SMOFCon Scholarship Deadline Approaches

[kevin_standlee]

The deadline for submitting applications for the SFSFC SMOFCon Scholarship is this coming Sunday, September 10. SFSFC is offering up to two $500 scholarships to people to attend this year's SMOFCon, the annual traveling conrunning convention, which this year is December 1-3 in Kansas City MO. You can apply for the scholarship on-line at the SFSFC web site.

Comments

[redneckotaku.livejournal.com]

I have been putting up reminders about the Smofcon Scholarship over on the Anime Cons Mailing List over the last few weeks. I hope you get good response with Applications for the scholarship.

[flick.livejournal.com]

(Out of interest) where does the money come from? Subs to SFSFC?

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

SFSFC is funding this out of the surplus from conventions it has run in the past, which is the primary source of funding for all of its activities. Although the ConJose Worldcon surplus is exhausted (it funded past scholarships), SFSFC has run other conventions since 1993, and also earns some interest on surplus funds. If I had to pick a specific source (it's not easy when it's coming from a general fund that can trace back that far), I'd say the source of funds here is a combination of the 1998 World Fantasy Con surplus (which SFSFC always held in reserve against an utter disaster for ConJose, on top of ConJose's own reserves) and interest on that, plus some of the interest SFSFC earned on the ConJose surplus.

(Interest earned on a Worldcon surplus isn't reportable to WSFS. WSFS rules say, in effect, "account for the money you took in directly from running the convention.")

[flick.livejournal.com]

[g] It's ok: 'past cons' is enough of an answer! I was just wondering with my LFF hat on!

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

Sorry to give the long-form answer. Some folks get very touchy about a Worldcon-running organization having any surplus funds, even if they came from a non-Worldcon source.

[flick.livejournal.com]

Aye - understand! Sorry, I should have been clearer that it was more of a 'damn, I wish we had that kind of money!' question!

[kproche.livejournal.com]

Would attending a SMOFcon be useful to a Costume-Con chair? Could he learn things that would be useful, or is mainly focussed on WorldCon issues?

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

I'd say Yes, Yes, and Sometimes.

The convention can seem very Worldcon-focused because it's one of the few things most of us there have in common. The perception that SMOFCon is a "relaxacon for Worldcon SMOFS" has some basis in truth. Many of us are Worldcon regulars, but we're too busy working Worldcon to talk and socialize. But SMOFCon programming is generally also geared toward general convention-running issues.

[jbriggs.livejournal.com]

I'd state that as "Yes, Yes, and Sometimes Not," myself. While occasionally it drifts off of Worldcon, thats usually not the case. One can learn a lot about conventions in general at SMOFcon, but you should run it through the Worldcon filter first. Meine Zwie pfennigen.

[nolly.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed the one SMOFcon I attended, and would like to go again some year, but PTO and budget are both issues this year. Can't apply for this scholarship in good faith, since I've never actually worked a Bay Area convention, and have no plans to change that, at the moment.