SMOF News, volume 4, issue 26

Gallifrey One plans to exit gracefully, and news in brief.

Gallifrey One Tries a Planned Shutdown

Gallifrey One is a Doctor Who-focused convention which has been running continuously since 1989. That’s a long time, and co-founder Shaun Lyon says it’s time to end:

It was with a heavy heart that we announced on February 16, 2025, at the end of this year’s convention Closing Ceremonies, that Gallifrey One will be coming to an end in 2028, after three more events over the next three years. Our February 2028 convention will conclude an unprecedented, sometimes inexplicable and definitely historic 38-year run as the world’s largest and longest-running annual Doctor Who fan event.

Lyon sets out the reasons why the current management doesn’t want to simply hand the convention over to new runners:

You have to plan for your endgame. A writer doesn’t want to write a book, writing the beginning and the middle and then hand it over for someone else to finish; the writer wants to write the whole story. We want to write our whole story, too.

Those of us who have been on this journey for decades have earned the right to go out on our own terms. We aren’t interested in passing along our name or reputation to someone else, someone untested, who might squander the good will we engendered in the fan community.

However, another convention is planned to fill the void left by it. Showmasters Events, a UK company which runs London Film & Comic Con and other media conventions, has long provided support and assistance to Gallifrey One, and wants to step forward to run something similar:

And they’ve committed to running a show, while not a non-profit event like Gallifrey One, that operates much like it does today. They have the contacts we have, and most importantly, the capital to put up (this type of event is expensive, and everyone gets paid up front these days, including the hotel and the guests.) Some of Gallifrey One’s team, as well as some guests and attendees, have already committed to helping them through the transition, so that programming operates in much the same way (discussion panels, for instance), the photos and autographs continue, your favorite dealers can continue to vend, and so forth.

Showmasters Events was last seen in these pages when its sister company Massive Events fell out with Paramount Pictures’ new events team over the running of Destination Star Trek. (Massive Events has since shut down and Showmasters Events has rebooted Destination Star Trek as Destination, an unofficial Star Trek convention.)

As the announcement implies, Showmasters currently runs standard commerical media conventions, with very little of the non-celebrity activity which is common in fan-run cons, and faces a steep learning curve in trying to imitate the fan-run conventions.

Further announcements from Showmasters about the new convention are expected in the coming weeks.

In Brief

• St. Pete Comic Con (St. Petersburg, Florida, March 8-9) has added Evil Ted and Jessica George.

• Naka-Kon (Overland Park, Kansas, March 14-16) has added Misako Rocks! and Madison May.

• Indiana Comic Convention (Indianapolis, Indiana, March 14-16) has added Brandon H. Lee, Mary Mouser, Tony Danza, Denise Crosby, Bruce Greenwood, Bryce Papenbrook, Maria Zhang, Shantel Vansanten, and Enrico Colantoni.

• Anime Arizona (Glendale, Arizona, March 21-23) has added Bryce Pinkham and Chris Edgerly.

• Game On Expo (Phoenix, Arizona, April 4-6) has added Troy Baker, Erika Harlacher, Chris Sutherland, Steve Mayles, and Grant Kirkhope.

• Anime Central (Rosemont, Illinois, May 16-18) has added Asami Imai.

• Otafest (Calgary, Alberta, May 16-18) has added Joe Zieja and CottontailVA.

• Trek Long Island (Hauppauge, New York, May 30-June 1) has added John Noble, Andrew Robinson, Elena Juatco, and Celia Rose Gooding.

• Nickel City Comic Con (Buffalo, New York, June 27-29) has added Janet Hubert, Joseph Marcell, Tatiana Ali, Karyn Parsons, Randy Quaid, John Ratzenberger, Charles Fleisher, Stefan Kapicic, Gabrielle Carteris, Mindy Sterling, Ric Flair, Hardy Boyz, Trish Stratus, and Lita.

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

• Tampa Bay Comic Convention (Tampa, Florida, August 1-3) has added Mallorie Rodak and Kim Rhodes.

• Terrificon (Uncasville, Connecticut, August 8-10) has added Terry Moore, Chris Eliopoulos, Terry Gammill, and Doug Jones.

• The Labyrinth Experience & Masked Ball (High Wycombe, UK, October 25-26) has added Wendy Froud, Brian Froud, Carol Amos, and William Todd-Jones.

Event Calendar

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

Weekend of March 28-30

• Reconnect (UK national sf convention), Belfast, UK

• AuthorCon 5 (books), Williamsburg, Virginia, USA

• Motor City Furry Con: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Furry Con, Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA

• Paradice (gaming), Worthing, UK

• Circle DC (gaming), Washington, DC, USA

• Great Plains Game Festival, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA

• Ludinord (gaming), Mons-En-Barœul, France

• Alamo City Game Convention, San Antonio, Texas, USA

• Tennessee Game Days Spring 2025, Franklin, Tennessee, USA

• Scrum Con (wargaming), Silver Spring, Maryland, USA

• Adepticon 2025 (wargaming), Schaumburg, Illinois, USA

• GOBfest (boardgames), Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

• Charger Con (video games), Huntsville, Alabama, USA

• FreeCon 21 (anime), Tallahassee, Florida, USA

• Anime Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

• Manga-Comic-Con, Leipzig, Germany

• Nadeshicon (anime), Québec City, Québec, Canada

• Anime Detour: Syndicates and Spies, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

• Triad Anime Convention, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA

• Anime New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

• SwampCon 2025: Your Cup of Tea! (anime), Gainesville, Florida, USA

• ZAPP! Con 6 (comics), Wayne, New Jersey, USA

• Fluke 2025 (independent comics and zines), Athens, Georgia, USA

• GalaxyCon Richmond (media), Richmond, Virginia, USA

• ETSU-Con (media), Johnson City, Tennessee, USA

• Island FanCon (media), Langford, British Columbia, Canada

• Atlantic Entertainment Expo (media), Charlottetown, PEI, Canada

• PeoriaCon 2025 (media), Peoria, Illinois, USA

• WonderCon 2025 (media), Anaheim, California, USA

• Power On Con (Captain Power), Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA

• Vampire Fan Weekend (Vampire Diaries), Allen, Texas, USA

Coda

• How Mars rusted (Science News)

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