How to Convention: Even Further Behind the Scenes
A nonprofit, fan-run convention needs lots of volunteers to staff the event to make it happen, from the convention chair to the gofers who are just volunteering an hour or two of their time. But nonprofits offer an even more esoteric level of volunteering: participating in the continuing organization behind the convention.
A fully developed nonprofit con-running organization will have its own committee, rules, and meetings entirely separate from those for any particular event. That organization selects the chair and possibly the high-level convention committee members for a given year. It may set or approve event policies and have some input into the selection of the guests. It decides on the long-term direction of the convention. It will also have its own schedule of elections to select its own committee.
How you join the organization varies from one to the next. In some cases, purchasing a membership for the convention it runs also makes you a member of that organization for that year. (This was how the term “member” became associated with “convention attendee”, though many conventions with “memberships” do not make you an actual member of the organizations behind them.) In others, only people who have previously served as convention committee members have input. And there are some in between, where a certain number of volunteer hours or years of service on staff may be the qualification. Or the organization may simply allow in anyone who pays a separate membership fee.
Of all the unglamorous volunteer jobs in fandom, helping run the con-running organization is perhaps the least glamorous. But it is one of the most essential, because without the organization behind the scenes to provide continuity, retain institutional knowledge, and make sure all the legal paperwork is in order, the fun event isn’t happening.
In Brief
A hearing on the preliminary injunction requested by Ohayocon against Sekaicon last week, originally scheduled for today, has been moved to February 20.
Contabile 36 aka Norfilk Con II will be held in Taverham, UK, January 30-February 1, 2026. Guests will be Tim Griffin (overseas) and Richard and Isobel Marsherder (UK).
Seattle Worldcon 2025 has opened Hugo Award nominations. Nominators must have been a member of last year’s Worldcon, or purchased an appropriate membership in this year’s Worldcon January 31 or earlier. Nominations close on March 14 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7).
TFcon Los Angeles (Los Angeles, March 7-9) has added Frank Welker.
Anime Milwaukee (Milwaukee, Wisconsin, March 7-9) has added Kanae Itō.
Indiana Comic Convention (Indianapolis, Indiana, March 14-16) has added Henry Thomas, Cedric Yarbrough, Thomas Lennon, Chris Potter, Alyson Court, Ashley Greene, Peter Facinelli, and Jackson Rathbone.
Game On Expo (Phoenix, Arizona, April 4-6) has added Don Bluth.
Otafest (Calgary, Alberta, May 16-18) has added Kaiji Tang.
Anime Central (Rosemont, Illinois, May 16-18) has added Kamen Casey and Bryson Baugus.
Trek Long Island (Hauppauge, New York, May 30-June 1) has added Iona Morris, Phil Morris and Louise Sorel.
Nickel City Comic Con (Buffalo, New York, June 27-29) has added Randy Quaid, John Ratzenberger, and Stephan Kapicic.
The Uncanny Experience (Minneapolis, Minnesota, July 12-13) has added Benjamin Percy.
Delta H Con (Houston, Texas, July 18-20) has added Tom and Dorothy Fahn.
ATL Comic Convention (Atlanta, Georgia, July 18-20) has added Kristin Kreuk, Michael Rosenbaum, Felicia Day, Rainn Wilson, Richard Horvitz, Grey DeLisle, Paige O’Hara, and Linda Larkin.
Tampa Bay Comic Convention (Tampa, Florida, August 1-3) has added Bryce Papenbrook.
Terrificon (Uncasville, Connecticut, August 8-10) has added Wendy and Richard Pini.
FanX Salt Lake (Salt Lake City, Utah, September 25-27) has added Richard Horvitz, Alex Brightman, Jennifer Morrison, Anika Noni Rose, Brianna Knickerbocker, Alejandro Saab, Cooper Andrews, Sonequa Martin-Green, Emily Hampshire, and Sarah Levy.
Event Calendar
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
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
MultiCon (media), Los Angeles, California, 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
Weekend of February 28-March 2
ConVivial, Williamsburg, Virginia, USA
Nerdi Gras 2025, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Cardboard*Con 16 (cardboard sf costuming), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Gdakon (anthropomorphic), Gdansk, Poland
FURCAMP: O legade dos Corsários! (anthropomorphic), Ribeirão Grande, Brazil
Lone Star Fur Con, Austin, Texas, USA
Evercon 25 (gaming), Rothschild, Wisconsin, USA
Itzacon XVIII (gaming), Galway, Ireland
WreckCon (gaming), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Festival International des Jeux (gaming), Cannes, France
LootFest: To the Moon (gaming), Fort Worth, Texas, USA
Gamicon Selenium (gaming), Coralville, Iowa, USA
SaltCON Spring (gaming), Layton, Utah, USA
GAD-CON 2025 (gaming), Aberdeen, Maryland, USA
CincyCon 2025 (gaming), Hamilton, Ohio, USA
Intercon W: Wanderlust (LARPs), Warwick, Rhode Island, USA
Cold Barrage 2025 (miniatures gaming), Havre de Grace, Maryland, USA
Cold Wars 2025 (miniatures gaming), Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA
Games With Trains, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Otaku Link 12 (anime), Malmesbury, UK
Bomb City Con (media), Amarillo, Texas, USA
StingrayCon (media), Jacksonville, Florida, USA
Teckploitation Con (media), Kirchheim unter Teck, Germany
Emerald City Comic Con, Seattle, Washington, USA
Weekend of March 7-9
CoastCon 47, Biloxi, Mississippi, USA
Cleveland ConCoction 10, Aurora, Ohio, USA
MarsCon 2025, Bloomington, Minnesota, USA
Blerdcon Thrilla (Black geekdom), Arlington, Virginia, USA
RedNerdCon (fan crafts), Völklingen, Germany
Consonance 2025 (music), Newark, California, USA
Fur the More: 2025: Beach Vacation! (anthropomorphic), Arlington, Virginia, USA
VancouFur 2025: Tails of Treasure (anthropomorphic), Surrey, British Columbia, Canada and online
Bewhiskered 2025: Prehistoria (anthropomorphic), Durham, North Carolina, USA
29. Cave-Con (gaming), Aschaffenburg, Germany
15. Bremer Spiele-Tage (gaming), Bremen, Germany
Granite Game Summit, Nashua, New Hampshire, USA
Dice Tower West 2025 (gaming), Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
LARPCon, Kassel, Germany
PrinceCon 48: Spires (marathon RPG), Princeton, New Jersey, USA
MinamiCon 30 (anime), Southampton, UK
Made in Asia (anime), Brussels, Belgium
ACEcon (anime), Palm Harbor, Florida, USA
Kikori Con (anime), Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
Banzaicon (anime), Columbia, South Carolina, USA
Mississippi Anime Fest, Jackson, Mississippi, USA
Anime Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Wilkes Comic Con, North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, USA
St. Pete Comic Con, St. Petersburg, Florida, USA
Comic Con Dornbirn, Dornbirn, Austria
TFcon (Transformers), Burbank, California, USA
Weekend of March 14-16
BashCon 39 (gaming), Toledo, Ohio, USA
Plattecon 38: Into the Dragon's Den (gaming), Platteville, Wisconsin, USA
Zuiderspel (gaming), Veldhoven, Netherlands
Ludesco (gaming), La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland
LeiriaCon (gaming), Leiria, Portugal
Terminal City Tabletop Convention (gaming), Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
KennyCon (gaming), Marietta, Georgia, USA
AireCon (gaming), Harrogate, UK
TokenCon 2025 (gaming), Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA
Breakout 2025 (gaming), Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Escape Winter Con 2025 (gaming), Orlando, Florida, USA
Concrete Cow (RPGs), Milton Keynes, UK
Louisville Arcade Expo, Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Ani-Me Con 13.0 (anime), Fresno, California, USA
Harucon 2025 (anime), Jerusalem, Israel
Kawaii Kon (anime), Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
EvilleCon: Year of the Snake (anime), Evansville, Indiana, USA
Heroes Made in Asia (anime), Utrecht, Netherlands
Indiana Comic Convention, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Toronto Comicon, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
All-Con (media), Dallas, Texas, USA
Paris Manga Sci-Fi Show (media), Villepinte, France
Florida PolyCon (media), Lakeland, Florida, USA
Sunrise Comic Con, Sunrise, Florida, USA
Dublin Comic Con, Dublin, Ireland
Collective Con (media), Jacksonville, Florida, USA
Power Comicon, Florence, South Carolina, USA
Ve Neill’s Vampire Weekend (fantasy media), Burbank, California, USA
conAgeddon 5 (The 100), Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Coda
Ghostly apparitions and earthquake farts (Science News)
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