SMOF News, volume 4, issue 21

Costume-Con in trouble, notorious celebrity harasser still being invited to cons, and news in brief.

Costume-Con Struggling to Continue

Costume-Con is the longest-running fan convention devoted to costumes, cosplay, and wearable arts. Part of the burst of specialized conventions that formed in the 1970s and 1980s, it was first held in 1983. It was a travelling convention with a different location and host committee every year through 2019, but has been struggling since then.

The latest blow is that Costume-Con 43, which should have been held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in April, has been cancelled. The announcement says it is “due to a lack of pre-convention funds”, probably meaning that not enough people pre-registered for the convention to look viable.

In addition, no one has yet stepped forward to host Costume-Con 44. According to the main Costume-Con site, a vote on the location should have been held at Costume-Con 42 last year. Costume-Con is still open to receiving bids:

An Eastern location (south or north) would fit with tradition, as would a Canadian CC in any Province. For instructions on bidding, visit How to Bid for a Costume-Con Conference. If you plan to submit a bid for CC44, please contact us ASAP and let us know when to expect your bidding paperwork.

Vic Mignogna Still Somehow Being Invited to Conventions

Vic Mignogna is a voice actor primarily known for his work in anime dubs, and has also long had a reputation in the anime community for getting handsy with female fans, plus homophobia and antisemitism. After extensive reporting by Anime News Network in 2019, anime dub companies and many conventions cut ties with him. But he is still invited to some events, and would-be attendees of one of those events, Pop Culture Con (Houston, Texas, March 15-16) have gotten coverage in the Houston Chronicle.

The Chronicle recaps the recent history of the complaints and Mignogna’s attempt to sue people into silence. In fact Mignogna’s behavior was the subject of public online discussions well before that. Anecdotal reports speak of discussion on LiveJournal as far back as the early ‘00s. In 2010, accusations were so widely known about that Tekkoshocon gave Mignogna a whole program slot to rebut them (YouTube video). At that very same event, ANN would later report, one of the other guests had to be moved to a new room and given extra security to keep Mignogna away from her.

Pop Culture Con replied to the Chronicle with a depressingly familiar statement:

“With no police reports, no charges, no trial and no convictions for misconduct or wrongdoing of any kind, we choose not to speculate on what happened with Mr. Mignogna in the past.

“Since 2019, Mr. Mignogna has participated in 60+ events without a single complaint nor disturbance but has had great turnouts and tremendous success at each event. In addition, Mr. Mignogna continues to have the largest fan base in anime and is one of the most popular talents at conventions.”

In Brief

• Fan Expo Portland (Portland, Oregon, January 24-26) has added Christopher Lloyd.

• Anime Milwaukee (Milwaukee, Wisconsin, March 7-9) has added Zeno Robinson.

• Naka-Con (Overland Park, Kansas, March 14-16) has added Getty.

• Indiana Comic Convention (Indianapolis, Indiana, March 14-16) has added Marisa Tomei, Zach Aguilar, and Chandler Riggs.

• Anime Central (Rosemont, Illinois, May 16-18) has added Kari Wahlgren, AJ Beckles, and Anairis Quiñones.

• Otafest (Calgary, Alberta, May 16-18) has added Allegra Clark.

• Trek Long Island (Hauppauge, New York, May 31-June 2) has added Rachel Ancheril and Elena Juatco.

• Origins Game Fair (Columbus, Ohio, June 18-22) has added Heywood Banks and Timbo Sullivan.

• Tampa Bay Comic Convention (Tampa, Florida, August 1-3) has added Linda Larkin, Grey DeLisle, Greg Baldwin, Landon McDonald, Nicholas Roye, and Stephen John Ward.

Event Calendar

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

• Just added: Lost Golaricon 2025 (Pathfinder & Starfinder RPGs), Indianapolis, Indiana, 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

Weekend of February 21-23

• ConCave XLIV, Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA

• Ret-Con 2025, Durham, North Carolina, USA

• FurSquared 2025: The Haunted Masquerade (anthropomorphic), Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

• NordicFuzzCon 2025: Spirits of the Zen Garden (anthropomorphic), Malmö, Sweden

• Total Confusion 39 (gaming), Marlborough, Massachusetts, USA

• CalCon (gaming), Kalmar, Sweden

• Fire and Ice Convention (gaming), Manitowoc, Wisconsin, USA

• Prolog 2025 (gaming), Trollhättan, Sweden

• Dreamation 2025 (gaming), Morristown, New Jersey, USA

• SoRCon 16 (boardgames), Basildon, UK

• PrezCon Winter Nationals (boardgames), Charlottesville, Virginia, USA

• BavariaCon 6 (RPGs), Munich, Germany

• AthVentureCon (RPGs), Galway, Ireland

• DeDeCo: Beach Party (anime), Dresden, Germany

• Japan Expo Marseille (anime), Marseille, France

• Anime Crossroads 2025, Plainfield, Indiana, USA

• Nerd Fest (media), Swedesboro, New Jersey, USA

• Alaska ComiCon, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA

• Fan Expo Vancouver (media), Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

• Comiccon de Québec, Ville de Québec, Québec, Canada

Coda

• Woolly mammoth resurrection still on track for 2028 (TechCrunch)

Thank you for reading! Send tips, corrections, press releases, and letters of comment to: smofnews@gmx.com.