C2E2 is this weekend, April 13-15. You going?

CombatCon’s exclusive class in Jedi lightsaber technique and movie moves returns for 2012.

Holly speed of time, Batman! It’s WonderCon week already. I’m mildly flabbergasted. Wasn’t it JUST January? Is March seriously almost over? Is this weekend really March 16-18?

Madicon is celebrating 21 years this weekend.

March 2-4 is ConDor, San Diego’s best science fiction/fantasy convention. Let the literary glut begin!

Louisville Arcade Expo is a convention of retro gaming featuring arcade machines, pinball, and classic consoles.

Two new cons are coming to Huntington, West Virginia this year. Jewel City Con, a gaming con, and Tri-State Comic Con (Tri-Con), a comic convention.

Millennicon returns for its 26th year at the Holiday Inn off I-275 in Cincinnati, Ohio on March 16-18. Guest of Honor for this year is Tobias Buckell.

Gem City Comic Con expands to two days for the first time this year. They are looking for their biggest year yet and just might get it.

A new convention joins the ever-growing list of fan cons, Lexington Comic & Toy Con at the Lexington Convention Center in Downtown Lexington, Kentucky on March 24.

To celebrate it’s 20th birthday, comics giant Image is throwing itself a birthday party and you’re invited. Image Expo is schedule for the end of February, 2012, and will feature a range of Special Guests from Image.

Mysticon returns for its second year in Roanoke, VA this February 24-26 at the Tanglewood Holiday Inn. The con has expanded its programming, guests list, and more offerings for fans out there.

NYCC is opening it’s badge sales in waves. Currently pre-registration for 4-day

PAX has announced the dates for their PAX Prime 2012 event.

8th Annual WonderCon Masquerade Costumers: The Stage Is Reserved for You on Saturday Night! No celebration of comic books, movies, and the other popular arts would be complete without recognition of the art of costuming.

Brand new for 2012! January 13-16 is the debut of the Steampunk Symposium aboard the historic Queen Mary.

WotC released an announcement Monday about their development work on the next iteration of Dungeons and Dragons. They’re looking for player feedback and offering a chance to play test 5th edition at their upcoming convention this month, the Dungeons and Dragons Experience 2012.

WonderCon has opened advanced registration for their 2012 event.

PAX East is ramping up anti-counterfeiting measures for their 2012 show.

The 2012 World Steam Expo is scheduled for May 25-28 and pre-registration is now open with a limited time discounted price for 4-day passes.

Anime-zing! 2012 is excited to announce that Cristina Vee and Trevor Mueller will be attending the 2012 Anime-zing! anime convention in Davenport, Iowa.

Last week, BBC Worldwide announced that it would host the first official Doctor Who convention in 2012. Many Who cons have been staged before in countries around the world, but this marks the first time the BBC has been involved in such an event.

Fill yourself with turkey and mashed potatoes Thursday, then geek out at a fan convention all weekend.

Ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod! Peter Davisson, Sarah Sutton, and Janet Fielding are Special Guests at the 2011 Chicago TARDIS convention this Thanksgiving Weekend.

If you love anime, and you live near Pensacola, then mark your calendar for FAN:dom, November 11-13.

It’s easy to find great cons all across the United States, but our Canadian “cousins” like to nerd out too! This weekend, Hal-Con is back, and bigger than ever.

Heads up urban fantasy and paranormal mystery fans in the Southwest! Patricia Briggs, author of the Mercede Thompson series (main character is a mechanic and a were-coyote), will be the Guest of Honor this weekend at TusCon.

If your were despairing of there being anymore good anime conventions now that the year is almost over, worry not. There are several events this Veterans Day Weekend, November 11-13.

How do I get a membership badge for the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con? And What’s this “Membership ID” bull? Let me explain…

>Do you like designer toys? How about apparel, sculpture, photography, or art prints? If you enjoy anything and everything about the world of design, and you live near Pasadena, California, then you should definitely visit Designer Con!

November 4-6 in the Orlando, Florida, area is the Hurricane Who Doctor Who convention.

Here’s a snap-shot of the fan conventions happening this month.

Hey there science fiction TV fans, this weekend is Away Mission: Orlando featuring Guests like Patrick Stewart and Jewel Statie.

This weekend, Seattle, zombie horror convention. Friday, October 21, to Sunday, October 23.

WonderCon, a growing comics and pop culture con that’s a sister event to SDCC, is moving for 2012.

This is the third GMX event, and it promises to be the most exciting yet. There will be a huge variety of activities all weekend.

Find your inner alien and discover your inner light with a Hugo Award-winning writer and stars from Star Trek, X-Files, Stargate SG-1 and Chuck during Starbase Indy: The 16th Generation.

The 2011 BlizzCon is October 21-22. And we’ve got a Virtual Ticket to Blizzard’s video game fest.

For you fellow lovers of the sequential joys of comic books, there are three comics fan events this weekend. Including one of the biggies, New York Comic Con.

There are five science fiction themed conventions this weekend, ranging from local SFF events to steampunk cons to a Transformers fest.

Steamcon II: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is this weekend, October 14-16 of 2011. It will be held in Bellevue, Washington.

Quidditch and Harry Potter themed events in the Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania.

Patrick Stewart to headline guests of honor at Creation Entertainment’s Star Trek convention in Cherry Hill.

Tickets to the sequel of InvaderCON are selling quickly. The Advance Weekend Passes may sell out before the new year starts.

Not sure what to do this weekend? If you live in New England, you can take a drive to Fitchburg, MA and see the Great New England Steampunk Exposition!

By popular demand, the convention will happen “one more time” and features the voices of Dib, Gaz, Gir, and Zim along with series creator Jhonen Vasquez.

Colin Ferguson, who plays Sheriff Jack Carter on SyFy’s Eureka, will headline Creation Entertainment’s Salute to Eureka/Warehouse 13/Sanctuary in November.

Gaslight Gathering, a steampunk and Victoriana convention new for 2011, has announced it’s dates for next year.

There are several fan events, parties, festivals and general frolicking scheduled for lovers of retro futurism this month.

C2E2 ‘s organizers have announced the 2012 dates for their annual pop culture convention.

Fall is horror and paranormal convention season. September starts the scary off.

Cincinnati Comic Expo returns for their second year this September 17 at the Duke Energy Convention Center. Admission is $10 with kids under 10 getting in for free. There are also VIP passes for $50. The show will have 23 Featured Guests alone and at least 112 individual artists or businesses that will be there.

Ever wanted to attend a convention without leaving your home and/or putting on pants? Well DigiCon is planning on helping with that. Created by Ryan Fischer of Gin and Comics, DigiCon is an online convention on September 10-11

West Virginia is not really a place you think of when making convention and nerd event plans, but there are a few events that take place in this state every year that might interest you. In fact a lot of them happen over the next two months. Here are list a geeky events I have been able to come across in the Mountain States.

Jewel Staite, known best to fans as “Kaylee” on Firefly, will be one of two Celebrity Guests this October at Vulcan Events’ con in Florida.

A sampling of fan conventions and events for September, 2011.

Green Mustard Entertainment has announced that they will have another InvaderCON in 2010. And hold on your tacos, because you won’t believe their guest list so far.

Walter Koenig, beloved to Trekkies as Chekov, will be one of the Celebrity Guests at Scare-A-Cuse this September.

This weekend is Labor Day Weekend, September 2-5. Three-day weekends are always good for a nice crop of fan conventions.

Want to start the Halloween festivities early this Labor Day? Than get thee to the Horrorfind Weekend convention.

MegaCon, the largest comic book, anime, gaming and multi media event in the Southeast, is pleased to make its initial announcement of guests.

Call of Duty XP is the ultimate event for fans of the video game. Among other experiences, attendees will be the first to play the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 multiplayer game.

There’s a huge list of panels for the 2011 PAX Prime convention this weekend. To help with the ‘what ever shall I see’ dilemma I figured I’d share my personal ‘must see’ list.

Dragon*Con has many Fan Tracks. Steampunk lovers will find their retrofuturist cravings met by the Alternative History track.

Couldn’t get a ticket to this year’s BlizzCon in Anehiem? Me either. But we’re not totally out of luck. Each year Blizzard sells Virtual Tickets to their fan event.

There are several gaming conventions scheduled for August, 2011. Everything from video games to boardgames.

August is here, the last month of summer conventions. There are quite a few fan events for anime, manga, and Japanese culture appreciation scheduled for this month.

If you’re an anthropomorphics fan there are two conventions the August 12 weekend.

For you fans of webcomics in the southwest you can sate your love this Saturday at STRIP: The Dallas Webcomics Expo. Which, oddly enough, is not actually held in Dallas this year.

Matsuriconn has scheduled over 20 Guests for their sixth year; voice actors, musicians, artists, industry people, and more.

A sampling of the upcoming fan conventions happening this month, August 2011.

NYCC offers VIP ticket packages filled with perks and goodies. The Special Access Package is sold out, but there are still some limited VIP tixs available in the Anime Access and Ultimate Access packages.

The Alternative Press Expo (APE) has announced their first round of Special Guests for their 2011 convention this coming October. Looks exciting already.

Dragon*Con has released their Progress Report convention book for the 2011 event.

After pleasing fans for years Leonard Nimoy is finally retiring from the fan convention circuit. Two upcoming Official Star Trek Convention events will mark his last scheduled celebrity convention appearances.

2011 is the second year of Animinicon SoHo, an anime convention that debuted last year. The event will be held August 12-14 in New York (the state AND the city) at the SoHo Gallery for Digital Art.

This Sunday the 24^th of July will be the first River City Comic Con in Marietta, Ohio.  The first such con in the region in over ten years

If you are in the Toronto area from July 30th to the 31st, and suffering through a Comic Con hangover, here is a bit of the “hair of the dog”. Come to the Atomic Lollipop Convention and enjoy 24 hours of high energy events ranging from anime, manga, DJ music, gaming, carnival rides and circus acts. The convention portion, Atomic

There are many great fan events in San Diego this week, from offsite parties to actual gaming and non-SDCC comic conventions. Plus great geek plays like Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog – Live.

his week is the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con. As, uh, you may have noticed. Among the comic books and other pop culture fare is a thread of steampunkery woven by various local groups. Here’s a quick look at the various steampunk events, panels, artists, signings, etc. available to the intrepid congoer for 2011.

TR!CKSTER is a new, free, comics convention in San Diego July 19-24, 2011. With a focus on the indie and self-published. So if you’re looking for an alternative to SDCC, here you go.

San Diego Comic Con released their ticket policy for purchasing 2012 tickets onsite at this year’s event, and it is a bit complicated to say the least. Some of the rules make sense, while others, well, you be the judge.

Last Unicorn author Peter S. Beagle returns to Otakon as a Guest at their 2011 event.

July 19-24, from noon to midnight, is Gam3rCon – a brand new gaming convention in San Diego celebrating everything from dice games to the latest video glories.

Come to Atomic Lollipop in Canada and enjoy 24 hours of high energy events ranging from anime, manga, DJ music, carnival rides, circus acts, and cosplay tournament.

Ba-Con (pronounced “BEY-kahn”) is Central Ohio’s only weekend-long convention & trade show celebrating geek culture, technology, and bacon! This is one event that’s guaranteed to be crispy and delicious.

There are two Harry Potter conventions this July, 2011. One is the huge LeakyCon event in Orlando and the other is a little one-off mini event for fans to socialize.

Ghost stories around the camp fire make summer an ideal time for ghost stories and other general scariness. July has several horror and monster conventions, proving that horror events aren’t just for October.

Event brings creators and fans together for weekend of learning and fun.

It’s July, time for Comic-Con at last! Plus Gam3rcon, a brand new gaming focused convention here in San Diego running concurrently with SDCC. And July is practically unofficially Anime Convention Month. Here’s the list of the fan conventions for July 2011.

Horror Realm is planning a Summer of Scares for horror fans in the Pittsburgh and surrounding area to whet appetites for its fall convention. There will be many cool events in the middle of a hot summer, including 12 Weeks of Horror.

Fieldcon is an annual camping con put on by the same people who do Anime Punch. The idea is to try and expand the concept of an anime convention by taking it outdoors. It is the first outdoor anime con. Other fandoms have had their own outdoor/camping cons, so now it is anime’s turn. It will be held July 1-3 of this year.

Tolkien Moot, formerly MerpCon, has firmed on their 2011 dates and location; the event will now be in July instead of June.

Half the fan conventions this weekend are here in the Southwest region; from TrekExpo in Oklahoma to CombatCon in Nevada.

This family friendly celebration of monster films from the silent movie era through the 1950s has a vampire theme for June, 2011.

For their 2011 event, CherryCaptialCon is selling an exclusive Star Wars themed patch to benefit the Autism Research Network.

Today kicks off 3-days of fandom in Philadelphia at Wizard World Philly (also known as Philadelphia Comic Con). Hosted by Wizard Entertainment, this convention is the largest fandom con within the city, bringing in thousands of visitors. Some of the guests headlining the convention are Bruce Campbell, Adam Baldwin, Vivica A. Fox, Julie Benz, Billy Dee Williams, Adam West, and Nicholas Brendon.

If you were born with a higher midi-chlorian count than others and were able to sense the madness that would be Comic Con ticket sales 2011, you bought your tickets way early during Comic Con 2010. In fact, so many purchased their tickets in advance that all 4-Day passes with Preview night were sold out before the convention concluded its run on Sunday evening.

It’s not too early to start planning out your trip to Star Wars Celebration VI! It’s returning to the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando following the success of Celebration V last year.

With the 2011 SDCC next month, companies are beginning to announce the exclusives. Some are ones you may be expecting, others may come as a surprise.

Knoxville Anime & Comic Con is June 18-19 at the Holiday Inn Cedar Bluff in Knoxville, Tennessee. The hours for the show are 10am-6pm on Saturday and 11am-4pm on Sunday. The con is one of the many different ones run by Comic City. It is an autograph and collectible con that tries to provide a good environment for fans. They are bringing both some interesting guests and various dealers to the show.

Holland’s JemCon is on it’s 7^th year and, by all accounts, likely to keep going strong. This annual fan event celebrates the Jem animated series and the line of fashion dolls from Hasbro.

June boasts many interesting and unusual steampunk events; conventions, teas, dances, etc. Including one con that I’m REALLY looking forward to.

Dragon*Con, one of the biggest fan conventions of the geek calendar year, has adopted the use of barcodes for their 2011 registration process.

June, 2011, has quite a few anime conventions scheduled; at least one every weekend this month, in fact.

June marks the start of the plentiful summer conventions, as well as outdoor festivals and fairs. I’ve tried to include as many small, little known conventions as possible so June’s con list will hopefully have something that’s new to everyone.

This weekend SoonerCon, the aptly named fan run multi-genre convention in Oklahoma City, plans to delight Firefly fans at their 2011 event with two screenings of the Joss-approved fan made sequel to Serenity.

Trek Expo has announced their Guest lineup for the 2011 event in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The list is headed by George Takei and includes a range of actors from various iconic science fiction TV shows and movies.

This hybrid multi-genre convention mixes steampunk, horror, pirates, sci-fi, and fantasy all with the unifying element of the Western Martial Arts. We’re pretty big on steampunk here at Convention Fans Blog so let me tell you that the steamy events scheduled so far for CombatCon 2011 are looking pretty sweet.

This Memorial Day Weekend is TimeGate 2011, featuring Doctor Who legend Sophie Aldred at the head of the Guest list.

There are six anime conventions Memorial Day weekend 2011. Check out the list.

For their 2011 convention BlizzCon is selling tickets in two batches. The second and last ticket sale event will be this Wednesday, May 25 at 7:00 PM (Pacific Time).

There are quite a few fan conventions for the Supernatural TV show this year.

Learn Jedi lightsaber dueling from Star Wars fight director Nick Gillard at CombatCon 2011 in Las Vegas.

Shore Leave is a fan-run science fiction convention that will be hosting their 33rd convention this July 8-10, 2011 in Maryland. We’re pretty big fans of Shore Leave (just read our 2009 and 2010 convention reports), and this year looks to be as awesome as ever!

The times that were, the times that are, and the times that may be… and how to kick butt in all of them!

Gaslight Gathering, San Diego’s new steampunk & Victoriana convention, is this weekend. The May 6-8 con boasts great guests, a Time Traveler’s Masked Ball, Mother’s Day Social, amazing vendors, street performers, and more.

Here are the conventions happening May of 2011. It’s a big month, what with Memorial Day Weekend and a ton of steampunk events.

I’ve just been notified that pre-registration for Gaslight Gathering, California’s newest steampunk convention, will close at 11:59 Saturday evening, April 30 (that’s tomorrow night). There are events that you must buy tickets for ahead of time.

Malice Domestic is a “fun fan” literary convention dedicated to the traditional mystery as exemplified by Agatha Christie. It’s also one of the few conventions that goes out of its way to get plenty of female author guests.

GlitchCon has announced their Special Guest lineup for their September event; it forecasts GlitchCon 2011 as a diverse affair of probable awesomeness.

This weekend is the end of April and the beginning of May. There are two major horror conventions and a brand new Canadian extravaganza happening in the April 29-May 1 window for 2011.

Memorial Day is coming up. Here’s a snapshot of conventions happening Memorial Day Weekend, 2011 (arranged VERY roughly by general geographical regions).

April 29-May 2 2011 is Costume-Con, a major national celebration of costuming in ALL its varied forms.

May is a big month for steampunk flavored events. There are a few major steampunk conventions, as well as a handful of others. Here’s a quick look at next month’s steamy goings on.

Dragon*Con is one of our favorite conventions here at The Convention Fans Blog. I’ve been attending every year since 2005, and 2011 is shaping up to be yet another great year. Although the convention isn’t happening until Labor Day, there are already more than 60 guests named (with more to come).

Anime Punch is this April 22-24. It’s run by a few different principles than most. First they strive to be an anime only con, meaning they try to focus as much of the con as they can on anime. Not that they put down such things as video games, manga, j-pop, or the like just that they wish to put the ‘anime’ back in ‘anime con.’

There are a lot of convention types out there; comic cons, furry meets, sci-fi/fantasy events, horror film festivals, etc. Here’s a quick sampler of some of the most specific cons out there in fan-land.

The Oklahoma Steamunk Expo will come to us again on April 15th in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It will have panels available from the Imperial Anti-Piracy Squadron, Airship Isabella, the Sailing Ship Kali’s Hourglass, and Evelyn Kriete on a variety of Steampunk topics.

Here’s a snapshot of the various fan and geek conventions happening April 2011. I’ve doubtless left many off, so sing out on those.

San Diego’s very own steampunk convention has announced a special Time Traveler’s Masked Ball for their 2011 event.

Literary science fiction convention Millennicon is this week, celebrating their 25th year.

This year All-Con, the “everything con” has chosen Steampunk as its theme and has brought in a lot of local talent from that community to provide 17 separate Steampunk panels and/or performances at the event. This is not even counting the wonderful and almost non-stop Steampunk table top role play gaming of “Tephra” provided by the members of Cracked Monocle, Cuthulu Dice Steampunk RPG, or Gurps Steampunk table top gaming.

Madicon is this weekend and they are gearing up for it. They have a lot planned for their 20th anniversary, adding some new stuff while maintaining the classics. Guests lined up are authors C.S. Friedman, Katherine Kurtz, and C.J. Henderson. Filker and web comic creator Rob Balder, gaming guest Brian Glass, and medieval recreation group COMARR.

There are many conventions this month, from comic cons to steampunk. There are doubtless fan conventions I’ve missed, so don’t forget that web searches are your friend. Here are the conventions, mini-cons and fan fess happening march 2011.

Calling all Victorians, Neo-Victorians, airship captains, goths, vamps, counter culturists, artists, musicians, and anyone interested in what one may call an “alternative” lifestyle! (Boy is that a mouthful.) This weekend is “The Alternative Living Expo.”

Tolkien Moot is an annual convention, usually held in Washington, that is dedicated to J.R.R. Tolkien enthusiasts, gamers, and scholars. Good ‘ol JRR is the author of such fantasy works as The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which you may have heard of.

Gem City Comic Con is six years old and a true comic con which still focuses on the comics. They bring in national level comic creators and have plenty of local creators as well.

HammerCon is a game convention run for gamers by gamers. The Canadian event, now in its third year, will be held November 4-5, 2011, at the Plaza Hamilton hotel located in downtown Hamilton, Ontario.

I recently received this excellent invitation to an outdoor Steampunk Festival that looked like so much fun, I thought I would share it with you.

This is the week of Mysticon in Roanke, VA. Plans are being finalized, attendees are packing, guests are getting ready, and of course staff members are losing a little bit more of their sanity.

TrekTrax Atlanta, a brand new Star Trek convention, is beaming into Atlanta, Georgia today! This convention not only features some traditional Star Trek convention elements, like panel discussions and celebrity Q&As, but it also has some unique Klingon programming in store!

Millennicon brings programming on science fiction literature, fantasy subjects, science, space, technology, writing, art, costuming, collecting, gaming, children’s programming, film, media interests and more.

Event submission is open for Gen Con Indy. They’re aiming to break their 2010 record for gaming events.

Steampunk conventions are getting more and more popular, which means one could soon be coming to a city near you! For those of you in the south east United States, there’s AnachroCon, an Atlanta, Georgia steampunk convention.

Madicon is run by the Science Fiction Fantasy Guild at James Madison University. The con is held at the college in Harrisonburg, VA and this will be their 20^th anniversary. It will be March 11-13.

So, the San Diego Comic-Con has finally managed to successfully sell tickets. Though, it was a bit of an uphill struggle to get into the system Saturday.

A veritable feast of recent American cartoons, Japanese animation, video games, and associated delights. In the heart of San Francisco’s Japantown. Takes place this month during President’s Weekend.

The first Mysticon was held on July 4th weekend in 1980, and is still going strong. Guests of Honor for this year include Brinke Stevens, David Gerrold, Randy Asplund, Keith DeCandido, and more.

Wicked Faire is a festival, faire, convention, and playground for anyone who enjoys things that are outside the norm. It’s a ceaseless onslaught of entertainment wrapped up in a whirlwind weekend of wonderful things to do, see, try, explore, find, play with, experience, and enjoy.

Boston Comic Con is moving! They’ll be bigger than ever for their 2011 event (April 30 to May 1), which will now be held at the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center.

For 2011, the Fest will be heading to Tampa, Florida, for the first time ever.

With it’s increasing popularity steampunk has gained stronger footholds in the mainstreams of fandom around the world, allowing for more and more conventions each year dedicated entirely to this speculative fiction genre and subculture. Here are the steampunk conventions, mini-cons and festivals happening in 2011: AnachroCon: Southern Steampunk Symposium When: February 25-27, 2011 Where: Atlanta, Georgia AnachroCon is the place

Anime Detour is a fan run convention dedicated to Japanese animation, manga, video games and culture. The convention’s organizers work hard to bring in people from all over the Anime universe as well as local talent from Minnesota; artists, writers, fan guests, voice actors, producers, directors, and such.

Doctor Who convention Gallifrey One has announced the Guests for their 2011 event.

San Diego’s longest running science fiction and fantasy convention, has changed venues.

Planning for the 42nd annual San Diego Comic-Con International is under way and already a number of special guests have signed on for the 2011 event, to be held July 21-24 at the San Diego Convention Center.

With its increasing popularity, steampunk has gained stronger footholds in the mainstreams of fandom around the world, allowing for more and more conventions dedicated entirely to this speculative fiction genreand subculture. The year 2010 saw at least two new steampunk conventions opening their doors: SteamWrights in Bremerton, Washington, and Convencion Steampunk BCN in Barcelona, Spain.

It may be getting colder out, but that doesn’t mean “convention season” is over just yet. Below is a list of anime conventions happening across the globe this very weekend, November 12 – 14, 2010. We’ve got cons going on from Texas to Denmark!

This week, October 22-24, is the fifth annual CharCon in Charleston, West Virginia. The event takes place once again at the Charleston Civic Center. The theme for this year is ‘Space.’ This convention continues to grow another year with more room; RPGs are getting their own private rooms to be run in, and there are new games and events.

Big news yesterday for my fellow Penny Arcade fans. PAX East (a.k.a. Penny Arcade Expo East) 2011 registration is now open! The convention has moved to the much larger BCEC in Boston, which is an improvement over last year’s cramped Hynes Convention Center. PAX East 2011 will be held March 11 – 13.

If you are one of the few still playing Star Trek Online (STO), then you should have received a special offer e-mail today from Cryptic Studios. Players of the game are being given the opportunity to take advantage of a special discount on tickets to the Hollywood Xpo convention. STO players can buy one ticket to Hollywood Xpo, and get a second ticket for free.

Summer is over and school is back in session. For most people, that means the end of convention season. But wait, don’t pack away your Buster Sword and Naruto head bands yet! There is still Another Anime Con (yes, that is the name of the convention). If 2010 is anything like 2009 was, then it is sure to be a good time.

Necromicon 2010 is coming! Run by the Stone Hill Science Fiction Association, Necronomicon has been going on annually for 28 years. It’s a sci-fi/fantasy/horror convention with everything you could possibly ask for: celebrity guests, game room, live action roleplay, masquerades, art show, authors, panels and a dealer’s room.

PhauxCon is a great event held annually in downtown Philadelphia. Spend a few days sharing your fandom, laughing, learning, making new friends, and expanding your horizons, all for just $20. I attended in 2009, and it was easily one of my favorite conventions of the entire year.

When you think of steampunk, a lot of Victorian (i.e. British) imagery and influences probably come to mind. One steampunk convention, however, has decided that the theme for its 2010 convention should be the “Weird Weird West,” which they have also called “American steampunk.”

Here’s a great convention for your inner eight-year-old! BrickCon is an adult “LEGO® Hobbyist Event” happening in Seattle, Washington on September 30th – October 3rd, 2010. It is being held at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall. You know you want to go.

For those who were living under a rock when Human Centipede came out, it’s about a bunch of people who get sewn together butt to mouth. Wizard Entertainment, who runs Big Apple Comic Con, calls Human Centipede a “biological horror movie.” Nice euphemism, Wizard.

No, we’re not making this one up kids. It’s really a convention dedicated to geek culture and technology, and bacon. Yes, bacon as in the crispy delicious candy bar of meats. The kind Reddit.com loves so much. Mark your calendars bacon lovers.

Inochicon is a Philadelphia anime convention happening August 27 – 29, 2010 at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel. The convention will feature appearances by Reni Mimura, the LeetStreet Boys, Uncle Yo, Cosplay Comedian Joe, Julia Lichty, and Hannah Minx (who is the Guest emcee). Tickets will be available for purchase at the door.

Here at The Convention Fans Blog, we’re pretty big fans of Reni Mimura. She’s a fantastic cosplay singer that frequently attends anime conventions here in the North East. I had a chance to see her back at Zenkaikon 2009, and I’m very happy to say I’ll be seeing her again at Inochicon. Inochicon is a Philadelphia anime convention happening August 27 – 29, 2010 at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel.

Two of science fiction’s biggest franchises are holding official conventions this weekend! Star Wars Celebration V, the official Star Wars convention hosted by ReedPOP, is happening in Florida. Meanwhile, Creation Entertainment is holding their Official East Coast Star Trek Convention in New Jersey. Both have some impressive guest lists and activities planned. We’ve already provided some coverage on them both, which we’ve re-linked below, along with some new information and what you can expect from our reporting team in terms of coverage during and after.

Horror conventions have been around for decades, and they are still going strong here in the United States. Whether you’re looking for a hard to find Italian horror film on DVD, or seeking autographs from the great George Romero, horror conventions are the place to find both! With Halloween getting closer by the minute, I figured now was as good of a time as any to post this list!

TeslaCon is a steampunk convention happening November 5 – 7, 2010 at the Radisson in West Madison, Wisconsin. The event was originally scheduled for November 19 – 21, but it has since been moved up to “prevent possible collisions and turbulent conditions that shifted over the Northern Americas Continent.”

Gen Con Indy is one of two big conventions happening this weekend in the United States (the other is Creation’s Official Star Trek Convention in Vegas). If you’re a gamer, Gen Con Indy is definitely one of the “must attend” conventions each year. Not surprisingly, it attracts at least 90,000 consumer and professional attendees. And did we mention Felicia Day and Wil Wheaton will be there?

Star Wars Celebration V is almost upon us, and schedules are now online! Break out the highlighters kids, because there’s a lot of great stuff happening at this convention! Star Wars Celebration V is the official Star Wars convention, organized by ReedPOP, and it is happening August 12 – 15, 2010 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. The Convention Fans Blog’s nerdsherpa will be at the convention as a volunteer (and we’ll be seeing some feedback from him once he recovers from the experience). Now, we’re not going to rehash the entire schedule here, but as we did for San Diego Comic-Con, we’ll post some of the “must see” panels and interesting events.

Once upon a time, I was a Con, which is to say I went to conventions as an attendee. Then one day as a solution to lacking financial resources, I weaseled my way into volunteering at a convention, and I became a Pro. Now I’m still a Con at some shows, but I’ve learned that being a Pro is a lot more fun.

For those of us on the East Coast, making it out to Creation Entertainment’s big Star Trek convention in Las Vegas is a bit difficult. Fortunately, there is an official East Coast convention held annually in New Jersey. The Official East Coast Star Trek Convention is taking place August 13 – 15, 2010 at the Hilton Parsippany. And I am happy to report that I will be there on Saturday to cover the convention for those of you who can’t make it to that one either.

Every year we cry a little bit about not making it out to California for San Diego Comic-Con International (or SDCC for short). Even though we won’t be attending SDCC 2010, we have looked over the schedule and created a list of “must see” events and panels that we would attend if we were there. Since that programming list so incredibly long, we’re breaking down these recommendations into specific days. So without further ado, here is The Convention Fans Blog List of Must See Sunday Programming at San Diego Comic-Con 2010.

Every year we cry a little bit about not making it out to California for San Diego Comic-Con International (or SDCC for short). Even though we won’t be attending SDCC 2010, we have looked over the schedule and created a list of “must see” events and panels that we would attend if we were there. Since that programming list so incredibly long, we’re breaking down these recommendations into specific days. So without further ado, here is The Convention Fans Blog List of Must See Saturday Programming at San Diego Comic-Con 2010.

Every year we cry a little bit about not making it out to California for San Diego Comic-Con International (or SDCC for short). Even though we won’t be attending SDCC 2010, we have looked over the schedule and created a list of “must see” events and panels that we would attend if we were there. Since that programming list so incredibly long, we’re breaking down these recommendations into specific days. So without further ado, here is The Convention Fans Blog List of Must See Friday Programming at San Diego Comic-Con 2010.

Every year we cry a little bit about not making it out to California for San Diego Comic-Con International (or SDCC for short). We’re a bunch of East Coast con-goers here at The Convention Fans Blog, and SDCC is happening July 22 – 25 at the San Diego Convention Center. Even though we won’t be attending SDCC 2010, we have looked over the schedule and created a list of “must see” events and panels that we would attend if we were there. Since that programming list so incredibly long, we’re breaking down these recommendations into specific days. So without further ado, here is The Convention Fans Blog List of Must See Thursday Programming at San Diego Comic-Con 2010.

I tend to shy away from posting non-fandom conventions and conferences here, but I decided to make an exception for the Nikola Tesla Energy Independence Celebration and Conference. Why? This celebration includes Tesla coil demonstrations, contests, music and vendors, some of which may be of interest to the convention going crowd. And did I mention a lot of it was free? Yeah, there’s that.

Wizard Entertainment is bringing six cast members from Buffy and Angel to their inaugural Wizard World New England Comic Con for an event dubbed “Buffyfest.” Wizard World’s New England Comic Con is happening October 15-17, 2010 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, Massachusetts. The Buffy franchise celebs currently scheduled to appear include James Marsters, Charisma Carpenter, Nicholas Brendon, Amber Benson, Clare Kramer and Mercedes McNab.

The Labyrinth of Jareth Masquerade Ball is a two-day event based on “Venetian Histories, Celtic Faerie and Goblin Lore” (and well, the movie Labyrinth). I realize this isn’t technically a convention, but it’s close enough for me and it sounds too cool not to mention. Now celebrating its 13th year, the The Labyrinth of Jareth Masquerade Ball is happening July 16 – 17, 2010 at the Park Plaza in Los Angeles, California. Doors open at 8 p.m.

Not everyone can make it out to Origins this weekend (one of the biggest gaming conventions in the United States). If you’d still like to get your game on at a convention this weekend, check out Three Rivers Con, a one day gaming con in Knoxville, Tennessee. It is being held June 26, 2010 at Fountainhead College.

Last time I wrote about Star Wars Celebration V, Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia) was the only person on the guest list and not a whole lot more was known. Boy have things changed in the past few months. There is seemingly little doubt that Star Wars Celebration V is going to be a fandom convention of downright galactic proportions. And oh yeah, this guy named George Lucas will be there, and he’s being interviewed by this other guy named John Stewart.

Librari-Con is an annual anime mini convention that features anime viewing, panels, forums, an artist alley, a “Chibi Corner”, a manga lounge, cosplay runway, gaming, and more. Librari-Con 2010 is being held at the Headquarters Library in Fayetteville, North Carolina on September 4.

Last year one of my favorite conventions was Shore Leave. It was a nice mid-sized con that offered a great mix of science fiction and actual science programming, along with interesting celebrity Q&As, and vendors. Shore Leave is a fan-run convention held in Baltimore, Maryland (USA). It is happening July 9-11, 2010 at the Marriott’s Hunt Valley Inn.

Bubonicon 42 is a science fiction and fantasy convention taking place at The Albuquerque Grand (Sheraton) Airport Hotel in New Mexico, from August 27-29, 2010. Douglas Adams’ “Life, the Universe and Everything” is the inspiration and theme for 2010′s Bubonicon 42. So bring a towel!

Looking for something to do this weekend? Believe it or not, almost every weekend there are dozens of fandom conventions occurring all over the world. Some are large corporate-run “official” conventions that may be hard to get into on short notice, and some are tiny fan-run conventions that would probably love to have a few more people show up. Below

There are hundreds of comic book conventions happening each year in the United States, but very few superheros can say they have a whole weekend dedicated entirely to them. Superman Celebration is a fandom convention/event dedicated to one of the most legendary superheros: Superman. The event is happening June 10 – 13, 2010 in Metropolis, Illinois, at Superman Square and

If you’re a fan of the hit television show Supernatural, you may be interested to know that Creation Entertainment is hosting an East Coast “Salute to Supernatural” convention in New Jersey this July. The event is being held July 9 – 11, 2010 at the Hilton Parsippany Hotel in Parsippany, New Jersey. Read below for the guest list, activities, and

Wizard World Philly, also known as Philadelphia Comic Con, is less than two weeks away! The convention is happening June 11 – 13, 2010, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Center City, Philadelphia. It is hosted by Wizard Entertainment, a company that runs fandom conventions in major cities across the United States and in parts of Canada. -> Read More:

Phoenix Comicon is an Arizona (USA) convention being held May 27 – 30, 2010 at the Phoenix Convention Center and The Hyatt Regency. Entering its ninth year, Phoenix Comicon is expected to draw over 10,000+ attendees in 2010. Believe me when I say I am totally jealous of all 10,000+ people that are getting to attend this killer convention. You’ll

Dragonflight is a convention that started back in 1980 and today it is one of the longest running gaming conventions in the USA’s Pacific Northwest. This convention brings together more than 500 players and game masters to play in or run around 300 events spread over three days. Dragonflight XXXI is happening August 13 – 15, 2010 at the Bellevue

-> Click here for a List of Upcoming Steampunk Conventions for 2010 <-

The Convention Fans Blog / Alltern8.com team are preparing for two great upcoming conventions in the month of May! The first of these events is the The National Halloween and National Haunters Convention. This year the National Halloween and National Haunters Convention is being held April 29 – May 2, 2010 in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania (USA), at the Valley Forge

Otakon is an annual celebration of Japanese and East Asian popular culture, and one of the largest anime conventions in the United States. This fan-run convention keep growing, and attracted over 25,000 attendees in 2009. Because it is one of the bigger cons, if you want to attend you really should plan ahead. Otakon 2010 is taking place July 30

Just as we’ve done articles for upcoming Twilight and Doctor Who conventions, we wanted to highlight upcoming conventions for the Stargate franchise. Stargate, of course, includes the SG-1 series, Atlantis, and Universe. There are several fan-run Stargate conventions, as well as an “official” series of conventions hosted by Creation Entertainment. While you’ll frequently find Stargate guests at multi-fandom cons around

Doctor Who, the incredibly famous science fiction franchise based in the UK, has had fandom conventions since the 1970s, and they are still going strong. Although fans can often find Doctor Who programming, events, and guests at general sci-fi cons all over the world, there are some conventions dedicated entirely to the good Doctor, his companions, his movies, TV series,

Check the date – this is no April Fool’s Day joke. Carrie Fisher is officially on the guest list for Star Wars Celebration V. Star Wars Celebration is the official Star Wars convention series, and it occurs every few years at different cities across the globe (the last two were in Japan and England). For 2010, it is happening in

If you’re a Star Trek fan who can’t make it out to the big Las Vegas Star Trek convention, you may be happy to know that Creation Entertainment is bringing back their Official East Coast Star Trek Convention to New Jersey. The Official East Coast Star Trek Convention is taking place August 13 – 15, 2010 at the Hilton Parsippany

Anime and sci-fi/fantasy fans aren’t the only ones with fandom conventions. Are you a horror fan? You’re in luck, because almost every major city in the United States has it’s own horror convention these days, and Indianapolis, Indiana is no exception. The Famous Monsters Convention is a horror con that takes place in Indianapolis, Indiana, and it is being held July

What’s the latest fandom convention craze? Twilight conventions. They are in just about every major city in America. Some are fan run (and not for profit). Some are run by for-profit entities. But only one company can say they run the “Official” Twilight conventions, and that’s Creation Entertainment (the same company responsible for Star Trek, Stargate, Xena, Firefly, Supernatural, and

Although The Convention Fans Blog is based in the United States, I wanted to take an entry to highlight some upcoming fandom conventions in the Toronto area of Canada (all of the conventions below are within 120 miles of Toronto). I’ll be doing the same for other areas of Canada in the future! Let’s get on with the Canadian conventions,

The Convention Fans Blog/Alltern8.com is happy to announce that we will be attending TooManyGames, a one-day gaming convention located on the east coast of the United States. It is being held April 18th, 2010, 10am-6pm at the The Inn at Reading in Reading, Pennsylvania (USA). TooManyGames features a marketplace with dozens of vendors; a gaming room with Atari, NES, NeoGeo,

There’s no doubt that Anime Expo is one of the most talked about anime conventions in the United States. In fact, it’s the nation’s largest anime/manga convention (over 40,000 attendees). It even uses the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live for many of the main events. This year, Anime Expo is taking place July 1 – 4, 2010 at the Los Angeles

Hurricane Who is a Doctor Who convention held in Orlando, Florida (USA). This year, it is happening October 29 through October 31, 2010 at the Doubletree Resort Orlando hotel. Hurricane Who is run by a fan group that organizes ‘Doctor Who’ events in the Orlando, Florida area, and 2010 marks the second year for the convention. Guests for the 2010

Creation Entertainment is the host of the Official Star Trek Convention, held annually in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. For 2010, it is happening August 5 – 8, 2010 at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel (even though the Hilton no longer has the Star Trek Experience exhibit). Just as with years past, the 2010 con is shaping up to be another

We’re very excited to be heading out to Farpoint 2010 tonight! Farpoint is a Maryland science fiction media convention being held at the Crowne Plaza Baltimore North in Maryland (USA) on February 12th-14th, 2010. The full guest list currently includes: Felicia Day (Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog / The Guild / Dollhouse), Sam Witwer (Smallville / Star Wars: The Force Unleashed), Mira

Although The Convention Fans Blog is mostly geared towards fandom conventions in the US and Canada, I wanted to take a moment to post about FedCon, which is Europe’s biggest Star Trek and sci-fi convention. This year, FedCon is being held April 30 – May 2nd, 2010, at the Maritim Hotel Bonn in Germany. FedCon is celebrating it’s 19th year

PAX stands for Penny Arcade Expo, a convention born from the Penny Arcade web-comic. For the past few years, PAX was a once a year convention held in Seattle over the summer, but for the first time, there is to be an East coast version too. For 2010, that location is Boston. Read more about ticket availability, and Wil Wheaton’s

The National Halloween and National Haunters Convention is an event that brings together professional haunters, amateur home haunters, Halloween decorators, antique collectors, horror film fans, and history buffs all under the one umbrella of the holiday. This year the National Halloween and National Haunters Convention is being held April 29 – May 2, 2010 in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania (USA), at

Fandom conventions come in all sizes and exist for almost every imaginable niche audience out there. One such niche convention is JordanCon, a convention dedicated to author Robert Jordan and his epic series The Wheel of Time. Created in 2009, the convention is back for 2010! JordanCon 2010 is being called “The SeanCon Invasion” and will be taking place April

MegaCon is a pretty major convention in the central Florida area. It’s been around for years, and since 2005 it’s been sponsored by Coliseum of Comics. However, despite the comics sponsorship, MegaCon caters to sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and anime fans, as well as comic book fans. I actually attended this convention three or four years in a row (but haven’t

I’ve got another great convention to mention, this time in Ohio.

I’ve got another great convention to mention, this time in Ohio (USA). A&G Ohio (short for Animation & Gaming Ohio) is being held March 12 – 14, 2010, at the Holiday Inn Eastgate in Cincinnati. Guests include: Troy Baker (voice actor; “Abel Nightroad” in Trinity Blood), D.C. Douglas (voice actor), Gavin Goszka (musician), Chris Patton (voice actor; “Sousuke” in Full

Robotech, “a sweeping science-fiction anime epic of humans defending their homeworld against alien domination,” is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a tour of various anime conventions across the United States. The celebration will all start in San Francisco this January 30-31, 2010, at Animation On Display (AOD), San Francisco’s very own Japanese anime and cartoon convention! Three key figures behind

As you can tell from some of my more recent posts, we’ve been lining up our convention appearances for 2010. In addition to the recent announcements that we’ll be attending Farpoint and PAX East, I’m also pleased to announce that we’ll be attending Shore Leave 32 as well! Shore Leave is a fan-run science fiction convention held in Baltimore, Maryland

The Convention Fans Blog/Alltern8.com team is very excited to report that we’ll be attending Farpoint, a Maryland science fiction media convention! It is being held at the Crowne Plaza Baltimore North in Maryland (USA) on February 12th-14th, 2010. From the official website: “Farpoint is an annual gathering for fans of all genres of imaginative fiction – Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror,

The Convention Fans Blog/Alltern8.com team is very excited to report that we’ll be attending an incredible event in May: The Steampunk World’s Fair! It is being held in at the Radisson of Piscataway in New Jersey on May 14th-16th, 2010. From the official website: “[The Steampunk World's Fair] is the first East Coast event to welcome Steampunks, Neo-Victorians, Retro-futurists, Gas