Wicked World’s Fair Has Problems and a Problematic Organizer
The Wicked World’s Fair, which calls itself a “steampunk/polygenre festival”, was held February 23-26 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Many accounts have emerged of problems there around money and poor organization, and brought the spotlight back to its organizer, Jeff Mach, and his pattern of toxic behavior which led to the collapse of another of his events, the Steampunk World’s Fair, in 2018.
The Steampunk Explorer has been covering the story in detail, starting with the initial burst of complaints:
Here’s the reality as described by some participants:
• Vendors crowded dangerously into small spaces, including hallway closets.
• Vendors who paid for large spaces, but were given smaller ones with a promise of refunds that never came through.
• A lack of security, including complaints from vendors that event staff did not lock up their merchandise overnight as promised.
At least two participants posted screen shots of messages from Eventbrite, the online ticket service, stating that requests for refunds had been declined, apparently because the account associated with the event had been frozen.
In addition, according to multiple sources, a sound crew hired for the weekend departed prior to Saturday’s music program, apparently due to non-payment. This meant that music acts that did not have their own sound equipment were unable to perform.
An article on ensuing developments reports that Mach claimed first that the ticket money from Eventbrite had been frozen, and later that some other unnamed group was taking over the responsibility of sending out refunds. The Steampunk Explorer obtained responses from Eventbrite and the likeliest person to have been the other group denying both stories.
The Steampunk World’s Fair was the biggest steampunk event in the United States for a few years, but fell apart after numerous reports of Mach committing everything from shady business practices to sexual assault. These were summed up at the time in a story from The Daily Beast. The blog Owl Eye View has a comprehensive set of links to all the reports.
A new group called the Silver Phoenix Society was formed to take over the Steampunk World’s Fair, promising to ban Mach from it entirely. The Steampunk Explorer would report that that didn’t go as planned:
“The day after Wicked Faire, we had most of an agreement with Jeff Mach to buy the events, and then the lawyers got involved,” [Michael Whitehouse, chair of SPS] said. “What should have taken a couple days dragged into weeks and out to a month. Our comfortable three-month lead time shrank to a challenging but totally possible two-month lead time. But we needed to get planning the event immediately, which brought us to this solution. Rather than buying Steampunk World’s Fair, we are borrowing all the resources of Steampunk World’s Fair which [don’t] require lawyers.”
Instead, SPS ran a smaller event called End of the World Fair, and the Steampunk World’s Fair would never return.
In Brief
Nominations for the Dragon Awards, for works published between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024, are open until July 19. Voters do not need to be members of Dragon Con.
Indiana Comic Convention (Indianapolis, Indiana, March 22-24) has added John Bernthal, Nolan North, and Fate Mata as guests.
Spooky Empire (Orlando, Florida, May 17-19) has added Alice Cooper as a guest.
Anime Expo (Los Angeles, July 4-7) has added Mikio Toki as a guest.
Cincinnati Comic Expo (Cincinnati, Ohio, October 18-20) has added David Wenham and Kevin Eastman as guests.
The Uncanny Experience (Minneapolis, Minnesota, September 28-29) has added Leah Williams as a guest.
COSine 2025 (Colorado Springs, Colorado, January 24-26) has announced its initial Guests of Honor will be Lawrence Watt-Evans (author), Theresa Mather (artist), and Connie and Courtney Willis (special guests).
Event Calendar
Weekend of March 15-17
SFW 15, Great Yarmouth, UK
Nerdi Gras 2024, Duluth, Georgia, USA
45th International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, Orlando, Florida, USA
GollanczFest 2024 (sf books), London, UK
Gateway Fur Meet: Murder Mystery Party (anthropomorphic), Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
Furnal Equinox: Under the Sea (anthropomorphic), Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Texas Furry Fiesta: Singularity Point (anthropomorphic), Dallas, Texas, USA
BashCon 38 (gaming), Toledo, Ohio, USA
Zuiderspel (gaming), Veldhoven, Netherlands
Ludesco (gaming), La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland
LeiriaCon (gaming), Leiria, Portugal
Terminal City Tabletop Convention (gaming), Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
AireCon (gaming), Harrogate, UK
Just added: Game On Expo, Phoenix, Arizona, USA
TokenCon 2024 (gaming), Midwest City, Oklahoma, USA
Breakout 2024 (gaming), Toronto, Ontario, Canada
GOBfest (boardgames), Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Playthrough (video games), Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
Concrete Cow (RPGs), Milton Keynes, UK
Ambercon US (diceless RPGs), Livonia, Michigan, USA
Founders & Legends (D&D), Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, USA
Ani-Me Con 12.0 (anime), Fresno, California, USA
EvilleCon: Year of the Dragon (anime), Evansville, Indiana, USA
Heroes Made in Asia (anime), Gorinchem, Netherlands
Anime New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Colorado Anime Fest 2024, Denver, Colorado, USA
Indiana Comic Convention, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Toronto Comicon, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
All-Con (media), Dallas, Texas, USA
GalaxyCon Richmond (media), Richmond, Virginia, USA
Armageddon Expo Tauranga (media), Tauranga, New Zealand
Paris Manga Sci-Fi Show (media), Villepinte, France
Florida PolyCon (media), Lakeland, Florida, USA
Weekend of March 22-24
Picocon 41: The Menagerie, London, UK
MidSouthCon 39, Memphis, Tennessee, USA
FantaSci 2024: The Words Must Flow, Durham, North Carolina, USA
OutlantaCon/Gaylaxicon 2024 (LGBTQ+ geekdom), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
WOWCon Beyond (women in media and geekdom), Dallas, Texas, USA
Fluke 2024 (independent comics and zines), Athens, Georgia, USA
Consonance 2024 (music), Santa Clara, California, USA
Motor City Furry Con: The Lost World, Furassic Park, Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA
Thaitails Unifursity (anthropomorphic), Bangkok, Thailand
GameStorm 24, Portland, Oregon, USA
WittCon XIX: The Search for Steve (gaming), Springfield, Ohio, USA
Gary Con XVI (gaming), Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, USA
Alamo City Game Convention, San Antonio, Texas, USA
Ratinger Spieletage (gaming), Ratingen, Germany
KennyCon (gaming), Marietta, Georgia, USA
NerdCon (gaming), Robinson, Illinois, USA
Ludinord (gaming), Mons-En-Barœul, France
Great Plains Game Festival, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
COSCON XXXIV (RPGs), Butler, Pennsylvania, USA
SIMCON 45: Time Travel! (boardgames), Rochester, New York, USA
PAX East (video games), Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Hotlead (miniatures gaming), Stratford, Ontario, Canada
Adepticon 2024 (wargaming), Schaumburg, Illinois, USA
Nadeshicon (anime), Québec City, Québec, Canada
ScottyCon (anime), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
AlmaCon (anime), Alma, Michigan, USA
Manga-Comic-Con, Leipzig, Germany
Anime Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Zenkaikon 2024 (anime), Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA
Tora-Con 2024 (anime), Rochester, New York, USA
Harucon 2024 (anime), Jerusalem, Israel
Atlantic Entertainment Expo (media), Charlottetown, PEI, Canada
ETSU-Con (media), Johnson City, Tennessee, USA
Weekend of March 29-31
Levitation 2024 (UK national sf convention), Telford, UK
Minicon 57, Saint Louis Park, Minnesota, USA
Norwescon 46: Into the Wylde, SeaTac, Washington, USA
Costume-Con 42, Denver, Colorado, USA
Fauntastic: Greetings From Camp Critters! (anthropomorphic), Lyon, France
Las Vegas Fur Con 2024: Nuclear A-paw-calypse, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
GothCon XLVII (gaming), Göteborg, Sweden
Fastaval (gaming), Hobro, Denmark
OzBunnyCon 2024 (gaming), Melbourne, Australia
Conpulsion 2024 (gaming), Edinburgh, UK
EyeCon 2024 (gaming), North Ryde, Australia
Scrum Con (wargaming), Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
Conquest Games Convention (RPGs), Melbourne, Australia
Louisville Arcade Expo, Louisville, Kentucky, USA
FreeCon 20 (anime), Tallahassee, Florida, USA
KokoroCon 3 (anime), Nottingham, UK
Kanpai!Con (anime), Omaha, Nebraska, USA
Anime Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Anime Detour: Glow Up!, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
MTAC Dueling Dragons (anime), Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Kawaii Kon (anime), Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Triad Anime Convention, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA
WeebCon (anime), Allen, Texas, USA
Sakura-Con '24 (anime), Seattle, Washington, USA
Puerto Rico Comic Con, San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA
Angers Geekfest 5e Édition (media), Angers, France
My-Con (media), Orlando, Florida, USA
WonderCon 2024 (media), Anaheim, California, USA
BABSCon 2024 (My Little Pony), Burlingame, California, USA
Weekend of April 5-7
Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention, Lombard, Illinois, USA
Golden State Fur Con: Back to the 80s!! (anthropomorphic), Los Angeles, California, USA
FallsCon 24: Exploring the Mystic Realms (gaming), Wichita Falls, Kansas, USA
ADK Tabletop Day (gaming), Glens Falls, New York, USA
LexiCon (gaming), Lexington, Kentucky, USA
Roll Initiative Con (gaming), Ewijk, Netherlands
Board Games at Berkeley Con, Berkeley, California, USA
Gondreville est ludique (gaming), Gondreville, France
Long Island Tabletop Gaming Expo 2024, Garden City, New York, USA
Baycon 2024 (gaming), Kennford, UK
Havoc XXXVIII (miniatures gaming), Marlborough, Massachusetts, USA
Seven Hills (RPGs), Sheffield, UK
Midwest Gaming Classic (video games), Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
aniMUC (anime), Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany
Saluki Con (anime), Carbondale, Illinois, USA
FicZone 2024 (anime), Granada, Spain
CyPhaCon 2024 (media), Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA
FACTS (media), Ghent, Belgium
Comic-Con Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
RodCon (media), Cedar Falls, Iowa, USA
SC Comicon, Greenville, South Carolina, USA
Hill Country Comicon, New Braunfels, Texas, USA
ASU Nerd Con (media), Boone, North Carolina, USA
Fanfaire NYC (media), New York City, New York, USA
Supanova 2024 – Melbourne (media), Ascot Vale, Australia
Bedford Who Charity Con 9 (Doctor Who), Bedford, UK
Weekend of April 12-14
LuxCon 2024 (Luxembourgish national sf con), Hollerich, Luxembourg
Jack Williamson Lectureship 2024: Oh, the [In]humanity, Portales, New Mexico, USA
Springmoot 2024 (Tolkien), Cambridge, UK
221B Con (Sherlock Holmes), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
13 Gears (steampunk), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Chicago Steampunk Exposition, Schaumburg, Illinois, USA
Woods Flock (anthropomorphic), Spencer, Tennessee, USA
Furcationland 2024: Fireside Tales (anthropomorphic), Portland, Maine, USA
CODCON XXVII (gaming), Glen Ellyn, Illinois, USA
DayCon (gaming), Kettering, Ohio, USA
Icon (gaming), Idaho Falls, Idaho, USA
Clocktower Con (social games), McLean, Virginia, USA
Karoshi-Con (anime), DeKalb, Illinois, USA
Riverwalk Anime, San Antonio, Texas, USA
Atlantic Entertainment Expo (media), Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
Fan Expo Cleveland (media), Cleveland, Ohio, USA
El Paso Comic Con, El Paso, Texas, USA
Ratha Con (media), Athens, Ohio, USA
CycloneCon (media), Hackettstown, New Jersey, USA
Supanova 2024 – Gold Coast (media), Broadbeach, Australia
IndigiPopX (indigenous media), Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA
CabbageCon 2024 (Avatar: The Last Airbender), Columbus, Ohio, USA
PortmeiriCon (The Prisoner), Portmeirion, UK
Dairycon 2024 (Transformers), Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, USA
Coda
Mini-zines in English and Polish (hat tip: Alqua)
Thank you for reading! Send tips, corrections, press releases, and letters of comment to: smofnews@gmx.com.