SMOF News, volume 2, issue 8

All about the long-running fan funds, and news in brief.

TAFF Nominations Open

The Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund has opened nominations for its 2023 race. The winner will travel from Europe to visit Pemmi-con, the 2023 North American Science Fiction Convention (Winnipeg, Manitoba, July 20-23). Those familiar with TAFF can find the additional information they need in the official announcement (PDF).

And for those who aren’t familiar with it…

All About Fan Funds

The Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund is one of a triangle of funds dedicated to encouraging connections between fans on different continents. TAFF itself, which has been running since 1953, sends its winners back and forth between North America and Europe. The Down Under Fan Fund (DUFF), started in 1972, does the same between North America and Australia/New Zealand. The Get Up-and-over Fan Fund (GUFF) is the third leg, started in 1978, between Oceania and Europe.

All three funds use the same process:

1. Candidates submit platform statements of no more than 101 words and a token bond to the current fund administrators.

2. Candidates must also collect five nominations from active science fiction fans, three on their home continent and two on the destination continent, who contact the fund administrators directly.

3. After nominations close and the ballot is published, voting is open to anyone making a minimum donation to the fund. Voting is ranked-choice with a “No Preference” option.

4. The winner is the fund’s delegate for the given year. They take the trip to the other continent, with the assistance of the money collected for that year, and experience as many fan activities as possible.

5. But that isn’t the end of their duties. The delegate then serves as an administrator of the fund for the next two years.

6. Delegates are also expected to produce a trip report. This often takes a few years. In one extreme case, the 1982 TAFF delegate’s trip report just appeared in August of this year.

All three funds went on hiatus during the pandemic, with the 2020 TAFF delegate making his trip this year, and the DUFF and GUFF ones likely to be able to make theirs in 2023.

In Brief

• DeepSouthCon 60 presented its traditional awards this past weekend: the Phoenix Award to David B. Coe and Eric Flint; the Rebel Award to Brandy Bolgeo Hendren; and the Rubble Award (for disservice to fandom) to SARS-CoV-2. More at File 770.

• Badges for first-time attendees of next year’s Comic-Con International (San Diego, July 20-23) will go on sale November 5. Would-be purchasers are encouraged to set up a member ID in CCI’s system ahead of time.

• CrowdUltra invites the public to submit nominations for its convention awards including Best Anime Convention of the Year and Best Comic Convention of the Year. Nominations close on November 1.

• The Great Con-Junction (Los Angeles, November 12-13) has added Kevin Clash as a guest.

• The Uncanny Experience (Minneapolis, Minnesota, September 16-17, 2023) has added Lenore Zann as a guest.

Event Calendar

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, online

• 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), Annapolis, 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

Weekend of November 18-20

• Philcon 2022, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, USA

• Consequences O: Otherworldly Consequences (gaming), Christchurch, UK

• Free Play Florida (video games), Orlando, Florida, USA

• DreamHack Atlanta 2022 (video games), Atlanta, Georgia, USA

• Colossalcon North (anime), Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, USA

• Kaiga Anime Convention, Perth, Australia

• Anime NYC, New York City, New York, USA

• Anime Austin, Austin, Texas, USA

• Anime Pasadena, Pasadena, California, USA

• Sin City Anime, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

• Con Nichiwa 2022 (anime), Tucson, Arizona, USA

• Memphis Comic and Fantasy Convention #12, Memphis, Tennessee, USA

• Heroes Dutch Comic Con, Utrecht, Netherlands

• Comic Con Liverpool, Liverpool, UK

• CharlestonCon (media), North Charleston, South Carolina, USA

• Meglos 2022 (Doctor Who), Holtsville, New York, USA

• Nakamacon (One Piece), Panama City Beach, Florida, USA

• Pokécon Memphis (Pokémon), Memphis, Tennessee, USA

Weekend of November 25-27

• Loscon 48, Los Angeles, California, USA

• Chessiecon 2022, Hunt Valley, Maryland, USA

• Chambanacon 51 (relaxacon), Normal, Illinois, USA

• GobbleCon (gaming), Burlingame, California, USA

• LFG Canberra: Essen Unplugged (boardgames), Griffith, Australia

• De Bello Ludico (wargaming), Bracciano, Italy

• Anime Festival Asia, Singapore

• Anime Dallas, DFW Airport, Texas, USA

• Akimatsuri (anime), Richmond, British Columbia, Canada

• Comic Con Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany

• Stars of Time Comic Con, Weston-super-Mare, UK

• Fan Expo San Francisco (media), San Francisco, California, USA

• Chicago TARDIS 2022 (Doctor Who), Lombard, Illinois, USA

• Starbase Indy 2022: Imagine Anew (Star Trek), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Coda

• Conan the Bacterium and the deserts of Mars (The Register)

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