SMOF News, volume 4, issue 34

Ohaycon wants counterclaim slapped down, and news in brief.

Ohayocon Organizations Calls for Sekai Guild Counterclaim to be Dismissed

After CESI, the organization behind Ohayocon, sued Sekai Guild and some of its members, all but one of the defendants filed a counterclaim. CESI’s initial response was to deny the various claims. However, CESI has followed up with a call for the counterclaim to be dismissed as a SLAPP suit.

SLAPP, for Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, is a type of lawsuit filed only to harass. To be dismissed as a SLAPP suit, the counterclaim would have to have no real legal merit. CESI’s motion gets very into the legal weeds, so SMOF News will not attempt to summarize it. Those who feel they have sufficient legal knowledge to interpret it can look up case A2500277 at the Hamilton County Clerk website.

Meanwhile, the one defendant not part of the counterclaim, Matt Geisen, has filed a motion asking to be removed for lack of jurisdiction. Geisen’s lawyers argue that he had nothing to do with any of the matters in the suit:

There is no general jurisdiction over Mr. Geisen as he is not domiciled in Ohio. Further, there is no specific jurisdiction as there is no basis to suggest that the claims asserted against him arise from any activity in Ohio. Plaintiffs allege that Mr. Geisen assisted the other Defendants with organizing and financing. (Compl. at ¶ 39). However, Plaintiffs fail to make any allegations that show they have a basis to hail a California resident into Ohio court based on the false statement that Mr. Geisen assisted Defendants organizationally or financially.

Geisen’s LinkedIn profile says he was “Senior Director of Programming” for Ohayocon, a position not usually associated with financial matters.

In Brief

• Thomas Dunbar’s change of plea and sentencing for the Gen Con heist has been rescheduled to May 8. Andrew Giaume’s trial is still scheduled for July 2.

• Sites and dates for the UK national science fiction convention, Eastercon, for the next two years were announced at last weekend’s Eastercon.

  • 2026: Iridescence, Birmingham, April 3-6

  • 2027: Unconfined, Glasgow, March 26-29

• No bid has been filed to host Westercon 79, leaving the field open for last-minute write-in bids. If none appears, the business meeting at Westercon 77 (Santa Clara, California, July 4-7) will determine what happens with it. More details are available at westercon.org.

• Additional news from Corflu 42: The guest of honor (selected, by tradition, at random from those in physical attendance) was Edie Stern, and Leigh Edmonds was elected past president of FWA.

• The next Star Wars Celebration will move back to Los Angeles, April 1-4.

• Anime Central (Rosemont, Illinois, May 16-18) has added Hiroyasu Kobayashi, Oriana Perón, and Keith Silverstein.

• ATL Comic Convention (Atlanta, Georgia, July 18-20) has added Danny Trejo, Ray Fisher, Rob Wiethoff, and Roger Clark.

• Terrificon (Uncasville, Connecticut, August 8-10) has added Kevin Nowlan, Christopher Priest, Louise Simonson, Walter Simonson, Howard Chaykin, and Mirka Andolfo.

• FanX Salt Lake (Salt Lake City, Utah, September 25-27) has added Ben Barnes, Aleks Le, Omri Katz, and Jess Harnell.

• Gallifrey One (Los Angeles, February 6-8) has added Daphne Ashbrook and Yee Jee Tso.

• Image Comics will be releasing a one-shot comic of horror stories about comic conventions, reports Bleeding Cool.

Event Calendar

Weekend of April 25-27

• Concinnity 25, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

• RavenCon 18, Richmond, Virginia, USA

• 3. Science Fiction & Fantasy-Tag, Apensen, Germany

• Les Intergalactiques, Lyon, France

• OmegaCon (relaxacon), Siren, Wisconsin, USA

• JordanCon (fantasy literature), Atlanta, Georgia, USA

• Springmoot 2025 (Tolkien), Cambridge, UK

• Ice and Fire Convention (Song of Ice and Fire series), Mt. Sterling, Ohio, USA

• Malice Domestic 37 (mysteries), Bethesda, Maryland, USA

• Furry Weekend Holland, Baarlo, Netherlands

• Klingen Con LVI (gaming), Remscheid, Germany

• Ragnarok 5.0 (gaming), Kitchener, Ontario, Canada

• DaveCon (gaming), Bloomington, Minnesota, USA

• LexiCon (gaming), Lexington, Kentucky, USA

• Icon (gaming), Idaho Falls, Idaho, USA

• D8 Summit Charity Convention (gaming), Dixon, Illinois, USA

• Rising Phoenix GameCon, Milford, Massachusetts, USA

• Con-tribution (gaming), Peoria, Illinois, USA

• iMagicon (gaming), Minot, North Dakota, USA

• Cheyenne Gaming Convention, Cheyenne, Wyoming, USA

• WizardCon 2025 (gaming), Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA

• Puget Con 2025 (gaming), Everett, Washington, USA

• Spring CamasCon (gaming and Christian retreat), Peshastin, Washington, USA

• Jeu au Boute (boardgames), Chertsey, Québec, Canada

• Fun K-Town (boardgames), Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

• Little Wars 2025: Shot Heard Round the World (miniatures gaming), Lombard, Illinois, USA

• Recon 2025: Surf and Turf! (miniatures gaming), Orlando, Florida, USA

• LVL UP EXPO (video games), Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

• Final Three Con (social games), McLean, Virginia, USA

• Oz-Con (anime), West Plains, Missouri, USA

• LoboCon (anime), Rohnert Park, California, USA

• aniMUC (anime), Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany

• Overload (anime), Auckland, New Zealand

• Umiko (anime), Koper, Slovenia

• Castle Point Anime Convention, Seacaucus, New Jersey, USA

• Anime St. Louis, St. Charles, Missouri, USA

• FicZone 2025 (anime), Granada, Spain

• Austria Comic Con, Wels, Austria

• Causeacon (media), Beckley, West Virginia, USA

• Fayetteville Comic Con, Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA

• Mortal Hunters 4 Con (Shadowhunters), Düsseldorf, Germany

Weekend of May 2-4

• DemiCon 36: Fantasy, Urbandale, Iowa, USA

• AtomaCon 2025, North Charleston, South Carolina, USA

• IconiCon 2025, Suffolk, Virginia, USA

• Maine Cosplay Extravaganza, Portland, Maine, USA

• Wonderplace Alpha (steampunk), Lake George, New York, USA

• Aethercircus Steampunk Festival, Buxtehude, Germany

• Just added: Steampunk Wales, Portmeirion, UK

• Furgeddaboutit (anthropomorphic), Mt. Laurel, New Jersey, USA

• Ibercon (anthropomorphic), Madrid, Spain

• It’s Ruff Out (anthropomorphic), Ontario, Wisconsin, USA

• Garden State Fur the Weekend Pt Deux (anthropomorphic), New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA

• Farmageddon 12 (gaming), Farmer City, Illinois, USA

• Wagoncon 8 (gaming), The Dalles, Oregon, USA

• Buckeye Game Fest, Columbus, Ohio, USA

• Gaming Hoopla, Mundelein, Illinois, USA

• Congress of Gamers Spring Session, Rockville, Maryland, USA

• Mountain Mania 2025 (gaming), East Burke, Vermont, USA

• Just added: Game Houndz 2025, Savannah, Georgia, USA

• LoBsterCon XXVIII (boardgames), Eastbourne, UK

• Richmond Open (miniatures gaming), Doswell, Virginia, USA

• Just added: Tokyo Alley 13: Mystery (anime), Perth, Australia

• Anime Onsen, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA

• ExpOtaku Tarragona (anime), Tarragona, Spain

• Otaku Oasis (anime), Dallas, Texas, USA

• Kogaracon 2025 (anime), Edison, New Jersey, USA

• MondoCon 2025 (anime), Budapest, Hungary

• Harucon 2025 (anime), Klagenfurt am Wörthersee, Austria

• Superstar Comic Con, Savannah, Georgia, USA

• Portsmouth Comic Con, Portsmouth, UK

• Día del Cómic Festival, Lima, Peru

• Comic Con Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

• Northern FanCon (media), Prince George, British Columbia, Canada

• Saratoga Comic Con, Saratoga Springs, New York, USA

• Pixies Street Con (media), York, South Carolina, USA

• Galactic Diversity & Inclusivity Convention (media/space), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

• Crypticon Seattle (horror media), Seatac, Washington, USA

• Power of the Force (Star Wars), Köln, Germany

• Vampire Fan Weekend (Vampire Diaries), Nashville, Tennessee, USA

Weekend of May 9-11

• ColoniaCon 26: The Next Generation, Köln, Germany

• SFeraKon 2025, Zagreb, Croatia

• Glasgow International Fantasy Conversations (symposium), online

• Westmoot 2025 (Tolkien), Kansas City, Missouri, USA

• Furry Weekend Atlanta: Futurepunk, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

• Les Furfurieux: Furieusement Galvanisé (anthropomorphic), Metz, France

• Furpile (anthropomorphic), Łódź, Poland

• Pinecon (gaming), Druskininkai, Lithuania

• Festival Alchemie du Jeu (gaming), Toulouse, France

• Games Fair 2025, Auckland, New Zealand

• PAX East (video games), Boston, Massachusetts, USA

• EulenCon (RPGs), Köln, Germany

• North Star (sf RPGs), Sheffield, UK

• WasabiCon NOLA (anime), New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

• AniMinneapolis (anime), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

• Comiciade Aachen (comics), Aachen, Germany

• Thessaloniki Comic Convention vol. 8, Thessaloniki, Greece

• SiestaCon (media), Sarasota, Florida, USA

• FoleyCon (media), Foley, Alabama, USA

• FrankenCon 2025 (horror media), Alcoa, Tennessee, USA

Weekend of May 16-18

• Keycon 41, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

• Roleplay Verse, Oberhausen, Germany

• FaRK (fantasy), Schiffweiler, Germany

• Wild Wild West Steampunk Convention 13.5, online

• Calfurry (anthropomorphic), Calgary, Alberta, Canada

• ZodiaCon 2025 (anthropomorphic), Horní Bradlo, Czechia

• CanGames, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

• Zomerspel (gaming), Merelbeke, Belgium

• San Marino Game Convention, San Marino

• Geekway to the West 2025: One Con to Bring Them All (gaming), St. Charles, Missouri, USA

• Huzzah! Con 2025: The Crossing (miniatures gaming), Portland, Maine, USA

• Final Boss Con (video games), Rio Grande, Ohio, USA

• 64 Bits or Less (retro video games), Corvallis, Oregon, USA

• Drums at the Rapids (historical miniatures), Perrysburg, Ohio, USA

• West Wars 2025 (historical miniatures), Denver, Colorado, USA

• Anime Central, Rosemont, Illinois, USA

• Amikon (anime), Dublin, Ireland

• CloverCon (anime), Bridgewater, New Jersey, USA

• Riverwalk Anime, San Antonio, Texas, USA

• IberAnime, Lisboa, Portugal

• Otafest 2025 (anime), Calgary, Alberta, Canada

• East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

• Comic Con Revolution, Ontario, California, USA

• CradleCon (media), Garden City, New York, USA

• Geek Days Lille (media), Lille, France

• Comic Park (media), Erfurt, Germany

• Rogue Comic Con, Medford, Oregon, USA

• Horrorcon UK (media), Sheffield, UK

Weekend of May 23-25

• Balticon 59, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

• WisCon 47 (feminist sf), online

• Fargo CoreCon 15: Halfoween, Fargo, North Dakota, USA

• Satellite 9, Glasgow, UK

• Na meji nevidnega, Ljubljana, Slovenia

• Jodiworld Convention 2025 (Jodi Taylor), Coventry, UK

• ConFuzzled: Fashion Week (anthropomorphic), Birmingham, UK

• AnthrOhio2025: Of Fae and Fur (anthropomorphic), Columbus, Ohio, USA

• PrairieCon 44 (gaming), Brandon, Manitoba, Canada

• KublaCon (gaming), Burlingame, California, USA

• ReCon (gaming), Kernersville, North Carolina, USA

• Rocky Top Game Con, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

• Gamex 2025 (gaming), Los Angeles, California, USA

• TableTopCon 2025 (gaming), Southport, Australia

• Winsome Choose Some (Winsome Games), Carnegie, Pennsylvania, US

• BGG.Spring (boardgames), Dallas, Texas, USA

• Enfilade 2025 (miniatures gaming), Tacoma, Washington, USA

• Oldenburger Rollenspiel Convention (RPGs), Oldenburg, Germany

• PaizoCon Online 2025 (Pathfinder/Starfinder RPGs), online

• FanimeCon: Fan Prix (anime), San Jose, California, USA

• Thy Geekdom Con (anime), Oaks, Pennsylvania, USA

• Animazement (anime), Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

• Mizucon (anime), Miami, Florida, USA

• Anime North, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

• ExpOtaku A Coruña (anime), A Coruña, Spain

• Animefest 2025, Brno, Czechia

• MomoCon 2025 (anime), Atlanta, Georgia, USA

• Sabaku Con 2025 (anime), Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

• MCM London Comic Con, London, UK

• Cherry Capital Comic Con, Acme, Michigan, USA

• CaperCon (media), Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada

• Anime Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

• Comic Con Baltics, Vilnius, Lithuania

• Peter Cushing Celebration, Whitstable, UK

Coda

• Willy Ley’s ashes discovered in basement (New York Times, gift link)

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