In a year with many canceled events, SEMOCon is taking steps to both happen and be safe.
Bill “Mr. Bill” Drake, SEMOCon organizer, said it’s hit or miss whether other conventions have happened this year because of COVID-19, but he’s seeing this one through.
It does have some changes though.
SEMOCon doors open at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Black River Coliseum.
The convention celebrates comic books, films and games along with the people who enjoy them or create art inspired by them.
SEMOCon started in 2017 and has typically been a multi-day event. This year, it will only be on Saturday.
As a result, Drake said, tickets are $5 rather than $10 for one day or more for a full weekend pass.
Vendors in the main room will be more spaced out than usual, he said. Typically, each booth is 10 feet with about a foot between each.
This year, Drake said, he’s only filling about half the spaces so there will be a 10-foot buffer between most booths.
“If I’ve got 20 people at my booth, I don’t want 20 more one foot away from me,” he said. “I’m going to have chairs in those empty booths so folks can stop, sit and rest, because I expect folks to stay all day.”
While masks aren’t required, Drake said people can wear one if they want to.
There will be masks in attendance, but multiple kinds, he said.
“A lot of folks are going to be wearing masks, but not the surgical masks,” he said. “They’re going to be wearing Spiderman masks and Harley Quinn, Batman masks.”
Along with the vendor floor, attendees can take part in an escape room hosted by the Poplar Bluff Municipal Library, take part in a costume contest, watch panels and play games.
Drake said Oz-Con, the Ozarks Gaming Convention, canceled this year because of the pandemic, but is joining SEMOCon. Members of Oz-Con will run a role-play gaming room.
In terms of the vendors, Drake said the pandemic affected the industry because many people who worked full-time as a vendor at conventions needed to get a different job during 2020.
“Now that the cons are starting back up, they’re having trouble,” he said. “Like, ‘Do I suit my job? What do I do? I can’t take off. I can’t do this, can’t do that.’ It’s affected the whole industry and the whole hobby across the board.”
Drake said if people are still interested in being a vendor, it costs $50 for a table and they can contact him at semocon2017@gmail.com.