San Francisco Science Fiction Conventions, Inc.

Press Release 2004-5

CONJOSE PARENT CORPORATION AWARDS SMOFCON SCHOLARSHIPS

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: Tuesday, August 10, 2004

ConJose Parent Corporation Awards SMOFCon Scholarships

Two San Francisco Bay Area science fiction convention organizers will be able to attend the SMOFCon convention-runners convention in Washington DC this December thanks to scholarships funded by surplus funds from ConJose, the 2002 World Science Fiction Convention

At their Board of Directors meeting on Saturday, July 17, 2004, San Francisco Science Fiction Conventions, Inc. (SFSFC) awarded $500 scholarships for the purpose of attending SMOFCon to Tomoko Shintani Stocksiek and Wolfgang Coe. SFSFC was the parent non-profit corporation of ConJose, and the corporation established these scholarships to allow promising convention-runners who would otherwise not be able to afford the cost to travel to attend the annual SMOFCon convention-runners convention.

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 2004 SMOFCon will be in Washington DC at the Wyndham Hotel Washington, December 3-5, 2004. More information about this year’s SMOFCon is available on their web site.

Tomoko Shintani Stocksiek has been attending and working on science fiction conventions since 1993, mainly in the Bay Area, and has held positions with BayCon, Anime America, and FanimeCon. She is currently President of the Board of Directors of Anime Resource Group, FanimeCon’s parent non-profit corporation.

Wolfgang Coe has more than 20 years of convention attending and organizing experience, including positions with TimeCon, SiliCon, BayCon, Anime America, Further ConFusion, ConJose, and FanimeCon. He has held positions from gopher to operations director to Chairman. He chaired BayCon 2001.

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, the 2002 Worldcon, had an operating surplus (net of funds passed along to its three successor Worldcons) of approximately $39,000. SFSFC has issued a number of grants to various organizations and individuals to further the development of fantasy and science fiction literature and related activities such as science fiction conventions.

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.”

Contact:

SFSFC Inc.: Kevin Standlee info@sfsfc.org

SMOFCon 22: http://www.smofcon22.org/

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

“Worldcon” is a registered service mark of the World Science Fiction Society, an unincorporated literary society.