The board of Steamcon, the steampunk-themed convention held in Bellevue, WA has cancelled the 2014 edition and voted to dissolve Steampunk Conventions, the corporation behind the event, due to insurmountable financial problems.

They owe more than $40,000 from last year’s con – mostly to the hotel as penalties for failing to hit their room and food/beverage numbers – plus yet to be determined amounts to the IRS and for licensing the Space Needle logo. And having cancelled the 2014 con, the corporation will owe the hotel another $100,000 for breaking its contract

They would need to sell 390 memberships this month to stave off bankruptcy, after selling only 35 memberships since mid-January. The board considered crowdsourcing (Kickstarter, Indiegogo) but did not believe that would generate enough money in time.

Public responses are being posted at Steamcon’s Facebook page.

[Thanks to Randy Byers for the story.]