SMOF News, volume 4, issue 20

Comic-Con International stays uneasily in San Diego, and news in brief.

Comic-Con International Stays One More Year

Comic-Con International, which previously had the San Diego Convention Center booked through 2026, has agreed to a new contract keeping it there for only one additional year.

Hotel room prices, previously mentioned as a big concern for the convention, were reportedly the big sticking point.

NBC 7 San Diego reports:

"We are excited to stay in San Diego for the next few years, which is made possible, in large part, to the many hotels who offer competitive rates and meeting space," Comic-Con spokesperson David Glanzer said. "It is vitally important to maintain affordable hotel rates for the tens of thousands who visit San Diego for Comic-Con each summer and, while it came down to the wire, we are grateful for the additional hotels who came on board to allow for this agreement to be signed."

Facility contracts for long-running, stable conventions tend to get multi-year extensions, such as Gen Con’s agreement to stay in Indianapolis through 2030. Signing a contract for only 2027 signals that the organization behind CCI is still very unhappy and wants to keep its options open.

All the same factors that led to this difficult negotiation will remain in place for future years. Hotels will still feel like they don’t need to offer discounts to get plenty of business during CCI, and any move would likely lead to a smaller convention in a smaller facility, with a reduced presence from Hollywood due to increased distance from it.

In Brief

• The Nova Open Charity Foundation, a spinoff of the Nova Open (Washington, DC, August 27-31) has announced (PDF) it will cease fundraising activities and wind itself down starting January 31, 2025. The Nova Open will continue to be held.

• Guests for next year’s GAFilk (Atlanta, Georgia, January 9-11) will be Frank Hayes (GoH), Bill Francis (Toastmaster), and Douglas Davison (Interfilk). (From Filk News.)

• Fan Expo Portland (Portland, Oregon, January 24-26) has added Tom Welling and John Rhys-Davies.

• Gallifrey One (Los Angeles, February 14-16) has added Michelle Greenidge, Blair Mowat, John Dorney, and Nigel Fairs.

• St. Pete Comic Con (St. Petersburg, Florida, March 8-9) has added Reba Buhr, Grant George, and Jessica Gee-George.

• Naka-Con (Overland Park, Kansas, March 14-16) has added Ban Ban Ban and Sasara Sekine.

• Indiana Comic Convention (Indianapolis, Indiana, March 14-16) has added Brianna Knickerbocker, Nakia Burrise, Steve Cardenas, Karan Ashley, and Catherine Sutherland.

• Trek Long Island (Hauppauge, New York, May 31-June 2) has added Alex Diehl.

• Anime Festival Orlando (Orlando, Florida, June 20-22) has added Gabe Kunda.

• Nickel City Comic Con (Buffalo, New York, June 27-29) has added Randy Quaid.

• The Uncanny Experience (Minneapolis, Minnesota, July 12-13) has added Tyler Mane.

Event Calendar

Weekend of January 17-19

• Chattacon L, Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA

• Monumental ConFusion, Novi, Michigan, USA

• Marscon 2025: Galactic Empires & Epic Interstellar Legends, Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA

• Arisia 2025, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

• COSine 2025, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA

• CanthroFur: Perdrix and the awakening of the volcanoes (anthropomorphic), Auvergne, France

• Anthro New England: A Staggering Case!, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

• Yunyou Island (anthropomorphic), Chengdu, China

• Further Confusion: Animal Business (anthropomorphic), San Jose, California, USA

• MidWinterFrolic 2025 (anthropomorphic), Altura, Minnesota, USA

• Snowcon 15 (gaming), Orono, Maine, USA

• Philadelphia Area Gaming Expo 2, Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, USA

• Congress of Gamers Winter Session, Rockville, Maryland, USA

• Geekway Mini: Geekway to the Dragon Hoard (gaming), St. Louis, Missouri, USA

• Dice + Diversions (gaming), Atlanta, Georgia, USA

• IDEAG 2025 (gaming), Parma, Italy

• AdamCon 2025 (gaming), Woodlawn, Ohio, USA

• KapCon 2025 (gaming), Wellington, New Zealand

• SCARAB 2025 (gaming), Columbia, South Carolina, USA

• Ducosim (gaming), Amersfoort, Netherlands

• SaltCON Bryce (boardgames), Bryce Canyon, Utah, USA

• Morpheus 37 (RPGs), Herne, Germany

• F.R.O.S.T. XXVI (RPGs), Freuenstadt, Germany

• Siege of Augusta XXXIV (miniatures gaming), Augusta, Georgia, USA

• BattleTex V (wargaming), Houston, Texas, USA

• 29th Annual Chattanooga Railgaming Challenge, Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA

• Kawacon: 4 Honor (anime), San Antonio, Texas, USA

• G-Anime, Gatineau, Québec, Canada

• Central Florida Comic Con, Lakeland, Florida, USA

• Albuquerque Comic Con, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

• Just added: MiSciFi (film festival), Miami, Florida, USA

• Mouse-Con Bakersfield (Disneyana), Bakersfield, California, USA

• Vanhoover Pony Expo (My Little Pony), Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Weekend of January 24-26

• Winter War 51 (gaming), Champaign, Illinois, USA

• Game-iToba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

• TantrumCon (gaming), Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

• Platypus-Con (gaming), Juneau, Alaska, USA

• RiverCityCon (gaming), Louisville, Kentucky, USA

• Cancon 2025 (gaming), Canberra, Australia

• VerminCon 2025 (gaming), Vermillion, South Dakota, USA

• Whose Turn Is It Anyway? (boardgames), Durham, North Carolina, USA

• Niagara Boardgaming Weekend, Grimsby, Ontario, Canada

• Super MAGFest (gaming/videogame music), National Harbor, Maryland, USA

• Isshocon (anime), Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA

• Taiyou Con (anime), Mesa, Arizona, USA

• Animazing-Con (anime), Savannah, Georgia, USA

• UChi-Con 2025 (anime), Chicago, Illinois, USA

• Desucon Frostbite 2025 (anime), Lahti, Finland

• Fan Expo Portland (media), Portland, Oregon, USA

Weekend of January 31-February 2

• AggieCon 54: Going Rogue, College Station, Texas, USA

• AnthroExpo 2025: Rebel Paw (anthropomorphic), Norman, Oklahoma, USA

• Rocket City Gamefest, Huntsville, Alabama, USA

• Cascade Games Convention, Bellingham, Washington, USA

• CaptainCon 2025 (gaming), Warwick, Rhode Island, USA

• Contingency 2025 (gaming), Hunstanton, UK

• PopiCon! 2025 (gaming), South Bend, Indiana, USA

• Just added: Newberg Game Con 2025, Newberg, Oregon, USA

• Ohayocon 25 (anime), Dayton, Ohio, USA

• Pixel Pig Expo (anime), Lexington, North Carolina, USA

• Setsucon (anime), Altoona, Pennsylvania, USA

• SSA+S Toracon (anime), Sarasota, Florida, USA

• East Bay Comic Con, Concord, California, USA

• Big Lick Comic-Con, Roanoke, Virginia, USA

• CONsole Room: Rockin' Through the Whoniverse (Doctor Who), Bloomington, Minnesota, USA

• German Stranger Con (Stranger Things), Oberhausen, Germany

• HarmonyCon 2025 (My Little Pony), Dallas, Texas, USA

• Salute to Xena (Xena: Warrior Princess), Burbank, California, USA

Weekend of February 7-9

• Capricon 45: Let Your Geek Flag Fly!, Chicago, Illinois, USA

• CONpossible: Travel Beyond the Veil (alternate history), Atlanta, Georgia, USA

• Maddrax-Con (Maddrax book series), Aachen, Germany

• Contabile 35 (music), Norwich, UK

• ScotiaCon: Magical Mayhem (anthropomorphic), Glasgow, UK

• Winter Fantasy 49 (gaming), Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA

• Atlanta Game Fest 45, Peachtree Corners, Georgia, USA

• Running GAGG XXIX: Where the Wild Squirrels Are (gaming), Geneseo, New York, USA

• Game On! 2025, Bellevue, Washington, USA

• PeliCON 2025 (boardgames), Galveston, Texas, USA

• SCG Con Portland (collectible card games), Portland, Oregon, USA

• Tezal-Con (video games), Montgomery, Alabama, USA

• AmberConNI 2025 (diceless RPGs), Belfast, UK

• AEX 32 (anime), Santiago, Chile

• Kami-Con 16: Carnival (anime), Birmingham, Alabama, USA

• Anime Focal, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg

• MAG-C (anime), Erfurt, Germany

• Animangapop Plymouth (anime), Plymouth, UK

• Anime Washington, Puyallup, Washington, USA

• Farpoint 32 (media), Pikesville, Maryland, USA

• Megacon Orlando (media), Orlando, Florida, USA

• Geek Days Rennes (media), Rennes, France

• The Great Con-Junction (The Dark Crystal), Borehamwood, UK

Weekend of February 14-16

• Boskone 62, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

• FenCon XX: Spy vs. Spy, Dallas, Texas, USA

• Radcon 9A: Dungeons & RadCon, Pasco, Washington, USA

• Life, the Universe, and Everything #43 (symposium), Provo, Utah, USA

• DunDraCon 48 (gaming), Santa Clara, California, USA

• Polar Vortex 9 (gaming), Lisle, Illinois, USA

• Con of the North (gaming), Plymouth, Minnesota, USA

• Orccon 2025 (gaming), Los Angeles, California, USA

• Williamsburg Muster (wargaming), Williamsburg, Virginia, USA

• Decepta Con X (social deception gaming), Atlanta, Georgia, USA

• Anime Impulse, Pomona, California, USA

• Animeverse Fest (anime), Houston, Texas, USA

• J-Popcon (anime), Copenhagen, Denmark

• Katsucon 2025 (anime), National Harbor, Maryland, USA

• Con Nooga: It's Your Con! (media), Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA

• Pensacon (media), Pensacola, Florida, USA

• StocktonCon (media), Stockton, California, USA

• Boston Sci Fi Film Festival 50, Somerville, Massachusetts, USA

• Gallifrey One in 35 Millimetre (Doctor Who), Los Angeles, California, USA

Coda

• SpaceX debris interfering with terrestrial travel (The Guardian, hat tip: Money Stuff)

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