Pitch In For Octocon

Octocon, the Irish National Science Fiction Convention, is a week away and finds itself in a bind. The committee has opened a Octocon GoFundMe appeal.

James Bacon encourages people to donate.

This is quite important, Octocon is a week away! and I know many of you have enjoyed Octocon as I have, but this is a tough year for the current team, a venue move out of the city and rising costs. I applaud the committee for asking for help, helping is something the community does. It’s something we can do!

Octocon needs your help taking €5,000. Please do help this altruistic cultural event in its 26th year.

I’ve donated of course!

The Octocon team explains the need –

In its 26 year history, Octocon has faced many challenges, and this year has been no exception. We unexpectedly had to change our location earlier this year, and due to the rising costs of hotel space in Dublin, we’ve ended up with an unforeseen liquidity issue because the hotel requires full payment ahead of the convention.

(In previous years, we’ve been able to pay hotel costs on or after the convention weekend, but this year we need to pay them in advance.)

Therefore, despite the chair’s offer to shoulder the burden personally, the committee has unanimously decided on the unusual step of creating this GoFundMe campaign to ask you, as fans and supporters of Octocon, to help us ensure the smooth running of the convention.