SMOF News, volume 3, issue 49

Dragon Award disqualification, and news in brief.

Dragon Award Nominee Disqualified Due to AI Use

The final ballot for Dragon Con’s Dragon Awards was amended shortly after posting to remove Cedar Sanderson’s cover for Goblin Market from the “Best Illustrative Book Cover” category due to Sanderson’s use of AI.

Dragon Con initially provided no explanation. After Raconteur Press, the publisher of Goblin Market, demanded one, it received one from Dragon Con co-chair Dave Cody, and promptly published it along with its own reply.

Cody explains:

After posting the nominee list for the 2024 Dragon Awards on the Dragon Awards website, we were alerted to the fact that Cedar Sanderson's entry in the Best Illustrative Cover category had been created in part using Artificial Intelligence tools. As a consequence, we removed her cover for The Goblin Market from consideration because we don't allow AI in our Art Show, Comic and Pop Artist Alley, Vendor Halls or the Awards.

Raconteur Press responds that Sanderson has been open and vocal about her use of AI all along, and the eligibility requirements detailed on the awards’ “Process” page do not mention anything about AI.

(The Dragon Awards site has an additional sweepstakes-style rules page linked only from the voting signup form, but that also does not mention AI.)

Raconteur Press also says:

It would be remiss of us if we did not point out that many people have noted several other nominations in this category appear to have used AI processes.

Although it does not name names.

Sanderson is no stranger to awards controversies, having been associated with the Sad Puppies block voting in the 2015 Hugo Awards, both as a supporter of the effort and one of the people block-voted onto the ballot under Best Fan Writer.

Voting for the Dragon Awards continues with the reduced ballot. Anyone may vote without being a member of Dragon Con. Voter registration is open through the end of the Friday of Dragon Con (August 30).

In Brief

• Tampa Bay Comic Convention (Tampa, Florida, August 23-25) has added Harvey Guillén as a guest.

• Spooky Empire (Charleston, South Carolina, August 23-25) has added Daniel Roebuck as a guest.

• Monroe Comic Con (Monroe, Michigan, September 13-14) has added Peter Dante as a guest.

• FanX Salt Lake (Salt Lake City, Utah, September 26-28) has added Keith David as a guest.

• Nickel City Comic Con (Buffalo, New York, October 12-13) has added James Jude Courtney and Jackson Robert Scott as guests.

• Cincinnati Comic Expo (Cincinnati, Ohio, October 18-20) has added Jason Isaacs as a guest.

Event Calendar

Weekend of August 9-11

• Glasgow 2024: A Worldcon for Our Futures (82nd World Science Fiction Convention), Glasgow, UK

• Geek Out at Staten Island, Staten Island, New York, USA

• Key City Steampunk Convention: Steampunk Noir, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA

• Furrydelphia (anthropomorphic), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

• HandyCon Lucky 13 (gaming), Milton Keynes, UK

• Game & Party Con, St. Augustine, Florida, USA

• Pixel Con (video games), Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

• Long Island Retro Gaming Expo (video games), Garden City, New York, USA

• Fragapalooza 2024 (LAN gaming), Leduc, Alberta

• Utah Retro GameXpo 2024 (retro video games), Davis, Utah, USA

• Grand Tribunal (Ars Magica RPG), Cheltenham, UK

• AniNite 24 (anime), Vienna, Austria

• AniBash (anime), Rochester, New York, USA

• Abunai!: Kitsune Matsuri (anime), Veldhoven, Netherlands

• Queen City Anime Convention, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

• Anime 414, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

• Anime Revolution, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

• Anime-zing!, Rock Island, Illinois, USA

• Animethon 2024, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

• Mid City Micro-Con (comics), Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

• Comic Market 104 (fan comics), Tokyo, Japan

• Wicked Comic Con, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

• Fandom Fest 2024 (media), Schenectady, New York, USA

• D23 Expo (official Disney), Anaheim, California, USA

• TFNation (Transformers), Birmingham, UK

Weekend of August 16-18

• Erasmuscon (2024 European science fiction convention), Rotterdam, Netherlands

• Epic Nerd Camp, Darlington, Maryland, USA

• NecronomiCon Providence 2024 (H. P. Lovecraft), Providence, Rhode Island, USA

• Furdance Budapest (anthropomorphic), Budapest, Hungary

• Argentina FurFiesta (anthropomorphic), Buenos Aires, Argentina

• Texas Furry Siesta 2024: Walk On the Wild Side (anthropomorphic), Dallas, Texas, USA

• Dragonflight Gamecon, Bellevue, Washington, USA

• Coulee Con (gaming), La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA

• Lone Star Game Expo, Grapevine, Texas, USA

• Field of Games, Silverstone, UK

• Phoenix Con (gaming), Appleton, Wisconsin, USA

• Gratislavia (gaming), Wrocław, Poland

• MaricopaCon 2024 (gaming), Tempe, Arizona, USA

• HistoriKC Fest: Midwest Madness (historical boardgaming), Olathe, Kansas, USA

• Nashcon (miniatures gaming), Nashville, Tennessee, USA

• Tokonatsu (anime), Henlow, UK

• Hikari (anime), Poznań, Poland

• Shikkaricon (anime), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

• Colossalcon Texas (anime), Round Rock, Texas, USA

• RakuCon Manchester (anime), Manchester, UK

• Stars of Time (media), Weston-super-Mare, UK

• TERRIFICON (media), Uncasville, Connecticut, USA

• RisuCon (media), Rockville, Maryland, USA

• Fan Expo Chicago (media), Rosemont, Illinois, USA

• Fairfax Comic Con, Chantilly, Virginia, USA

• Station Unity 2024 (media), National Harbor, Maryland, USA

• UniCon 2024 (media), Riga, Latvia

• Flame Con X (LGBT+ media), New York City, New York, USA

Weekend of August 23-25

• Bubonicon 55, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

• Dni Fantastyki, Wrocław, Poland

• OutsideCon 2024, Burns, Tennessee, USA

• Camp Feral!: Business Casual (anthropomorphic), Algonquin Park, Ontario

• IndyFurCon: Monsters vs. Mechas (anthropomorphic), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

• DenFur (anthropomorphic), Denver, Colorado, USA

• Weekend at the Asylum (steampunk), Lincoln, UK

• Northeast Ohio Steampunk Festival, Burton, Ohio, USA

• MillCon 3 (music), Peterborough, UK

• FallCon 37 (gaming), Calgary, Alberta, Canada

• Tacticon (gaming), Aurora, Colorado, USA

• Brussels Games Festival, Brussels, Belgium

• Norwich Games Con, Norwich, UK

• Retro World Expo (gaming), Hartford, Connecticut, USA

• Great Escape on the Lake (gaming), Bradford, New York, USA

• CrashCityCon (gaming), Roanoke, Virginia, USA

• 2D Con: Survival (video games), Bloomington, Minnesota, USA

• Windblume (Genshin Impact), Mesquite, Texas, USA

• Kokorokon (anime), Collinsville, Illinois, USA

• Superstar Anime, Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA

• Conjutsu (anime), Fairfax, Virginia, USA

• PopCult Anime Con, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA

• Ganbatte 2024 (anime), Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

• Fan Expo Canada (media), Toronto, Ontario, Canada

• Tampa Bay Comic Convention, Tampa, Florida, USA

• Dublin Comic Con, Dublin, Ireland

• Hub City Comic Con, Lubbock, Texas, USA

• Soda City Comic Con, Columbia, South Carolina, USA

• Covington Comic Con, Covington, Tennessee, USA

• Long Island Doctor Who Convention, Holtsville, New York, USA

• Everfree NW (My Little Pony), Bellevue, Washington, USA

Weekend of August 30-September 1

• Dragon Con, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

• CoKoCon 2023, Tempe, Arizona, USA

• Bouchercon 2024: Murder and Mayhem in Music City (World Mystery Convention), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

• Oxonmoot 2024 (Tolkien), Oxford, UK and online

• Viencon 2024: Shark House, Best House (relaxacon), America, Netherlands

• Big River Steampunk Festival, Hannibal, Missouri, USA

• Eurofurence 28: Cyberpunk (anthropomorphic), Hamburg, Germany

• Tails & Tornadoes Fur Con: Furries in Space! (anthropomorphic), Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

• Mephit Fur Meet: The Rawring 20's (anthropomorphic), Memphis, Tennessee, USA

• FursonaCon: Dungeon Delvers (anthropomorphic), Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA

• Megaplex: Terror at Typhon's Keep (anthropomorphic), Orlando, Florida, USA

• PhiliFUR 2024: Nostalgia Saga (anthropomorphic), Quezon City, Phillipines

• Pacificon Game Expo 46, Santa Clara, California, USA

• TCEP 29: Your Route to Fun! (gaming), Sterling, Virginia, USA

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

• Gamesfest, Pasco, Washington, USA

• WGGCon (gaming), Croton-on-Hudson, New York, USA

• PAX West 2024 (gaming), Seattle, Washington, USA

• Gateway 2024 (gaming), Los Angeles, California, USA

• GrandCon 2024 (gaming), Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA

• NOVA Open (wargaming), Washington, DC, USA

• ReaperCon 2024 (miniatures gaming), Denton, Texas, USA

• Nan Desu Kan 27 (anime), Aurora, Colorado, USA

• San Japan 15 / Okashicon (anime), San Antonio, Texas, USA

• MatsuriCon 2024: Tricks and Treats (anime), Columbus, Ohio, USA

• Saboten Con 2024 (anime), Phoenix, Arizona, USA

• Tucson Comic Con (media), Tucson, Arizona, USA

• Long Beach Comic Con, Long Beach, California, USA

• Meta Con Minneapolis (media), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

• No Brand Con (media), Stevens Point, Wisconsin, USA

• Afro Future Con: Educational Culture Complex (media), San Diego, California, USA

• Whooverville 15 (Doctor Who), Derby, UK

Weekend of September 6-8

• Kapitularz, Łódź, Poland

• Albacon 2024, Clifton Park, New York, USA and online

• ArmadilloCon 2024, Austin, Texas, USA

• Furry Migration 2024: Lost in Time, Being Found (anthropomorphic), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

• B-Con 2024 (gaming), Northglenn, Colorado, USA

• Tabletop Central (gaming), Savoy, Illinois, USA

• Tabletop Scotland (gaming), Perth, UK

• Strong Tower Gaming Convention, Waukesha, Wisconsin, USA

• QuestCon Orlando / Crucible (gaming), Orlando, Florida, USA

• Connecturday (video games), Heredia, Costa Rica

• F2 Con (video games), Clarksville, Tennessee, USA

• SCG Con Tampa (collectible card games), Tampa, Florida, USA

• Fighting Fantasy Fest 5 (Fighting Fantasy gamebooks), London, UK

• Tracon (anime), Tampere, Finland

• Connichi (anime), Wiesbaden, Germany

• Anime Texas, Spring, Texas, USA

• Anime 307, Cheyenne, Wyoming, USA

• Comic Con Honolulu, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

• Fanboy Expo Orlando (media), Orlando, Florida, USA

• Arkansas Comic Con, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

• Colossalcon East (media), Pocono Manor, Pennsylvania, USA

• Ottawa Comiccon, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

• Cub Con 2024 (media), Valdosta, Georgia, USA

• Retro Con 2024 (‘80s media), Oaks, Pennsylvania, USA

• Alpha Omega Con (Christian-themed sf media), Whittier, California, USA

Coda

• Buzz Aldrin’s expense report (Derf Backderf on Bluesky, hat tip: File 770)

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