SMOF News, volume 3, issue 41
Foolscap ends its conventions but not its community, and news in brief.
Foolscap Folds, But Lives On
Foolscap, a long-running small science fiction convention in the Seattle, Washington area, has announced that it will be going “into hibernation”. But the Foolscap community will live on.
The post “On Foolscap and the Future” explains:
We've had a pandemic. We're still having it. The nexus of fandom conversation on Twitter imploded. The entire literature and media landscape has changed, for both creators and their audiences. There are new and worrying wars out there in the world. It's exhausting.
I'd like to say that in times like these, Foolscap is needed more than ever. But I don't think that's quite right.
Community is needed more than ever. But a weekend gathering? We're all very tired, and planning an Event is a lot of work. More than that, it seems like it may not be the right work anymore, or that we no longer have access to the right kind of people for it.
Foolscap will instead move toward being a social club, retaining its Discord server, and holding weekly events. Its parent organization will remain.
Science fiction clubs originally gave birth to science fiction conventions. In the first couple decades of the 2000s, many of those clubs withered away as fans found they can connect to worldwide groups online, but the COVID-19 pandemic has become the start of a move back toward local clubs. Gaslight Steampunk Expo changed its focus back to smaller local events last year, and FOGcon, another small science fiction convention, switched to doing virtual monthly panels after going on hiatus during the pandemic.
In Brief
Pat Sims, co-chair of a FanHistoriCon and several years of the fanzine convention Ditto, died June 9 of pneumonia.
Biography at Fancyclopedia 3After its fundraiser last week, Worldcon Heritage Foundation was able to submit the winning bid for the first Hugo ever awarded. The sale price was $9,500, or $12,065 after fees. WHO received donations and pledges totalling $12,350.
Spooky Empire (Charleston, South Carolina, August 23-25) has added Heather Langenkamp, Doug Bradley, Dee Wallace, and Malcolm McDowell as guests.
Tampa Bay Comic Convention (Tampa, Florida, August 23-25) has added Kellen Goff, Charlie Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio, Tom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum, Priscilla Presley, Billy West, Billy Dee Williams, and Robert Patrick as guests.
FanX Salt Lake (Salt Lake City, Utah, September 26-28) has added Dorian Kingi, Jennifer English, Aliona Baranova, Erika Henningsen, Joel Perez, Blake Roman, Amir Talai, Krystina Albado, and Stephanie Young as guests.
Cincinnati Comic Expo (Cincinnati, Ohio, October 18-20) has added Chris Potter and Lenore Zann as guests.
Event Calendar
Weekend of June 14-16
YetiCon, The Blue Mountains, Ontario, Canada
Pyrkon, Poznań, Poland
4th Street Fantasy, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Cosplay World, Richmond, Virginia, 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
Just added: Kelowna ComiCon, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
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
Weekend of July 5-7
Yanecon R (61st Japanese national sf convention), Chino, Japan
Finncon 2024 (Finnish national sf convention), Jyväskylä, Finland
Westercon 76, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
InConJunction 43: Metal and Bolts and Gears, Oh My!, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
XXXVII Semana Negra, Gijón, Spain
Festival Fantazie, Chotěboř, Czech Republic
Play On Con, Columbiana, Alabama, USA
CONvergence 2024: Everyone's Invited, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
BayCon 2024: Pure Imagination, Santa Clara, California, USA
Little Island FurCon: Bloom & Gloom (anthropomorphic), Singapore
Anthrocon 2024 (anthropomorphic), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
KantCon (gaming), Overland Park, Kansas, USA
EBBG Con (gaming), Oakland, California, USA
Dice Tower East (gaming), Orlando, Florida, USA
ShepparCon ‘24: It Will Be Rad! (gaming), Shepperton, UK
BA-CON Year 3 (anime), Houston, Texas, USA
Anime Midwest, Rosemont, Illinois, USA
Anime Expo LA, Los Angeles, California, USA
TomoFair Utrecht (anime), Utrecht, Netherlands
Anime ID, Boise, Idaho, USA
Kogan Con 2024 (anime), Grand Haven, Michigan, USA
Metrocon (media), Tampa, Florida, USA
Comiccon de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
LeakyCon (media), Portland, Oregon, USA
London Film & Comic Con, London, UK
Fan Expo Denver (media), Denver, Colorado, USA
Avalon Expo 12/Summer (media), St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada
Weekend of July 12-14
XXXVII Semana Negra, Gijón, Spain
ConGregate 10, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA
Blerdcon Summer Madness (Black geekdom), Arlington, Virginia, USA
Readercon 33 (books only), Quincy, MA
Nullas Anxietas 9 (Discworld), Adelaide, Australia
Anthro Weekend Utah: YAPerture Science, Layton, Utah, USA
LevelUp Retreat (gaming), Stamford, Connecticut, USA
Festival Ludique International de Parthenay (gaming), Parthenay, France
Game on the Table Con, San Jose, California, USA
Con of the Lakes (gaming), Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, USA
Play Con (gaming), Hurstville, Australiay, France
Veterans Game Fest 2024, Clovis, California, USA
CharCon 2024 (gaming), Charleston, West Virginia, USA
Twisted Lords Con 2024 (gaming), Midwest City, Oklahoma, USA
MGSCon 2: Cons of Liberty (Metal Gear video games), Long Beach, California, USA
Tokyo, OK (anime), Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
MondoCon (anime), Budapest, Hungary
Japan Expo (anime), Villepinte, France
Delta H Con (anime), Houston, Texas, USA
Ai-Kon 2024 (anime), Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
New World Comic Con 9, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA
Florida Supercon (media), Miami Beach, Florida, USA
Fanboy Expo Knoxville (media), Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
Saggeek (media), Saguenay, Québec, Canada
GrandeCon (media), Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada
FurMIT (anthropomorphic films), Luodong, Taiwan
TrotCon 2024 (My Little Pony), Dayton, Ohio, USA
TFcon Toronto (Transformers), Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Coda
Recurring nova expected to recur soon (Astronomy)
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