SMOF News, volume 3, issue 32
Bomb threat evacuates furry convention for the second year in a row, and news in brief.
Motor City Furry Con Targeted Again
Last year, Motor City Furry Con received a bomb threat on the first day of the con, resulting in its hotel being evacuated while police conducted a search. No bomb was found, and the convention continued for the rest of the weekend.
This year, it was hit with another bomb threat and evacuation. Again, the convention was able to pick up again after the interruption.
Last year’s threat was part of a cluster of incidents at anthropomorphic conventions, but no such cluster is happening this year. The perpetrator last year was unknown, but in another change this year, MLive reports:
A suspect in the threat, who was living in California, was arrested by local authorities there and questioned, police said. The matter remains under investigation.
No further details are available about the suspect or what part of California they were arrested in. Motor City Furry Con has declined comment, as it did last year.
One last wrinkle to this story: Click on Detroit reports that the same hotel was hit with another bomb threat on Tuesday, after the convention ended. It is unclear if this was before or after the arrest in California.
In Brief
Sarah Gulde has won the vote to attend Glasgow Worldcon 2024 (Glasgow, UK, August 8-12) as the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund delegate. More details in Taffluorescence! 3 (PDF).
Joro Penchev has won the vote to attend Erasmuscon, the 2024 Eurocon (Rotterdam, Netherlands, August 16-19) as the European Fan Fund delegate. More details at Fandom Rover.
The Neverending Fantasy Con (London, May 31-June 2) has added Brian Froud and William Todd-Jones as guests.
Nickel City Comic Con (Buffalo, New York, June 28-30) has added John Glover, Billy Zane, Henry Thomas, Matthew De Merritt, Leonora Scelfo, Nancy Anne Ridder, and Lisa Zane as guests.
Anime Expo (Los Angeles, July 4-7) has added Yoichi Nishikawa as a guest of honor.
Tucson Comic-Con (Tucson, Arizona, August 30-September 1) has added Terry Moore as a guest.
The Uncanny Experience (Minneapolis, Minnesota, September 28-29) has added Jerry Gaylord as a guest.
Event Calendar
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
Weekend of April 19-21
Concinnity 24, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
ConStellation 13: So Say We All, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
Les Intergalactiques, Lyon, France
Roscon-2024, Moscow, Russia
HAL-CON 2024, Kawasaki City, Japan
Swancon 2024, Perth, Australia
2024 Fandom Fest, Benton Harbor, Michigan, USA
JordanCon (fantasy literature), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
FilKONtario (music), Markham, Ontario, Canada
Furry Down Under 2024: Furbidden Planet (anthropomorphic), Surfers Paradise, Australia
Clockwork Alchemy: Aetheric Ocean (steampunk), San Mateo, California, USA
Tell-Tale Steampunk Festival, Hunt Valley, Maryland, USA
HandyCon 12 (gaming), Milton Keynes, UK
Farmageddon XI (gaming), Farmer City, Illinois, USA
Ragnarok 4.0 (gaming), Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
Rising Phoenix GameCon, Milford, Massachusetts, USA
MEPACON (gaming), Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA
D8 Summit Charity Convention (gaming), Dixon, Illinois, USA
Mayhem Gaming Convention, Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA
Jeu au Boute (boardgames), Chertsey, Québec, Canada
TAGCON (boardgames), Pasco, Washington, USA
Nashville Tabletop Day 2024 (boardgames), Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Little Wars 2024: First to Fight (miniatures gaming), Lombard, Illinois, USA
VGM Con (videogames/music), Plymouth, Minnnesota, USA
CoMo Retro Con (retro video games), Columbia, Missouri, USA
J-Tsoon5 (anime), Talinn, Estonia
Naoki Convention (anime), Eschweiler, Germany
Mobile Bay Anime Festival, Daphne, Alabama, USA
Overload (anime), Auckland, New Zealand
Sci-Fi on the Rock 16 (media), St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada
Sci-Fi Scarborough (media), Scarborough, UK
Yellow City Comic Con, Amarillo, Texas, USA
Fangaea (media), Mission Valley, California, USA
Galactic Diversity & Inclusivity Convention (media/space), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Weekend of April 26-28
RavenCon 17, Richmond, Virginia, USA
Olamot, Tel Aviv, Israel
OmegaCon (relaxacon), Siren, Wisconsin, USA
Ice and Fire Convention (Song of Ice and Fire series), Mt. Sterling, Ohio, USA
Penguicon 2024 (sf/open source), Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA
Malice Domestic 36 (mysteries), Bethesda, Maryland, USA
Maine Cosplay Extravaganza, Portland, Maine, USA
UBCon XXXIII (gaming), Buffalo, New York, USA
San Marino Game Convention, San Marino
Cheyenne Gaming Convention, Cheyenne, Wyoming, USA
DaveCon (gaming), Bloomington, Minnesota, USA
Jeu au Boute (boardgames), Chertsey, Québec, Canada
Fun K-Town (boardgames), Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
Recon 2024: Rapid Deployment Forces (miniatures gaming), Kissimmee, Florida, USA
LVL UP EXPO (video games), Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
LAN All Night IX: The LAN Before Time (LAN gaming), Grapevine, Texas, USA
Oz-Con (anime), West Plains, Missouri, USA
Mang’Azur (anime), Toulon, France
Harucon (anime), Klagenfurt am Wörthersee, Austria
LoboCon (anime), Rohnert Park, California, USA
Castle Point Anime Convention, Seacaucus, New Jersey, USA
Anime St. Louis, St. Charles, Missouri, USA
MondoCon 2024 (anime), Budapest, Hungary
ExpOtaku Vitoria-Gasteiz 2023 (anime), Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
Ithacon 2024 (comics), Ithaca, New York, USA
Causeacon (media), Beckley, West Virginia, USA
GAP-CON (media), Mt. Bethel, Pennsylvania, USA
Central Texas Comic Con, Waco, Texas, USA
Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Fayetteville Comic Con, Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA
Weekend of May 3-5
DemiCon 35: Once More, With Feeling!, Urbandale, Iowa, USA
HELIOsphere, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
AtomaCon 2024, North Charleston, South Carolina, USA
Garden State Fur the Weekend (anthropomorphic), New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
ChupacabraCon X (gaming), San Marcos, Texas, USA
WagonCon 7 (gaming), The Dalles, Oregon, USA
Heroicon (gaming), Decatur, Illinois, USA
Zomerspel (gaming), Merelbeke, Belgium
Buckeye Game Fest, Columbus, Ohio, USA
Savage Geek Fest (gaming), Savage, Maryland, USA
Festival Alchemie du Jeu (gaming), Toulouse, France
Congress of Gamers Spring Session, Rockville, Maryland, USA
Gaming Hoopla 2024, Mundelein, Illinois, USA
LoBsterCon XXVI (boardgames), Eastbourne, UK
Richmond Open (miniatures gaming), Doswell, Virginia, USA
Final Boss Con (video games), Rio Grande, Ohio, USA
Mega Spring Meltdown (gaming), Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA
Games Fair 2024, Auckland, New Zealand
Kogaracon (anime), Edison, New Jersey, USA
Pokheimon Festival, Heimsbrunn, France
Northern FanCon (media), Prince George, British Columbia, Canada
Saratoga Comic Con, Saratoga Springs, New York, USA
Pixies Street Con (media), York, South Carolina, USA
Crypticon Seattle (horror media), Seatac, Washington, USA
Weekend of May 10-12
ColoniaCon 25, Köln, Germany
SFeraKon 2024, Zagreb, Croatia
Das Frühlingsfest der Filksmusik 2024 (music), Hanstedt, Germany
Furry Weekend Atlanta: Furry University 2, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
LinCon (gaming), Linköping, Sweden
Pinecon (gaming), Druskininkai, Lithuania
IberAnime, Lisboa, Portugal
North Star (sf RPGs), Sheffield, UK
Lan ETS (LAN gaming), Montréal, Québec, Canada
Anime Town Utah, Sandy, Utah, USA
WasabiCon NOLA (anime), New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Otafest 2024 (anime), Calgary, Alberta, Canada
FedCon (media), Bonn, Germany
SiestaCon (media), Sarasota, Florida, USA
Mountain Mania (gaming), East Burke, Vermont, USA
Fantasy Basel (media), Basel, Switzerland
Portsmouth Comic Con, Portsmouth, UK
Horrorcon UK (media), Sheffield, UK
Sunshine City Scare (horror media), St. Petersburg, Florida, USA
FrankenCon 2024 (horror media), Alcoa, Tennessee, USA
Coda
Reverse-engineering prehistoric tattoos (Science News)
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