SMOF News, volume 3, issue 7

Tales of the NYCC lost and found, and news in brief.

A Peek at the NYCC Lost and Found

Many conventions operate their own lost-and-found for the wild variety of items convention-goers may manage to misplace while enjoying themselves. New York Comic Con outsources this function to the security people at its venue, the Javits Center, and the New York Times took a look at it during last weekend’s NYCC.

The more common lost items are handled the way most any large operation would:

[Command center manager Edwin Gomez] and his co-workers have a playbook for each type of item that is left under their supervision. “If it is money or jewelry, it is logged in and put into a safe,” he said. With cellphones, if they are unlocked, he will say “Call Mom” or “Call Dad.”

And he will look for IDs in any unclaimed wallet, hoping to find an address so he can mail it back to its owner. He will even use the phone numbers on medical prescriptions, calling the providers and asking them to contact the prescription holders.

Since the lost-and-found isn’t tied to a specific event in this case, the convention center can hold items for 90 days before donating unclaimed ones to charity.

Also, if you attend a con at the Javits Center in costume, be aware that the security people are judging you:

“I watch everything from here,” he said. “I can zoom in and say, ‘That looks great.’” At Comic Con last year, one of his favorite sights was a cosplayer who dressed as Iron Man in his very bulky Hulkbuster armor. Mr. Gomez was also impressed with an Aquaman cosplayer, who was wearing a metallic costume. “He had the blond hair and the body for it,” he said. “You’re good. You pulled it off.” This year, he noted characters from “Demon Slayer,” an anime he watches with his family.

In Brief

• The LA in 2026 Worldcon bid has revealed its dates and venue are August 27-31, 2026, at the Anaheim Convention Center.

• DerpyCon 2023 (New Brunswick, New Jersey, October 27-29) has added Casey Mongillo and Blue Clarice as guests.

• Arisia 2024 (Boston, January 12-15) has added Paul Sabourin as a featured guest.

• Kawacon (San Antonio, Texas, March 2-3) has added Colleen O’Shaughnessy as a guest.

• Norwescon 46 (March 28-31) has added Kate Alice Marshall as a special guest.

• Trek Long Island (Hauppage, New York, May 31-June 2) has added Elias Toufexis and Janet Kidder as guests.

• The Uncanny Experience (Minneapolis, Minnesota, September 28-29) has added Alison Sealy-Smith as a guest.

Event Calendar

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

• ConFABulous 2023 (LGBTQ+ gaming), Bloomington, 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

• 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

• 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

• Just added: H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival, Mobile, Alabama, USA

• Pony Friends Forever (My Little Pony), San Antonio, Texas, USA

Weekend of November 10-12

• Novacon 52, Buxton, UK

• TusCon 50, Tucson, Arizona, USA

• Windycon 49: Adventure is Out There!, Oak Brook, Illinois, USA

• OryCon 43: Phoenix Rising, Portland, Oregon, USA

• OmegaCon Fall 2023 (relaxacon), Siren, Wisconsin, USA

• New England Crime Bake 2023: deadactually (mysteries), Dedham, Massachusetts, USA

• Steampunk November, Venus, Texas, USA

• Vermont Steampunk Expo, Essex Junction, Vermont, USA

• Howloween: The Nightmare BeFur Christmas (anthropomorphic), Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

• Hexcon (gaming), Trondheim, Norway

• Mythic Con (gaming), Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

• Save Against Fear (gaming), York, Pennsylvania, USA

• Compass Games Expo Fall 2023, Meridien, Connecticut, USA

• Spielewelt in Bielefeld (boardgames), Bielefeld, Germany

• EuroQuest 2023 (Eurogames), Annapolis, Maryland, USA

• Phantasm 33rd (RPGs), Peterborough, Ontario, Canada

• The Long Con (RPGs), Longview, Texas, USA

• Arcade Expo, Houston, Texas, USA

• TORG Gaming Expo 2023 (video games), Columbus, Ohio, USA

• Oni-Con XX (anime), Galveston, Texas, USA

• Animaine 11: I Died and was Reincarnated as the Animaine Mascot?! (anime), South Portland, Maine, USA

• Animaga (anime), Melbourne, Australia

• Nishicon (anime), Eindhoven, Netherlands

• Anime Iwai: Horizons, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA

• anime expo chibi, Ontario, California, USA

• Rocky Mountain Con X (comics), Denver, Colorado, USA

• Thought Bubble (comics), Harrogate, UK

• Motor City Comic Con, Novi, Michigan, USA

• Grit City Comic Show, Tacoma, Washington, USA

• Memphis Comic and Fantasy Convention, Memphis, Tennessee, USA

• Twin Tiers Comic-Con, Horseheads, New York, USA

Weekend of November 17-19

• Philcon 2023, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, USA

• CONjuration (fantasy), Atlanta, Georgia, USA

• Dragonsteel 2023 (Brandon Sanderson works), Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

• LIL-CON 7 (gaming), Lockport, New York, USA

• Con-Densed (gaming), Worthing, UK

• DAU Barcelona (gaming), Barcelona, Spain

• BGG.CON (gaming), Dallas, Texas, USA

• Meeple-A-Thon (gaming), Kansas City, Missouri, USA

• U-Con (gaming), Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA

• Dragonsteel 2023 (gaming), Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

• Gridcon 4 (boardgames), Taunton, UK

• Free Play Florida (retro video games), Lakeland, Florida, USA

• SNAFU Con (anime), Reno, Nevada, USA

• Kumoricon (anime), Portland, Oregon, USA

• Colossalcon North (anime), Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, USA

• Anime NYC, New York City, New York, USA

• Anime Austin, Austin, Texas, USA

• Anime Town Pensacola, Pensacola, Florida, USA

• Naiccon 2023 (media), Nairobi, Kenya

• Heroes Dutch Comic Con, Utrecht, Netherlands

• Memphis Comic & Fantasy Convention, Memphis, Tennessee, USA

Coda

• Help do some science during next year’s solar eclipse (Science News)

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