Switzerland
Furry Blacklight 10: Steam Ages, Tremblay-en-France, France
Furpocalypse 2022: Horror in Paradise (anthropomorphic), Stamford, Connecticut, USA
GaelCon (gaming), Dublin, Ireland
Big Bad Con 2022 (gaming), Burlingame, California, USA
LAN All Night VI: BatLAN (video games), Grapevine, Texas, USA
Anime Weekend Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
UwUCon (anime), Mesa, Arizona, USA
Anime Halloween, Rosemont, Illinois, USA
Anime Texas, The Woodlands, Texas, USA
YumeCon USA (anime), Palo Alto, California, USA
DerpyCon 2022 (anime), New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
Yunicon 2022 (anime), Schwechat, Austria
31st Festival of Fantastic Films, Manchester, UK
Lucca Comics & Games, Lucca, Italy
Music City Multi Con (media/video games), Lebanon, Tennessee, USA
Hal-Con (media), Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Baltimore Comic-Con, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Winnipeg Comiccon, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
15th Starbase 24 Starfleet/Klingon Banquet (Star Trek) Peterborough, UK
Coda
Thank you for reading! Send tips, corrections, press releases, and letters of comment to: smofnews@gmx.com.