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SMOF News, volume 2, issue 4

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SMOF News, volume 2, issue 4

Technical difficulties, virtual queue snafu, and Smofcon scholarships.

Petréa Mitchell
Sep 30, 2022
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SMOF News, volume 2, issue 4

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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

  • 2022 Ig Nobel winners

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

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