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Pop-Up Gen Con Is Probably Done
While it isn’t quite officially dead, tucked in at the end of the latest Gen Con newsletter was this brief update:
The Pop-Up Gen Con programming hiatus will be extended indefinitely as we continue to focus our resources and attention on Gen Con Indy and Gen Con Online. No Pop-Up Gen Con events will be held in 2023.
Pop-Up Gen Con will be a footnote in convention history, but it is one which offers a window into how remote participation might have developed if SARS-CoV-2 had not intervened.
The idea was to bring Gen Con to local gaming stores. Attendees paid $5 to attend at a local store. On the day, they would be able to pick up a badge, play demo copies of games, and watch programming streamed from Gen Con itself.
The first one was deemed a success. Unfortunately, it was held in 2019, just before everyone discovered that people could also participate in conventions directly from the comfort of their own homes without all the logistical complication of shipping physical objects in all sorts of directions.
There was a well-developed virtual tabletop gaming community well before the COVID-19 pandemic, complete with its own conventions, but it was an entirely separate realm from in-person gaming, and it is likely that without the pandemic it would have been a long time before there were any hybrid gaming conventions.
Pop-Up Gen Con was revived in 2021, but placed on hiatus again for 2022. With both a physical and an online con to plan (and possibly the beginning of the process of evaluating new locations for the physical con on top of that), it would be no surprise if Gen Con decides its plate is as full as it can be and 2021 turns out to be the last Pop-Up Gen Con.
In Brief
Bob Madle, the last surviving attendee of the first World Science Fiction Convention in 1939, died on October 8, aged 102.
Biography (Fancyclopedia 3) • Obituary (Locus) • Remembrances: Curt Phillips • John L. Coker III and Jon D. Swartz • Rich Lynch
The Premios Ignotus, fan-voted awards for science fiction and fantasy, were presented at HispaCón 2022 (Ferrol, Spain) this past weekend.
Official announcement (PDF) • English-language list of winners and finalists (Locus)
Event Calendar
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
Weekend of November 4-6
Astronomicon 13, Rochester, New York, USA
Or-E-Con 2, virtual
GeekGirlCon, Seattle, Washington, USA
ArmadaCon 2022, Plymouth, UK
World Fantasy Convention 2022, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
ZodiaCon 2022 (anthropomorphic), Horní Bradlo, Czechia
PAWCon 2022: Visit Pawston Paradise (anthropomorphic), San Jose, California, USA
Carnage XXV: Silver Anniversary (gaming), Dover, Vermont, USA
Spellen Spektakel (gaming), Utrecht, Netherlands
Rock-Con (gaming), Rockford, Illinois, USA
AcadeCon (gaming), Dayton, Ohio, USA
BottosCon 2022 (gaming), New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Phantasm 32nd (RPGs), Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
AmberCon NW (diceless RPGs), Troutdale, Oregon, USA
Good Game Fest (video games), Westminster, Maryland, USA
Warfaire Weekend (wargaming), St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Fall In! (miniatures gaming), King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, USA
NekoCon 24 (anime), Hampton, Virginia, USA
Destination Tokyo (anime), Monthey, Switzerland
HotaruCon (anime), Milton Keynes, UK
Nishi Fest (anime), Arlington, Texas, USA
Youmacon 2022 (anime), Detroit, Michigan, USA
Tiger Con 2022 (anime), Valdosta, Georgia, USA
Unicon (media), Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Coosacon! (media), Rome, Georgia, USA
Comic Con Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
Akron Comiccon, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, USA
CONjuration (Harry Potter), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Pony Friends Forever (My Little Pony), San Antonio, Texas, USA
Weekend of November 11-13
Novacon 51, Nottingham, UK
TusCon 49, Tucson, Arizona, USA
Windycon 48, Lombard, Illinois, USA
SFW XIII, Great Yarmouth, UK
OmegaFall 2022, Siren, Wisconsin, USA
New England Crime Bake 2022: History is Mystery (mysteries), Dedham, Massachusetts, USA
Dragonsteel 2022 (Brandon Sanderson works), Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Flüüfff: Tropical Trouble (anthropomorphic), Brussels, Belgium
TeslaCon (steampunk), Middleton, Wisconsin, USA
Steampunk November, Mansfield, Texas, USA
Kee Con V (gaming), Cherokee, Iowa, USA
JeffCon: The Final MACE (gaming), Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
MEPACon (gaming), Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA
Hexcon (gaming), Trondheim, Norway
BGG.CON (gaming), Dallas, Texas, USA
Tampa Nerd Con (gaming), Clearwater, Florida, USA
Compass Games Expo 2022, Meridien, Connecticut, USA
Gridcon 3 (boardgames), Taunton, UK
Spielewelt in Bielefeld (boardgames), Bielefeld, Germany
EuroQuest 2022 (Eurogames), Pikesville, Maryland, USA
The Long Con (RPGs), Longview, Texas, USA
MillenniumCon (miniatures gaming), Round Rock, Texas, USA
Arcade Expo, Houston, Texas, USA
KeyForge Celebration (KeyForge CCG), Roseville, Minnesota, USA
Oni-Con XIX (anime), Galveston, Texas, USA
Kumoricon (anime), Portland, Oregon, USA
anime expo chibi, Ontario, California, USA
Anime Destiny 2022, Berkeley, California, USA
Animaine 2022 (anime), South Portland, Maine, USA
Thought Bubble (comics), Harrogate, UK
Grand Rapids Comic Con, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
Fanboy Expo Indianapolis (media), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Twin Cities Con (media), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Fanboy Expo Indianapolis (media), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
FanQuest 2022 (media), Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Monster-Mania 52 (horror media), Oaks, Pennsylvania, USA
Philip K. Dick Film Festival, New York City, New York, USA
The Great Con-Junction (The Dark Crystal), Los Angeles, California, USA
Coda
Astronaut romance scam (Vice)
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