Announcement of the Virtual Balticon 54

The Baltimore Science Fiction Society (BSFS) is pleased to announce a free Virtual Balticon over Memorial Day weekend. We decided this was the best way to bring the Balticon Community together without contributing to the spread of the illness.

Plans for Virtual Balticon are still in development. Currently, we expect to include:

  • Panels, Presentations, and Readings hosted as webinars
  • Music concerts streamed live
  • Open Filking hosted through an online platform
  • Watch parties of past presentations at Balticon, along with discussions featuring the presenters on the BSFS Discord Server
  • Watch parties of TV shows, movies, and anime through streaming services, along with discussions on the BSFS Discord Server
  • Online tabletop RPGs and board games
  • A collection of links to the online stores of our dealers and artists
  • Open conversations on the BSFS Discord Server

If you have any other ideas of items we could feature online or would like to participate, please email program@balticon.org. If you’d like to join our team, please email volunteers@balticon.org.  If you have other questions, please email balticoninfo@balticon.org.

The virtual convention will kick off Friday night May 22nd, 2020 and run until Monday afternoon. Details on the schedule will be listed on the Balticon website (https://balticon.org).

The shift to a virtual convention this year presents a challenge to many of the artists and dealers who depend on sales made at Balticon for a substantial part of their income. If you had planned on attending Balticon 54 and making purchases, please consider purchasing directly through the links we will provide at balticon.org.

BSFS depends on memberships from Balticon for nearly all of its yearly budget, including the seed money for the next Balticon. While the Virtual Balticon will be free of charge, donations would be greatly appreciated. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit, all donations to BSFS are tax-deductible (please contact your tax professionals for full details). Please visit http://www.bsfs.org/donate.htm to donate.

Lastly, we have been sending emails regarding pre-paid Balticon 54 memberships and reservations for Artist Alley, Dealers Room, or Art Show. If you purchased one of these and have not yet received an email, please contact refunds@balticon.org.

Michael Rafferty
Chair, Virtual Balticon 54

(The earlier response to the hotel reservation cancellation and COVID-19 concerns are in this earlier message from the Balticon 54 chair.)