San Francisco Science Fiction Conventions, Inc.

Press Release 2009-2
SFSFC AWARDS 2009 SMOFCON SCHOLARSHIP

SAN FRANCISCO SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTIONS, INC.
A California Non-Profit Corporation
PO Box 61363, Sunnyvale CA 94088-1363 USA
info@sfsfc.org; http://www.sfsfc.org/

For immediate release: November 5, 2009

SFSFC Awards 2009 SMOFCon Scholarship

San Francisco Science Fiction Conventions, Inc. (SFSFC) has awarded a scholarship of $500 to Kirsten M. Berry to attend the SMOFCon 27 convention-runners convention in Austin TX over the weekend of December 4-6, 2009.

Kirsten M. Berry has been attending conventions without a noticeable break for twenty-five years, and has worked on conventions of different sizes and responsibility levels, including BayCon, TimeCon, SiliCon, Further ConFusion, and ConJose. She has volunteer experience with Info Desk, Registration, Treasury, Administration, Hospitality, Staff Lounge, Gaming, and Newsletter. In addition, she has been a member of the Advisory Council for the Burning Man Department of Mutant Vehicles since 2007. She says that she is interested in learning more about Programming, and that she hopes to put the lessons learned at SMOFCon to work on BayCon as well as future Westercons and Worldcons.

SMOFCon is an annual convention about organizing science fiction conventions. Subject matter ranges from managing small conventions up to the unique challenges of World Science Fiction Conventions. The convention is held in a different city each year. The 2009 SMOFCon will be in Austin TX at the Hilton Garden Inn Austin Downtown. More information about this year’s SMOFCon is available on their web site http://www.alamo-sf.org/smofcon27/index.html.

Applications were judged by the scholarship administrators, who for 2009 were once again the three directors of SFSFC who have chaired Worldcons: David W. Clark, Kevin Standlee, and Tom Whitmore.

This is the sixth consecutive year that SFSFC has issued scholarships to allow promising convention runners to attend SMOFCon.

The name “SMOF” stands for “Secret Masters Of Fandom,” and is a humorous reference to the people who organize and manage science fiction conventions. Another term sometimes used for such people is “conrunner.”

SFSFC was the parent non-profit corporation of ConJosé, the 2002 World Science Fiction Convention, and ConFrancisco, the 1993 Worldcon, as well as the 2009 World Fantasy Convention. SFSFC will also host Westercon 64 in San Jose in 2011.

Contact:
SFSFC Inc.: Kevin Standlee info@sfsfc.org
SMOFCon 27: http://www.alamo-sf.org/smofcon27/

San Francisco Science Fiction Conventions, Inc. is a California non-profit corporation recognized as tax-exempt under US Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3).

“ConJose” and “ConFrancisco” are service marks of San Francisco Science Fiction Conventions, Inc., a California non-profit corporation.

“Worldcon” and “World Science Fiction Convention” are registered service marks of the World Science Fiction Society, an unincorporated literary society. “Westercon” is a service mark of the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society, Inc.