SMOF News, volume 3, issue 5
How travelling cons work, and news in brief.
How to Convention: The Travelling Cons
Most conventions are content to remain in more or less the same place at more or less the same time every year. This has several advantages. Multi-year facility contracts can reduce an event’s cost. Having the same group of people running it every year increases the chance of a reliable experience. People can expect to see the same friends there every year.
On the other hand, some events are so unique or their fandoms so specialized that there can’t be a convention like them in every metropolitan area. For truly gigantic events, there’s no option but to remain in one place and out of reach of anyone who can’t afford to travel there. But those able to fit into an average hotel or convention center can travel around to give everyone a chance to attend, as well as spreading the work of running them around.
The most famous travelling con is the World Science Fiction Convention, but there are many others. National science fiction conventions in medium and large countries will usually move around from place to place each year. There are also regional travelling conventions such as Eurocon and the North American Science Fiction Convention. More focused conventions that move around include Costume-Con, Corflu (fanzines), Smofcon (con-running), and a few conventions for specific media franchises.
A few travellling conventions are wholly owned commercial operations with no transparency in the process of selecting their next site, but most are open to any fan group willing to and able to take on the challenge of running it for a year.
A group wanting to run one of these conventions submits a bid. Requirements vary, but at minimum they will usually include having a contract lined up with a suitable facility to host the convention if that bid wins. Additional requirements may include proposing a theme, providing details of how certain expected events will be run, submitting a business plan, and so forth.
Some events have a steering committee which will evaluate bids and select the winning one for a given year. Others will put it to a vote of convention members. Depending on the size of the con, this could be anything from a quick show of hands at the preceding con to an elaborate process of both online and in-person voting over several weeks if not months.
If you’ve been wondering if you could bring a particular travelling con to your town, start by going to the con’s website and looking at the bid requirements. Reach out to your local friends in the specialized fandom or local people who run cons in the same genre to see if they might be interested. There will probably be a community of people who have experience running the con, and some kind of online documents about what the whole process is like. If it’s hard to find them, contact the people running this year’s con and ask if they can point you toward them.
Then you can start to make an informed decision about whether to try bidding. Depending on the con, it might be your occasional hobby for a couple years, or it could take over your life for close to a decade. You may find that whatever the commitment is, it may be too much for you. But if you decide to go for it, good luck!
In Brief
The WSFA Small Press Award, presented at Capclave 2023 (Rockville, Maryland) last weekend, went to Naomi Kritzer for “The Dragon Project”.
There will be an issue of WOOF collated at the Chengdu Worldcon. Contributions can be submitted electronically to WOOF2023@pobox.com.
Comiccon de Québec (Ville de Québec, Québec, October 7-8) has added Ray Park as a guest.
Event Calendar
Weekend of October 6-8
CONFelicity (relaxacon), Bloomington, Minnesota, USA
GeekGirlCon (female geekdom), Seattle, Washington, USA
H-Con the Nineteenth (anthropomorphic), Erbach, Germany
WPAFW 2023 (anthropomorphic), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
TringCon (gaming), Marsworth, UK
Dragon Fall (gaming), Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, USA
PAX Australia (gaming), Melbourne, Australia
Con on the Cob 2023: Showdown at the Neon Barnyard (gaming), Richfield, Ohio, USA
Southwest Con (miniatures gaming), Tolleson, Arizona, USA
Michigan GT (wargaming), Lansing, Michigan, USA
Spieltage Essen (boardgames), Essen, Germany
Furnace Games Convention XVIII (RPGs), Sheffield, UK
Tsubasacon (anime), Charleston, West Virginia, USA
Animasia (anime), Bordeaux, France
MoTownCon (anime), Mooresville, South Carolina, USA
Anime Senpai: Class of '23!, Collinsville, Illinois, USA
56th Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, Sitges, Spain
28th Annual H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival, Portland, Oregon, USA
Comiccon de Québec, Ville de Québec, Québec, Canada
Comic Con Scotland, Edinburgh, UK
Boone Comic-Con, Boone, North Carolina, USA
Weekend of October 13-15
Stranimondi 9 (Italian national sf convention), Milan, Italy
Octocon 2023 (Irish national sf convention), Dublin, Ireland
ICON 48: We Only Work in Outer Space, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA
Can*Con 2023 (Canadian sf), Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Alamo City Furry Invasion: Dr. Virginia's Island Paradise, San Antonio, Texas, USA
Viking-Con 42 (gaming), Copenhagen, Denmark
Atlanta Game Fest 41, Peachtree Corners, Georgia, USA
Congress of Gamers Fall Session, Rockville, Maryland, USA
Icon Gaming, Idaho Falls, Idaho, USA
Southern Board Game Festival, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA
Erie Days of Games, Erie, Pennsylvania, USA
NEWGameapalooza, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA
Portland Retro Gaming Expo (retro video games), Portland, Oregon, USA
Banzaicon 10 (anime), Larvik, Norway
Iberanime, Matosinhos, Portugal
Charleston Anime-Fest, North Charleston, South Carolina, USA
Polaris (anime), Hamburg, Germany
WasabiCon (anime), Jacksonville, Florida, USA
The Lakes International Comic Art Festival, Bowness-on-Windermere, UK
Geek Days Caen (media), Caen, France
Visioncon (media), Springfield, Missouri, USA
ValleyCon 48 (media), Fargo, North Dakota, USA
New York Comic Con, New York City, New York, USA
MondoCon 2023 (media), Budapest, Hungary
56th Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, Sitges, Spain
Brooklyn SciFi Film Festival, New York City, New York, USA
VoltCon 2023 (Voltron), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Weekend of October 20-22
Chengdu Worldcon (81st World Science Fiction Convention), Chengdu, China and online
BuchmesseCon, Dreieich, Germany
Multiverse, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
BristolCon 2023, Bristol, UK
Irish Discworld Convention 2023, Cork, Ireland
The Surrey Steampunk Convivial, Epsom, UK
Furror (anthropomorphic), Łódź, Poland
Confuror 2023: Locos por la Ciencia (anthropomorphic), Guadalajara, Mexico
TsunamiCon (gaming), Wichita, Kansas, USA
MEPACon: Video Game Heroes and Villains (gaming), Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA
Austi-Con 2023 (gaming), Austin, Minnesota, USA
Gamehole Con X (RPGs), Madison, Wisconsin, USA
AVL Scarefest (RPGs), Montreat, North Carolina, USA
Travellercon/USA 2023 (Traveller RPG), Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA
Anime Fusion: This Con Goes to 11!, Plymouth, Minnesota, USA
Anime Mundo, El Paso, Texas, USA
Puchicon Poconos (anime), Tannersville, Pennsylvania, USA
Another Anime Convention, Westford, Massachusetts, USA
Anime Banzai, Layton, Utah, USA
Anime Nebraskon 2023, Council Bluffs, Iowa, USA
YuniCon 2023 (anime), Schwechat, Austria
NW Idolfest (anime idols), Seattle, Washington, USA
Anime Ink (anime & tattoos), Richmond, Virginia, USA
Just added: Heroes Assemble 3: The Halloween Hullaballoo (media), Richmond, Virginia, USA
FACTS (media), Ghent, Belgium
Comic Con Baltics, Vilnius, Lithuania
Comic Con Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
Dallas Fan Festival (media), Irving, Texas, USA
Shoufu-Con (media), Lansing, Michigan, USA
The Penti-Con 2023 (media), Penticton, British Columbia, Canada
Festival of Fantastic Films, Manchester, UK
PonyCon Holland 2023: A Series of Mysterious Events (My Little Pony), Zeist, Netherlands
TFcon Orlando (Transformers), Orlando, Florida, USA
Weekend of October 27-30
MileHiCon 55, Denver, Colorado, USA
Astronomicon 14, Rochester, New York, USA
World Fantasy Convention 2023, Kansas City, Missouri, USA
Hallowcon 2023: Plan 10 from Outer Space (fantasy/horror), Dalton, Georgia, USA
Ohio Valley Filk Festival 39 (music), Worthington, Ohio, USA
Spacedock GLC-13 (anthropomorphic), Hasliberg, Switzerland
Furpocalypse 2023: Summercamp Slasher (anthropomorphic), Stamford, Connecticut, USA
Biggest Little Fur Con 2023: Curse of Cœurasa (anthropomorphic), Reno, Nevada, USA
Carnage 26 (gaming), Killington, Vermont, USA
S’mores and Meeples (gaming), Spring City, Pennsylvania, USA
GaelCon (gaming), Dublin, Ireland
Cardboard Caucus 2023 (gaming), West Des Moines, Iowa, USA
CinCityCon 2023 (gaming), Sharonville, Ohio, USA
Conecturday (video games), Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala
Board to Death Con 2023 (boardgaming), Wayne, Michigan, USA
Anime Weekend Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
UwUCon (anime), Mesa, Arizona, USA
Anime Halloween, Rosemont, Illinois, USA
YumeCon USA (anime), San Jose, California, USA
ExpOtaku Granada 2023 (anime), Granada, Spain
DerpyCon 2023 (anime), New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
Music City Multi Con (media/video games), Lebanon, Tennessee, USA
Hal-Con (media), Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Winnipeg Comiccon, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
KingCon NW (media), Renton, Washington, USA
Sinbad and the Eye of the Monsterama (retro media), Peachtree Corners, Georgia, USA
Just added: Spooky Empire (horror media), Orlando, Florida, USA
Weekend of November 3-5
Les Utopiales, Nantes, France
ArmadaCon 2023, Plymouth, UK
Lodge Con 2023, Peotone, Illinois, USA
Y/Con 9 (LGBT sf), Paris, France
Doxacon X (sf and Christianity), Arlington, Virginia, USA
Virtual International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts: AAAA! - AI, Algorithms, Automata, and Art (symposium), online
Furry Blacklight: Welcome to Olympus, Tremblay-en-France, France
PAW '23: Tu-deer England (anthropomorphic), San Jose, California, USA
Kee Con VI (gaming), Cherokee, Iowa, USA
Lucca Comics & Games, Lucca, Italy
Spellen Spektakel (gaming), Utrecht, Netherlands
FLAG Con (gaming), Ithaca, New York, USA
TimpCon (gaming), Provo, Utah, USA
Tampa Nerd Con (gaming), Clearwater, Florida, USA
Spielwiesn (gaming), Augsburg, Germany
Rock-Con (gaming), Rockford, Illinois, USA
AcadeCon (gaming), Dayton, Ohio, USA
Effing-Con (gaming), Effingham, Illinois, USA
Twincon (gaming), London, UK
BottosCon 2023: A Mere Matter of Gaming, New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
TableCon 2023 (gaming), Springdale, Arkansas, USA
AmberCon NW (diceless RPGs), Troutdale, Oregon, USA
Good Game Fest (video games), Westminster, Maryland, USA
LoBsterCon XXV: Silver Jubilee (boardgames), Eastbourne, UK
LAN All Night VIII: For LANdetta (video games), Grapevine, Texas, USA
Fall In! (miniatures gaming), Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA
Warfaire Weekend (wargaming), St. Louis, Missouri, USA
J1-Con (anime), Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
Sin City Anime, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Anime Pasadena, Pasadena, California, USA
Kaiga Anime Convention, Perth, Australia
HotaruCon (anime), Milton Keynes, UK
NekoCon 2023: Little Witch Catademia (anime), Hampton, Virginia, USA
Youmacon 2023 (anime), Detroit, Michigan, USA
Con Nichiwa 2023 (anime), Tucson, Arizona, USA
Coosacon! (media), Rome, Georgia, USA
Comic Con Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
Akron Comiccon, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, USA
Twin Cities Con (media), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Grand Rapids Comic Con, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
Creation Jacksonville (media), Jacksonville, Florida, USA
NC Comic Con, Durham, North Carolina, USA
Rhode Island Comic Con, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
D. A. M. Con 2023 (Japanese live-action media), Dallas, Texas, USA
Pony Friends Forever (My Little Pony), San Antonio, Texas, USA
Coda
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