SMOF News, volume 4, issue 25

Ohayocon gets a restraining order against Sekai Guild, and news in brief.

Ohayocon Wins Temporary Restraining Order Against Sekai Guild

Two weeks ago, the news broke that Ohayocon was suing its former staff and their organization Sekai Guild which meant to run a convention called Sekaicon in April. Ohayocon also requested that the court halt Sekaicon.

Updates available on the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts website now show that a temporary restraining order was granted on February 3. Originally running for 2 weeks, it has since been extended to February 28.

The order states that the defendants:

1. SHALL IMMEDIATELY cease all activity on the website and the Facebook, Instagram, Discord, Hootsuite, and RegFox accounts in the name of Cultural Exchange Society, Inc. (“CES”) and/or Ohayocon or which had been in the names of CES or Ohayocon;

2. SHALL take affirmative action to return the exclusive use, ownership, and control of all information necessary and sufficient for Plaintiffs to login to, secure, and access the website and social media accounts identified in this Order within twelve (12) hours of the bond being posted, including by resetting any two-factor authentication on those accounts to be directed to Plaintiff Phelps’ phone number and/or email;

3. SHALL IMMEDIATELY cease using directly or indirectly, any information, material, data, records, books, trade secrets, business information, and confidential information, including the financial records off CES and/or Ohayocon, lists of volunteers, guests, attendees, and vendors for Ohayocon, including names, addresses, telephone numbers, and email addresses, and the whole or any portion of other information or documents from the CES and/or Ohayocon google drive;

4. SHALL IMMEDIATELY cease using and appropriation of identifying information associated with “Ohayocon” in any capacity whatsoever;

5. SHALL PRESERVE all electronically stored information in their possession, custody, and control, relating to CES and Ohayocon.

The preliminary hearing is still scheduled for February 20.

In Brief

• Anthony R. (Tony) Lewis, a past chair and committee member on multiple Boskones and Worldcons, died February 11. Lewis was a founder of NESFA (the organization behind Boskone) and involved in the creation of several other con-related groups.
  Biography at Fancyclopedia 3 • Remembrance at File 770

• Nick DiMasi, who worked on multiple DucKons and served on the board of Super-Con-Duck-Tivity, died February 11. (Worldcon in Memoriam)

• In addition to MultiCon this weekend, a second convention has been organized to raise funds for Los Angeles-area wildfire relief. Salute to the Women of Sci-Fi (Burbank, California, March 22-23) is a Creation Entertainment event to benefit Defy: Disaster & Random Acts Natural Disaster Recovery Fund, and possibly additional charities.

• Anime Milwaukee (Milwaukee, Wisconsin, March 7-9) has added Yoshihiro Watanabe, Shunsuke Aoki, Tadashi Nakajima, Hirotsugu Hayakawa, D-YAMA, Dotnoi, Creep-P, VGR, Taku Inoue, and MOGRA.

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

• Naka-Kon (Overland Park, Kansas, March 14-16) has added Sam Villanueva and Steve Blum.

• Indiana Comic Convention (Indianapolis, Indiana, March 14-16) has added Raegan Revord, Mitch Pileggi, Neil Ellice, Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes, Kyle Phillips, and Christopher Wehkamp.

• Anime Central (Rosemont, Illinois, May 16-18) has added Keiichiro Saito, Takafumi Nakame, Kaoru Tanimoto, Mana Kudo, and Tony Oliver.

• Origins Game Fair (Columbus, Ohio, June 18-22) has added Aaron Rosenberg.

• Anime Festival Orlando (Orlando, Florida, June 20-22) has added Bryson Baugus and Abigail Blythe.

• ATL Comic Convention (Atlanta, Georgia, July 18-20) has added Priscilla Presley and John Schneider.

• Tampa Bay Comic Convention (Tampa, Florida, August 1-3) has added Shameik Moore.

• Terrificon (Uncasville, Connecticut, August 8-10) has added Kyle Baker and Carl Lumbly.

• FanX Salt Lake (Salt Lake City, Utah, September 25-27) has added Brandon Rogers and Bryce Pinkham.

Event Calendar

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

Weekend of March 21-23

• MidSouthCon 40, Olive Branch, Mississippi, USA

• Geek/Art CONfluence, Syracuse, New York, USA

• 46th International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, Orlando, Florida, USA

• Wild Wild West Steampunk Convention 13, Tucson, Arizona, USA

• World Steampunk Exposition, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA

• Thaitails 2025: Gleaming Gala Night (anthropomorphic), Nonthaburi, Thailand

• Furnal Equinox (anthropomorphic), Toronto, Ontario, Canada

• GameStorm 25, Portland, Oregon, USA

• WittCon XX: Steve vs. Sherman (gaming), Springfield, Ohio, USA

• Gary Con XVII (gaming), Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, USA

• NerdCon (gaming), Robinson, Illinois, USA

• Braunschweig Spielt (gaming), Braunschweig, Germany

• MidWinter ‘25 (gaming), Haugesund, Norway

• COSCON XXXV (RPGs), Butler, Pennsylvania, USA

• Ambercon US (diceless RPGs), Livonia, Michigan, USA

• SIMCON 46 (boardgames), Rochester, New York, USA

• Hotlead (miniatures gaming), Stratford, Ontario, Canada

• Zenkaikon (anime), Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA

• Anime Arizona, Glendale, Arizona, USA

• Isekai Anime Con, Sandy, Utah, USA

• Tora-Con 2025 (anime), Rochester, New York, USA

• AnimeJapan 2025, Tokyo, Japan

• ExpOtaku Almería 2025 (anime), Almería, Spain

• SFW 16 (media), Great Yarmouth, UK

• Cult Classic Convention (media), Bastrop, Texas, USA

• Shoufu-Con (media), Lansing, Michigan, USA

• CarrierCon 2025 (media), Alameda, California, USA

• Colorado Anime Fest 2025, Denver, Colorado, USA

• Salute to the Women of Sci-Fi (media), Burbank, California, USA

Coda

• “The greatest photo ever produced by the US space program” (Robert McNees on Bluesky, hat tip: Minicon)

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