SMOF News, volume 3, issue 39

Your annual wellness reminders, and news in brief.

How to Convention: Stay Well

Northern Hemisphere summer is nearly upon us, bringing the season of huge, crowded conventions with it. This means it’s time for an annual reminder about keeping yourself healthy enough to keep enjoying them.

• Follow the 5-2-1 rule. For every 24 hours of convention, make sure to get at least 5 hours of real sleep, 2 solid meals, and one bath or shower. More is better.

• Wash your hands before eating. Noroviruses are back and they’re resistant to hand sanitizers.

• Hydrate. A lot. More than you think you need to. Not only are record-breaking heat waves already happening, hotel and convention center air is notoriously dry.

• Eat for energy. Walking up and down stairs, hurrying from one end of a convention center to another, or just standing in line for hours can burn more energy than you think.

• Wear comfortable footwear. All that walking and standing means you need to take care of your feet.

• Bring your aids. If you sometimes need a mobility device, assume you’re going to need it at the con. If you have dietary restrictions, make sure you have snacks you absolutely can eat. If you need medication, assume you’ll still be at the con when it’s time to take it.

• Pace yourself. Don’t have yourself scheduled for something absolutely every moment of the convention. Standing in line for an hour does not count as a break.

• Know when to say when. If you’re sick or just not having fun any more, remove yourself before you spoil anyone else’s fun. Give yourself permission to rest and recover.

In Brief

• The Neverending Fantasy Con (London, May 31-June 2) has added Francis Coates as a guest.

• LeakyCon Portland 2024 (Portland, Oregon, July 5-7) has added Bonnie Wright as a guest.

• Tampa Bay Comic Convention (Tampa, Florida, August 23-25) has added Jennifer English, Aliona Baranova, and Abby Trott as guests.

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

• FanX Salt Lake (Salt Lake City, Utah, September 26-28) has added Neil Newbon, Devora Wilde, Jess Harnell, Khary Payton, and Fred Tatasciore as guests.

• Cincinnati Comic Expo (Cincinnati, Ohio, October 18-20) has added John Rhys-Davies and Matthew Waterson as guests.

Event Calendar

Weekend of May 31-June 2

• FunCon One, Buxton, UK

• 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

• 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

Weekend of June 14-16

• YetiCon, The Blue Mountains, Ontario, Canada

• Pyrkon, Poznań, Poland

• 4th Street Fantasy, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

• CastleCon 13 (anthropomorphic), Horb, Germany

• Arcon 40 (gaming), Oslo, Norway

• Game Con Canada, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

• Spielfest Wien (gaming), Vienna, Austria

• Board Game Fest, Chavdar, Bulgaria

• NordCon (gaming), Hamburg, Germany

• Q-Con 2024 (gaming), Belfast, UK

• Gameloops 2024 (boardgames), Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada

• Medway Gaming Festival (video games), Chatham, UK

• Card Party 2 (Pokémon CCG), Orlando, Florida, USA

• Wie.MAI.KAI (anime), Flörsheim am Main, Germany

• Anime Marathon, Königslutter am Elm, Germany

• AnimeCon UK, Birmingham, UK

• Finn-Con@MDC (anime), Miami, Florida, USA

• Indonesia Anime Con, BSD City, Indonesia

• Desucon 2024 (anime), Lahti, Finland

• OMG!con 2024 (anime), Owensboro, Kentucky, USA

• Heroes Convention (comics), Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

• Space Coast Comic Con, Cocoa, Florida, USA

• Forest City Comicon, London, Ontario, Canada

• Fan Expo Boston (media), Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Weekend of June 21-23

• LibertyCon 36, Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA

• Soonercon, Norman, Oklahoma, USA

• Narrativity 2024: Romancing the Muse (storytelling in literary sf), Plymouth, Minnesota, USA

• Cosplay America, Cary, North Carolina, USA

• Origins Game Fair 2024, Columbus, Ohio, USA

• MoonCityCon 2024 (gaming), Springfield, Missouri, USA

• SunnyCon Anime Expo, St. James Park, UK

• Black Hills Con (anime), Rapid City, South Dakota, USA

• Anime Ohio, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

• Hazard Con (anime), Erie, Pennsylvania, USA

• JAFAX (anime), Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA

• Bold Matsuri (anime), Jacksonville, Florida, USA

• Anime El Paso, El Paso, Texas, USA

• SugoiPopCon 2024 (anime), Fishkill, New York, USA

• AnimeSHOW 2024, Bratislava, Slovakia

• ExpOtaku Zaragoza 2024 (anime), Zaragoza, Spain

• Mississippi Comic Convention, Jackson, Mississippi, USA

• Greater Austin Comic Convention, Cedar Park, Texas, USA

• Rail City Fan Fest (media), Saint Albans, Vermont, USA

Weekend of June 28-30

• Festival Fantazie, Chotěboř, Czech Republic

• PortConMaine 2024: Let's Eat!, Portland, Maine, USA

• The Town That Never Was (steampunk), Telford, UK

• Paris est Ludique! (gaming), Paris, France

• DexLite 2024 (gaming), Morristown, New Jersey, USA

• RAGECON 2024 (gaming), Sparks, Nevada, USA

• Too Many Games (video gaming), Oaks, Pennsylvania, USA

• AkaiCon 10th Track (anime), Lebanon, Tennessee, USA

• DoKomi (anime), Düsseldorf , Germany

• Anime Festival Orlando 2024, Orlando, Florida, USA

• OCon (media), Council Bluffs, Iowa, USA

• Nickel City Comic Con, Buffalo, New York, USA

• Hershey Comic Con, Grantville, Pennsylvania, USA

• Comic Con Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia

• TrekFest 39 (Star Trek), Riverside, Iowa, USA

• Rebel Scum Con (Star Wars), Allen, Texas, USA

• X-Files Fan Fest 2024, Saratoga Springs, New York, USA

Coda

• Book vending machines (USA Today)

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