SMOF News, volume 3, issue 34
Service interruption explained, and news in brief.
SMOF News is Officially Not Spam
This issue has been delayed by Substack temporarily blocking SMOF News from publishing and public viewing. Automated banners informed me last night that it was suspected of violating Substack’s spam and phishing policy (available on the content guidelines page) and, on the edit page that there was “a problem with your email list”.
Filling out the appeal form brought a reply this morning stating in part:
It appears that one of our platform safety detection mechanisms erroneously flagged your publication as spam. I've reactivated your account so you should be able to start publishing again immediately. I apologize for the inconvenience.
In the absence of further details, my best guess is that the convention listings are what tripped the detection mechanism.
This marks the second time SMOF News has failed to go out on a Wednesday night, and the second time it has been caused by automated spam detection. Issue 2.4’s technical problem was that GMX had classified Substack as a spammer and was not even allowing its messages, including login links, into the GMX mail system.
In Brief
Fan and conrunner John G. Trimble died April 19. With his wife Bjo, Trimble was involved in Worldcon art shows, early costume-friendly conventions that prefigured Costume-Con, and the campaign to bring Star Trek back for an extra season. Trimble also chaired and co-chaired Westercons.
Announcement by Lora Boehm • Biography at Fancyclopedia 3 • Article at Slashfilm • Remembrance at StarTrek.com
CabbageCon has announced that its event April 11-14 was probably its last.
Origins Game Fair (Columbus, Ohio, June 19-23) has added Kevin Sussman, Adrianne Palicki, Scott Grimes, Adrian Paul, Adam Tsekhman, Teddy Sears, Drew Powell, Dane DiLiegro, Jonathan Coulton, 2d6, and Justina Ireland as special guests.
Tampa Bay Comic Convention (Tampa, Florida, August 23-25) has added Priscilla Presley, Catherine Tate, David Hayter, and Michael Rosenbaum as guests.
Tucson Comic-Con (Tucson, Arizona, August 30-September 1) has added Scott Kolins as a guest.
FanX Salt Lake (Salt Lake City, Utah, September 26-28) has added Garrett Hedlund, Spencer Grammer, Harry Belden, and Ian Cardoni as guests.
Event Calendar
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
Anime Onsen, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 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
Weekend of May 17-19
Marcon 59, Columbus, Ohio, USA
Keycon 40: Choose Your Own Adventure!, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Mephit Mini Con 25: Dia de Muertos (anthropomorphic), Kirchen/Sieg, Germany
Furpile (anthropomorphic), Łódź, Poland
Furry Weekend Holland: In the Deep Forest, Baarlo, Netherlands
ZodiaCon 2024: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (anthropomorphic), Horní Bradlo, Czechia
Chupacabracon X (gaming), San Marcos, Texas, USA
CanGames, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Play (gaming), Modena, Italy
Geekway to the West 2024: Geekway to the 7 Seas (gaming), St. Charles, Missouri, USA
Sioux City Game Con Spring 2024, Sioux City, Iowa, USA
Drums at the Rapids (historical miniatures), Perrysburg, Ohio, USA
Huzzah! Con 2024: Huzzah Goes Hollywood (miniatures gaming), Portland, Maine, USA
Sand Wars 2024 (historical miniatures), Mesa, Arizona, USA
Air Con 2024 (air-themed gaming), Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Tokyo Alley 12: Adventure (anime), Perth, Australia
Anime Central, Rosemont, Illinois, USA
CloverCon (anime), Bridgewater, New Jersey, USA
Beta Quest (anime), Kingsland, Georgia, USA
Metrotham Con Episode V: The Magical World of Metrotham (media), Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
Tidewater Comicon, Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA
Comic Con Revolution, Ontario, California, USA
CradleCon (media), Garden City, New York, USA
Geek Days Lille (media), Lille, France
East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Great Mills Comicon, Great Mills, Maryland, USA
Spooky Empire (horror media), Orlando, Florida, USA
Seaquestria Fest (My Little Pony), Ocean City, Maryland, USA
Weekend of May 24-26
Balticon 58, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
MisCon 38: The Dark Forest, Missoula, Montana, USA
Na meji nevidnega, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Fargo CoreCon: Echoes of the Past, Fargo, North Dakota, USA
IceCon 2024, Rejkjavik, Iceland
ConFuzzled (anthropomorphic), Birmingham, UK
AnthrOhio: Purranormal (anthropomorphic), Columbus, Ohio, USA
PrairieCon 43 (gaming), Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
KublaCon (gaming), Burlingame, California, USA
ReCon (gaming), Kernersville, North Carolina, USA
Rocky Top Game Con, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
Gamex 2024 (gaming), Los Angeles, California, USA
TableTopCon 2024 (gaming), Southport, Australia
BGG.Spring (boardgames), Dallas, Texas, USA
Enfilade 2024 (miniatures gaming), Tacomaington, USA
PaizoCon Online 2024 (Pathfinder/Starfinder RPGs), online
FanimeCon: Fan Prix (anime), San Jose, California, USA
Thy Geekdom Con (anime), Oaks, Pennsylvania, USA
Animazement (anime), Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
Mizucon (anime), Miami, Florida, USA
AniMinneapolis (anime), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
ExpOtaku A Coruña (anime), A Coruña, Spain
Animefest 2024, Brno, Czechia
MomoCon 2024 (anime), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Sabaku Con 2024 (anime), Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Naka-Kon 2024 (anime), Overland Park, Kansas, USA
MCM London Comic Con, London, UK
Cherry Capital Comic Con, Acme, Michigan, USA
Austria Comic Con, Wels, Austria
Phoenix Fan Fusion (media), Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Argentina Comic Con, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Austria Comic Con, Wels, Austria
Southernerds Festival (media), Biloxi, Mississippi, USA
Coda
Thank you for reading! Send tips, corrections, press releases, and letters of comment to: smofnews@gmx.com.