Solomon’s wisdom is legendary because he settled a case by threatening to cut a baby in half. The wisdom of Virginia conrunning fans is not legendary: they actually have cut the baby in half.
A dispute between SheVaCon’s board members resulted in Keith Stanley and others filing a lawsuit against Themecon SF and F Inc. in May 2010 alleging mismanagement and a lack of fiscal transparency.
The litigants will hold rival conventions in Roanoke over the next two weekends – the breakaway group running Mysticon, February 25-27, featuring “scream queen” Brinke Stevens, artist Randy Asplund and writer David Gerrold, and the corporation hosting SheVaCon, March 4-6, offering model and actress Virginia Hey, artist Matt Busch and author Peter Beagle.
According to Virginia state records, Themecon SF and F Inc. is SheVaCon’s parent company.
The breakaway group staked its own claim to the identity by creating and registering SheVaCon Inc. with the state. Themecon countered the lawsuit by registering its right to the convention’s name, SheVaCon, as a federal trademark.
Since then, Themecon officer and SheVaCon chair Lynn Bither has posted a statement on her con’s website announcing a resolution:
Themecon SF and F, Inc. (the creator and organizer of the SheVaCon conventions since 1993) and SheVaCon, Inc. (dba Mysticon) have reached a resolution relating to the issue of the use of the SheVaCon name.
While both parties feel their claims have merit, in light of considerable amounts of time, energy, and money that litigation would entail for both companies, it has been determined that litigation would undermine the goals of both companies to provide the community with a quality science fiction and fantasy convention this year, and perhaps years to come. Therefore, SheVaCon, Inc. will change its name to Mysticon, Inc. and it’s convention will be called Mysticon. Themecon’s annual convention will continue to be called SheVaCon.
Whether this is a partial or full resolution is not yet known, for the suit remains pending in Roanoke County Court, where public records show activity as recently as December.
[Thanks to Andrew Porter for the link.]