Tranquil Ashes here again! Sorry it’s been so long but A LOT has transpired — for instance… this Universal FanCon catastrophe. If you don’t know about it, here is the “short” version.
Universal FanCon is an inclusive, fan funded, multi-fandom convention happening in Baltimore, Maryland April 27 – 29 … until it wasn’t. FanCon was to highlight the LGBTQ communities, woman, and disabled peoples of color. However – just a mere week before the con’s opening day, Universal FanCon was “postponed” indefinitely.
Needless to say — this began UFC’s spiral into a seemingly bottomless hole of things one can do wrong when planning a convention” The idea for the con began in December 2016 and raised over $56k from 1,187 backers, double the amount of their kickstarter goal. The con also boasted such guests as Kristian Nairn (Hodor — Game of Thrones and the cons DJ) , Orlando Jones (American Gods) and a slew of cosplay and creative guests and vendors. Their official statement is as follows:
After reading this, anyone with any sense knows that this apology, and the lack of transparency will inevitably prevent any recover for UFC’s board. The “blame” if one could lay this on a single person has been directed towards creator of Black Girl Nerds — Jamie Boradnax. Also stated to be the co-founder of Universal FanCon and the only one to not invest resources into the event. Boadnax has not yet to admit responsibility for the mismanagement of funds and the overall conduct of the con itself. to and The only thing that has been done since the ball dropped was the releasing of vendor and ticket funds as of the April 24, but it has not been confirmed if this release of funds is across the board.
In light of this — we The Nerds of Color, and Black Heroes Matter, Patrick Strange of New Release Wednesday, The CosGala, and a myriad of other creatives have ban together to give a one-day pop up event WICOMICON, to be hosted in the historic building of 1100 Wicomico St. in Baltimore, MD. This event is for the creatives that have lost out due non-refundable transportation, supplies, and exposure. Creator of The Nerds of Color and Hard NOC Media had this to say: “We knew there were a lot of people in and out of Baltimore hurting when FanCon was postponed, and we wanted to provide some relief,” — Keith Chow. Check out the event if you are still heading to Baltimore the weekend of the 28. It will be a true treat.
With everything that has transpired with UFC’s debacle, I wanted to get the perspective of Cosplay Creatives who were set to vend/guest at the convention and how it affected them directly. Here are a couple testimonials of creatives who were affected and their move forward from this unfortunate situation :
There are so many more creative and guests out there, we couldn’t get to them all! If you’d like to tell your story or be featured in Tranquil Ashes Cosplay Blogs here @ The Nerds of Color please submit to info@thenerdsofcolor.org
TOO ALL MY TRANQUILITES!
#ConTogether