SMOF News, volume 3, issue 36

PenguiCon tricked into banning a harassment victim, and news in brief.

Patrick S. Tomlinson Is Not Harassing Your Con

Author Patrick S. Tomlinson and his family have been targeted by a persistent group of cyberstalkers for years. Tomlinson has recently written about how the stalkers, by impersonating him, managed to get him banned from this year’s PenguiCon (which was April 26-28).

The Independent has the background on the stalkers’ campaign against Tomlinson, including harassment of other under his name, getting him banned from various social media platforms, and making him the probable record-holder for number of times being swatted (47 at the time of the article, now over 50 according to Tomlinson’s latest post).

As Tomlinson tells the story, he had previously appeared at PenguiCon in 2022. PenguiCon was targeted by the stalkers, but handled the situation with grace, and the stalkers made a critical mistake:

For their part, our stalkers went through their usual repertoire of social media and email harassment, but they were blunted because the Con sent an email explaining the situation which largely calmed confusion and fears among other participants.

However, one of them also brought a significant escalation, calling the local PD to lodge a bomb threat against the convention hotel […] This fake bomb threat is what finally brought the cult stalking us to the attention of the FBI, which has to follow up on all such domestic terrorism threats.

Tomlinson was invited back this year, but when the stalkers struck again, PenguiCon had seemingly lost all its institutional memory of his previous appearance. When the stalkers started harassing other attendees under his name, causing Guest of Honor Baha Blast to withdraw, Tomlinson found himself disinvited. Trying to find out more about the decision, Tomlinson was told his “violent rhetoric” had been a factor in the decision. A member of PenguiCon’s board pointed to a form submission made in his name disparaging PenguiCon’s mask mandate (which Tomlinson says was another instance of stalker impersonation), and Tomlinson’s engagement with one or more of his stalkers on social media.

Tomlinson’s message to other conrunners is:

To any con runners reading this, I cannot stress this next bit enough. DO. NOT. DO. THIS. Excluding the targets of criminal stalking and harassment harms only the victims and helps only the criminals. No one is protected by this decision. No one is made “safe.” Not only does it reward and validate criminal behavior by achieving their strategic goals, it encourages escalation and expansion, endangering attendees and presenters at the next convention on the calendar, your own convention the following year, and every convention thereafter because you’ve taught them to escalate until they get what they want.

You do not appease terrorists, especially not at the expense of their victims, because then their targets only multiply. Many high-profile conventions over the last several years, including GenCon, WorldCon, and others have successfully and repeatedly handled our stalking situation with compassion and professionalism. This was the first time in our experience a convention failed to even make the attempt.

It may rebound on other conventions as well, since the stalkers may take this tactic to more of them. If your convention starts getting awful emails, social media messages, or form submissions from someone claiming to be Patrick S. Tomlinson, take them with a grain of salt.

In Brief

• Fur Out West has ended its run, with no specific reason given.

• The Urban Nerd Con has cancelled its 2024 event due to “unforseen circumstances and choices” made by its executive director.

• Westercon 76 (Salt Lake City, Utah, July 4-7) would like it known that it is still happening and hotel reservations are now open.

• Trek Long Island (Hauppauge, New York, May 31-June 2) has put out a warning that it has been targeted by ticket scalpers, but it is not sold out and admissions should still be bought directly.

• Tampa Bay Comic Convention (Tampa, Florida, August 23-25) has added Tom Cavanagh, Ross Marquand, Brandon Rogers, Mary McDonnell, and Edward James Olmos as guests.

• Tucson Comic-Con (Tucson, Arizona, August 30-September 1) has added Latique Curry as a guest.

• FanX Salt Lake (Salt Lake City, Utah, September 26-28) has added Linda Hamilton, Scott Schwartz, Peter Billingsley, Ernie Hudson, Efren Ramirez, and Jon Heder as guests.

Event Calendar

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

• Just added: ExpOtaku Tarragona (anime), Tarragona, Spain

• 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

Weekend of May 31-June 2

• Just added: FunCon One, Buxton, UK

• Just added: Tremendicon, Springfield, Missouri, USA

• ConCarolinas 2024, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

• Fantasticon 2024: Immortality, Copenhagen, Denmark

• StokerCon 2024 (horror), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

• Oz-Stravaganza 2024: Technicolor Oz (Wizard of Oz), Chittenango, New York, USA

• Cymera 2024 (sf writing), Edinburgh, UK and online

• Airikas Traum XVIII (music), Erbach, Germany

• StratosFur (anthropomorphic), Houston, Texas, USA

• Steampunk Alchemy Fest, Budd Lake, New Jersey, USA

• FlaMinGoCon (gaming), Delray Beach, Florida, USA

• UK Games Expo (gaming), Birmingham, UK

• Wellycon (gaming), Wellington, New Zealand

• Evergreen Tabletop Expo (gaming), Renton, Washington, USA

• Diversão Offline (gaming), São Paulo, Brazil

• Just added: Mega XP (gaming), Mexico City, Mexico

• Diecon 2024 (gaming), Collinsville, Illinois, USA

• Y-Con 2024 (gaming), Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada

• 64 Bits or Less (retro video games), Corvallis, Oregon, USA

• CORGSCon (retro video games), Columbus, Ohio, USA

• KimoKawaii 3 (anime), Conroe, Texas, USA

• Bak-Anime, Bakersfield, California, USA

• Chibi-Con (anime), Winterthur, Switzerland

• Anime Riverside 2024, Riverside, California, USA

• 3 Rivers Comicon, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

• ColossalCon (media), Sandusky, Ohio, USA

• The NeverEnding Fantasy Con (1980s fantasy films), London, UK

• Trek Long Island (Star Trek), Hauppauge, New York, USA

Weekend of June 7-9

• Robert E. Howard Days, Cross Plains, Texas, USA

• Cogs & Corsets (steampunk), Bloomington, Illinois, USA

• OttoCon III (gaming), Pleasant Valley, New York, USA

• SaltCON Summer (gaming), Layton, Utah, USA

• Be Excellent Festival of Games, Sylvania, Ohio, USA

• Bayou Wars 2024 (miniatures gaming), D’Iberville, Mississippi, USA

• SoCal Gaming Expo (video games), Ontario, California, USA

• North Texas RPG Con (vintage tabletop RPGs), Irving, Texas, USA

• Winsome Choose Some (Winsome boardgames), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

• YUMiCON (anime), San Antonio, Texas, USA

• Anime Blues Con, Memphis, Tennessee, USA

• AnimeCon 2024: The Future is Cow, Rijswijk, Netherlands

• Metropolis Superman Celebration, Metropolis, Illinois, USA

• Kauai Comic Con 3, Lihue, Hawaii, USA

• Oz Comic-Con: Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

• SWFL SpaceCon (media), Cape Coral, Florida, USA

• Sci-Fi Valley Con (media), Altoona, Pennsylvania, USA

• Fan Expo Dallas (media), Dallas, Texas, USA

• EM-Con (media), Nottingham, UK

• North Country Comic Con, Watertown, New York, USA

• Etna Comics 2024 (media), Catania, Italy

• Whinny City Pony Con 2024: Summer Camp (My Little Pony), Schaumburg, Illinois, USA

Coda

• NBC still not paying its Amazing Stories royalties (Facebook)

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