SMOF News, volume 4, issue 27

Penguicon is rebuilding, Sekaicon is still happening, and news in brief.

Penguicon Takes a Rebuilding Year

Penguicon, the world’s only convention (so far as this newsletter knows) devoted to both speculative fiction and open-source software, has been struggling the last few years. In 2025, it’s skipping the usual convention and instead opting for smaller events:

It’s no secret that Penguicon has had a challenging couple of years. From COVID-related disruptions to contractual complications with venues and everything in between, our organization finds itself in a position that requires some creative problem-solving. … Your Board of Directors has determined to forego the traditional three-day, in-person convention for the spring of 2025. In its place, we are excited to announce Penguicon: Underground— a series of events throughout 2025 designed to bring us together, revel in our nerdy interests, fundraise, and build momentum toward a spectacular return to a full three-day convention in the spring of 2026.

Penguicon is pinning its biggest hopes to The Underground Masquerade, a gala fundraising event on May 17 featuring dinner, a masked ball, and an art auction.

Penguicon hopes to bring the convention back in 2026. Another post lays out the “Path to 2026”:

🛠 Phase One: Structural Repairs – Laying the groundwork, covering core operational costs, and patching things that have historically held us back.

🚀 Phase Two: Fueling the Journey – Fundraising through memberships, events, and sponsorships to ensure a full-scale return.

🛰️Phase Three: Charting the Course – Securing the venue, selecting a ConChair, and officially kicking off planning for Penguicon 2026.

🌠Phase Four: Launching Into 2026 – The triumphant return of a full-fledged Penguicon, better than ever!

A tracker on that same page indicates that Penguicon has a long way to go to reach its $75,000 fundraising goal.

Sekaicon Still Moving Forward

Since the restraining order Ohayocon won against Sekai Guild did not bar Sekai Guild from running its own convention, Sekai Guild has now confirmed that Sekaicon will be moving forward. Sekaicon is still scheduled for April 11-13 in Newark, Ohio.

Of the ongoing court case, Sekai Guild’s announcement says that “We are not able to provide further information at this time, but we want to assure you our team is taking the time to respond to recent developments appropriately.”

The next court date in the case is scheduled for April 9.

In Brief

• Fayetteville Comic Con has announced that its fall 2024 event was its last.

• St. Pete Comic Con (St. Petersburg, Florida, March 8-9) has added Snarky Jay Cosplay.

• Indiana Comic Convention (Indianapolis, Indiana, March 14-16) has added Andy Serkis.

• Anime Arizona (Glendale, Arizona, March 21-23) has added Morgana Ignis and Kyle Phillips.

• Game On Expo (Phoenix, Arizona, April 4-6) has added Mark Whitten, Nadji Jeter, and William Salyers.

• Otafest (Calgary, Alberta, May 16-18) has added AdvanceRatio and Rie Tanaka.

• Trek Long Island (Hauppauge, New York, May 30-June 1) has added Catherine Asaro.

• RAGECON (Reno, Nevada, June 27-29) has added Jonny Pac, Grant Lyon, and James Ernest.

• JAFAX (Grand Rapids, Michigan, June 27-29) has added Kira Elric and Exuberant Cosplay.

• Nickel City Comic Con (Buffalo, New York, June 27-29) has added Mark Rolston, Michael Biehn, Jenette Goldstein, Daniel Kash, and Ray Park.

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

• Delta H Con (Houston, Texas, July 18-20) has added Trina Deuhart, Roo Ryder, and Donald Guzzi.

• ATL Comic Convention (Atlanta, Georgia, July 18-20) has added Janet Varney, Sean Schemmel, Aaron Dismuke, and Reagan Murdock.

• Gen Con (Indianapolis, Indiana, July 31-August 3) has announced that Maurice Broaddus will lead its writers’ symposium.

• Tampa Bay Comic Convention (Tampa, Florida, August 1-3) has added Joey Fatone and David Matranga.

• Terrificon (Uncasville, Connecticut, August 8-10) has added Ann Nocenti, Michael Dooney, and Eric Talbot.

• Monroe Comic Con (Monroe, Michigan, September 12-13) has added Walter Jones.

• FanX Salt Lake (Salt Lake City, Utah, September 25-27) has added Dameon Clarke, Kellen Goff, Sean Schemell, and Robbie Draymond.

• Cincinnati Comic Expo (Sharonville, Ohio, October 24-26) has added Helen Slater and John Rhys-Davies.

• The Labyrinth Experience & Masked Ball (High Wycombe, UK, October 25-26) has added Toby Froud.

Event Calendar

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

• Just added: Fan Expo Cleveland (media), Cleveland, Ohio, 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

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

• Just added: Tell-Tale Steampunk Festival, Pikesville, Maryland, USA

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

• Just added: Golden State Fur Con: Urban LA (anthropomorphic), Los Angeles, California, 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

• Just added: LAN All Night Eleven (LAN gaming), Grapevine, Texas, 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

• Just added: Karoshi-Con (anime), DeKalb, Illinois, 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

• Just added: Sci-Fi on the Rock (media), St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada

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

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

• Just added: Supanova 2025 – Melbourne (media), Ascot Vale, Australia

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

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

Weekend of April 4-6

• Roscon-2025, Moscow, Russia

• Fandom Fest of Southwest Michigan, Benton Harbor, Michigan, USA

• Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention, Lombard, Illinois, USA

• FilKONtario (music), Markham, Ontario, Canada

• 13 Gears (steampunk), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

• Furry Down Under 2025: Gods & Monsters (anthropomorphic), Surfers Paradise, Australia

• Marmalade Dog 27 (gaming), Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA

• FallsCon 25: Journey Into the Cosmos (gaming), Wichita Falls, Kansas, USA

• Play (gaming), Bologna, Italy

• Game On Expo, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

• MEPACON (gaming), Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, USA

• Roll Initiative Con (gaming), Ewijk, Netherlands

• Gondreville est ludique (gaming), Gondreville, France

• Festival Draconis 2025 (gaming), online

• Long Island Tabletop Gaming Expo 2025, Garden City, New York, USA

• Baycon 2025 (gaming), Kennford, UK

• FriendCon Spring 2025 (gaming), Portland, Maine, USA

• Havoc XXXIX (miniatures gaming), Marlborough, Massachusetts, USA

• Seven Hills: Generations (RPGs), Sheffield, UK

• Midwest Gaming Classic (video games), Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

• RetroCon Saar Level 14: Childhood Heroes (retro video games), Völklingen, Germany

• OKiCon Tulsa (anime), Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

• Ithacon 48 (comics), Ithaca, New York, USA

• Romics (comics), Rome, Italy

• Angers Geekfest #6 (media), Angers, France

• FACTS (media), Ghent, Belgium

• RodCon (media), Cedar Falls, Iowa, USA

• SC Comicon, Greenville, South Carolina, USA

• Hill Country Comicon, New Braunfels, Texas, USA

• ASU NerdCon (media), Boone, North Carolina, USA

• Fanfaire NYC (media), New York City, New York, USA

• Philip K. Dick Film Festival, New York City, New York, USA

• Armageddon Expo Christchurch (media), Christchurch, New Zealand

• Awesome Con (media), Washington, DC, USA

• Bedford Who Charity Con 10 (Doctor Who), Bedford, UK

Coda

• Billy Possum, the would-be teddy bear competitor (Smithsonian Magazine, hat tip: Money Stuff)

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