January 2024 Update

Submitted by emmak on

Welcome to 2024!

Yes, it’s finally here, the year of Funcon 1: Space Leopards (Probably) Won’t Eat Your Face!

What idiots would run a small convention in a Worldcon year?

You’re probably asking yourself (and we have certainly been asked this question more than once) – what idiots would run a small convention in a Worldcon year? Well, that’s us! For more about who we are, and other conventions we have both organised and attended, check out the Committee page on the Funcon website. 

Thank you Glasgow 2024!

Speaking of Worldcon, as some of you may know, later in the year the World Science Fiction Convention (aka Worldcon) is coming to Glasgow for the third time – and we are hugely indebted to the lovely folk at Glasgow 2024 who have sponsored Funcon so we can have some extra fun with a Scottish flare at our Time Travellers’ Ceilidh. Thank you Glasgow! Some of the Glasgow committee will be joining us at Funcon, and we consider it our not-so-solemn duty to ensure they have a much-needed fun weekend in the run up to their convention – smoffing (being serious about science fiction fandom) will be strictly forbidden, and this rule will be enforced with Nerf guns if necessary.  You have been warned. 

Hotel Bookings

If you’ve got your convention ticket, don’t forget to also book your hotel room! Hotel room bookings also support the convention, as these form part of our deal for the convention space. We have great rates organised with the hotel, and no cash is taken until you arrive, so there’s no reason not to get your room booked asap! Details of how to do so are on our Accommodation page.

Access Needs

We are running in a lovely, affordable, but somewhat less-than-modern hotel, which can come with access challenges. We want everyone to be able to have a lot of fun at Funcon, so if you have access needs please make sure you have let us know what these are by emailing access@funcon.lol

Programme Progress

Thank you to everyone who made superb programme suggestions and volunteered to help us make them happen. We have added a few more items to the Programme page on our website, like the “correlation ≠ causation” panel and life sized board games [what could possibly go wrong... - Ed] and will be adding more as we go, so keep an eye on that. If there is something you would like to see or run as a programme item, it’s not too late to let us know.

Closer to the convention we will also be sending out a “things to bring” list with a few items you might want to bring along to make sure you get the best from the convention.

Funcon Merchandise

Just a reminder, we have some awesome merchandise available on our Redbubble shop - check it out, and let us know if you have any suggestions for entertaining slogans we can add.

Spread the Word

With just FOUR months to go we are organising our programme budget, and the more cash we have the more awesome activities we can run, so spread the word and bring your friends!!! We always appreciate it if you share our social media posts, so make sure you are following us on facebook and instagram (@funcon.lol on both), and sign up to our facebook event to keep up to date with all our latest news and info.

More Thanks

We have also had sponsorship and advertising from both Novacon and previous Eastercons, and are very grateful to these conventions for their support. Check out Novacon, which uses the same hotel as us but in November, at https://novacon.uk/

See you at Eastercon…?

We would say – see you at Picocon, but no-one seems to know if it’s actually running this year or, if so, when? If you know, let us know, and we might see you there! But for now the next con that’s firmly in our calendar is Eastercon in Telford - we will be running some exciting activities to spread the word about Funcon. Find out more at https://eastercon2024.co.uk/