Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Ineffable Con?
The Ineffable Con is a series of not-for-profit events run by and for fans of the Good Omens book and series. The first Ineffable Con took place in October 2019 in Buckinghamshire, England. Covid-19 then forced us online for The Ineffable Con 2, 3 and 4, before returning to in-person for TIC5 onwards. We have also held a series of online parties and rewatches.
Surplus, and money raised at events, is donated to Alzheimer’s Research UK in memory of Sir Terry Pratchett. You can find the current total on the home page of our website, combined with our JustGiving fundraising page.
Please note that we are an unofficial convention, with no connection whatsoever to the BBC, Amazon Prime, Neil Gaiman or any other entity, occult, ethereal or otherwise
Who is running The Ineffable Con?
The events are run entirely by fans, for fans. You can find out more about the organisers on the About Us page.
What is shipping?
Shipping – from ‘relationship’ – is the imagining of a romantic relationship between two characters (a ‘ship’). Activity in Good Omens fandom is largely centred on the Aziraphale/Crowley ship, so it’s a fair bet that it will occupy a significant chunk of the convention. You’re not required to be a shipper, but you should be comfortable with the premise if you’re attending the convention as you will encounter it.
What is your code of conduct?
It is important to us that everyone is able to enjoy The Ineffable Con, free of any form of harassment. You can read our full code of conduct on our terms and conditions page.
Does The Ineffable Con support Neil Gaiman?
The Ineffable Con honours and celebrates the creative brilliance of Good Omens fandom and shares the joy it has brought to so many, and exists to raise money for Alzheimer’s Research UK in memory of Sir Terry Pratchett.
Focusing on the community does not equate to an endorsement of Neil Gaiman or his alleged actions – we stand by those that have come forward.
The Ineffable Con’s events are a welcoming space for everyone and, together, we create a respectful and supportive environment.
What is the age limit?
To attend in person, we require that you are at least 18 years of age, or accompanied by an adult who will be responsible for you throughout the convention.
To register to attend online, you need to be 13 or older. This is because UK law prohibits us from taking data from anyone who is under 13 without a parent or guardian’s permission. If you are under 13, you can ask a parent or guardian to register on your behalf.
Please note that some programme items will contain adult content. These will be clearly marked in the programme.
When is The Ineffable Con 7?
The Ineffable Con 7 will take place from Friday 21st to Sunday 23rd August 2026. We expect events to start at 7pm on the Friday, with the closing ceremony concluding around 5pm on the Sunday. For those attending in person, there will be dinner served around 6pm on the Friday, as well as the option to stay Sunday night.
Where will The Ineffable Con 7 be held?
The Ineffable Con 6 will take place at Moor Hall in Cookham, near Maidenhead. You can find information about the venue, including travel details, on the venue page.
The convention will also be available online for those with a virtual ticket. Those attending in person will also be able to access the virtual convention, including on-demand recordings.
How do I book an in-person ticket for The Ineffable Con 7?
To book a ticket, go to the Event Directory, choose TIC 7, and scroll down to the Tickets section. Select Type: In-person, and choose the other options according to your preference. If Virtual type does not default to “Included” in your browser, you will need to select this in order to proceed.
If in-person tickets are sold out, you can join our waiting list to be notified of any cancellations.
How do I book a virtual ticket for The Ineffable Con 7?
The easiest way to book a virtual ticket for TIC7 is directly on Zoom Events.
Occasionally Zoom takes issue with bookings from certain countries, so if you’re unable to book via Zoom you can also buy a ticket through our website. Go to the Event Directory, choose TIC 7, and scroll down to the Tickets section. Select the following options:
- Type: Virtual
- Accommodation type: None
- Add Sunday night: No
- Virtual type: Choose the price you would like to pay.
- Quantity of this type = 1
- Add to cart
Note that if you book through our website, we have to manually add you to Zoom. This is not recommend during the convention weekend itself, when we are very busy.
How do I join the waiting list for in-person tickets?
Please click on this link to submit your details to the waiting list. More information about the waiting list can be found via the link.
Why are tickets going on sale at 21:13? Earth’s Birthday is 9:13am
Two reasons: first of all, there is no ideal time for every time zone on Earth, but evening UK time works better for more of the countries from which people traditionally attend TIC (most notably the Americas).
Secondly, we have day jobs and will not be available to answer questions until we finish work.
What are the timings of The Ineffable Con 7?
Check-in for in-person attendees staying on site will open at 4pm on the Friday, with dinner around 6pm and events starting at 7pm. We will finish at 5pm on Sunday. Dinner on Sunday evening is only available to those staying Sunday night.
Check-out is at 11am on Sunday or 10am on Monday.
What is there to do at The Ineffable Con 7?
This is entirely up to you! As a fan convention, it’s up to the fandom to make it your own, and if there’s something you would like to see the best way to make it happen is to run it yourself. To volunteer to run a programme item, you can complete this form.
Previous Ineffable Cons have included a range of panels, talks, games, quizzes and workshops. As the TIC7 programme takes shape, you will be able to find details on our website.
How much does it cost to attend?
The cost to attend in person is £295, which includes access to the full weekend’s activities and all meals from dinner on Friday until lunch on Sunday (six meals), plus unlimited tea, coffee and biscuits during the day and accommodation for Friday and Saturday night.
The above is available without the accommodation for £185, if you would like to stay offsite.
To attend online, you can choose five tiers, ranging from £5 to £25. The tiers offer the same access. Our suggested rate is £15, but if you are able to pay a higher rate this supports us in being able to offer the lower rates to those who need it. Please note the £5 rate will only be available until Friday 14th August 2026. This is because in the past last-minute ticket buyers have overwhelmingly paid the lowest rate available, and this does not allow us to cover our costs, which are higher if we can’t pre-pay.
Why is TIC7 more expensive than [insert name of another convention here]?
Unlike most conventions, a ticket for TIC7 includes all of your meals during the event, from dinner on Friday until lunch on Sunday (six meals), plus unlimited tea, coffee and biscuits during the day. This means that once you’re at the Con, you don’t need to spend any more money. It also means we are all eating together – no worrying that you won’t find a group to go out for dinner with – and means we can minimise the gaps in the programme as you don’t need to go out for meals.
Small conventions are generally more expensive to run, per head, than large ones, particularly on weekends over the summer when we are competing with weddings. We looked at a LOT of options and found that the best value for money was to be had by offering this package: the food and beverage spend pays for our function space and AV equipment, so we can offer an all-in rate for not much more than we would pay for just the space and equipment in a hotel.
We understand that not everyone will be able to afford the in-person option; this is why The Ineffable Con is committed to running hybrid events, so everyone can access the programme.
What is the cancellation policy?
Tickets purchased are non-refundable; please ensure you have adequate travel insurance if needed.
You are welcome to transfer your ticket to another person, just please let us know so that we can update contact information, and also ensure we have the right details for badges, dietary and accessibility requirements if it’s an in-person ticket.
Since the in-person convention usually sells out, we do operate a waiting list, and so you are welcome to sell your ticket through us. There will be a £10 admin fee deducted from any refund to cover our costs.
Are there day tickets available?
At this stage, we are not offering single-day tickets, because we are space-limited and each single-day ticket means we cannot sell that space for the rest of the weekend.
For virtual access, all of the talks and panels will be available on our convention platform for members, regardless of how many of the live events they are able to attend. As such, there is no distinction between a weekend ticket and a day ticket.
The ticket price is inaccessible to me. What should I do?
The in-person cost is fixed by the venue. However, we can, and we want to, make the virtual convention as accessible as possible to members globally. We know a fixed ticket price does not always convert into other currencies at an acceptable rate and we know there are many members of the fandom that have been affected financially by the pandemic and other personal circumstances. If the minimum virtual price is out of your range, please get in touch at info@theineffablecon.org.uk, confidentially and without judgement – we have to work together!
Is there a limit on the number of places for the convention?
There is a ceiling on the number of people who can attend in person, as we do not sell more tickets than we have seats in the main function room, to ensure that everyone can see everything.
For the virtual convention, there is no limitation on space. However, early bookings allow us to better forecast our financial commitments, so we appreciate early bookings where possible!
Can I share a room?
The rooms at the venue are designed for business travellers and are on the small side, with small double beds (4’6″). Double occupancy is possible, if you are a couple or very close friends! To share, just book one ticket with accommodation and one without, and add a note to the order to say that you’re sharing so we can make sure enough keys and towels are provided.
Note that if you’re staying Sunday night, the ticket with accommodation will need to specify double occupancy for Sunday – this is to include an extra dinner on Sunday night and breakfast on Monday.
What if I only want to stay for one night?
As there is a limited number of on-site rooms, we cannot sell any for single nights as this would prevent us being able to sell that room for the other night. If you would prefer to stay for only one night, you might wish to look at alternative accommodation options, in which case you can purchase a ticket without accommodation for the convention.
Can I extend my stay to include Sunday night?
Absolutely – for those who don’t need to leave on Sunday, you can add Sunday night dinner, bed and breakfast for £95 (single occupancy) or £123 (double occupancy).
How accessible is the venue?
We are committed to making The Ineffable Con as accessible as possible. On your booking there is space to let us know if you have any specific accessibility requirements, and we will do our best to accommodate everyone if we can.
The function space is wheelchair accessible, but some of the bedrooms can only be accessed by stairs. Please indicate in the accessibility section of your booking if you need a ground floor room.
Will my dietary requirements be catered for?
On your booking, there is space to let us know if you have any dietary requirements. All allergies will be catered for, and signage will be posted at the venue to notify you of any allergens.
Can I pay in another way?
We are able to accept credit/debit cards or bank transfer, at least one of which should be possible across the world (although please get in touch if this is not the case). PayPal have taken issue with conventions and we are not in a position to be able to take cheques as they are no longer widely used in the UK.
We encourage you to use bank transfer if possible, particularly if you have a GBP account, as this saves us a lot of money in fees! If you are making a bank transfer, you have up to five working days for the funds to reach our account. After this point, we will assume you no longer require your booking and send a cancellation. As such, if you think that your transfer may take longer (which might be the case outside of the UK/EU), please send us an email with the date your transfer was made on, and we will keep in touch.
Do I have to download any software to join online?
The Ineffable Con panels and activities will take place on Zoom. Whilst Zoom can be used in the browser, there are limitations that could hamper your enjoyment of the convention. Downloading the Zoom software (free) and making sure that you have updated your version before joining will make sure that you can move between breakout rooms without assistance and make the most of the options available to you.
Do I have to have a webcam and/or microphone to join online?
If you are attending as a member, rather than a presenter, you can choose not to interact on voice or video. If you are presenting, we ask that you have a webcam where possible, for accessibility support, but it is not compulsory.
Can I watch panels after the end of the convention?
All recorded panels will be available to watch on our website after the convention, for as long as we can afford the hosting. This applies to both virtual and in-person attendees.
Can I take photographs/ screenshots/ recordings?
If you are taking photographs or screenshots of other attendees, you must ask permission first and state clearly what the purpose of the photograph is (i.e. whether it’s for personal use or to be shared on social media). No part of The Ineffable Con may be recorded by anyone other than the event organisers. We will make full recordings available to all members wherever possible, but some guests have specific requirements about recordings without which we would not be able to get them to attend.
Will the virtual convention have subtitles?
Panels at TIC will all have automated captions via the Zoom platform.
Will the convention feature adult themes or explicit/ NSFW content?
We do permit explicit or NSFW (not safe for work) content, but any panels or exhibitor booths that feature adult themes will be clearly labelled NSFW so that you can choose whether you wish to engage.
I would like to host a panel or a game session. What’s involved?
Fantastic! Panels are usually 50 minutes in length and on a topic of your choice. You can present with like-minded fans, or alone, as you wish. Your choice of topic is exactly that – your choice – and can be a presentation, a chat or a combination. We will mark any adult topics as “NSFW” (“not safe for work”), so convention members can choose their programme items to suit. Games and workshops are also welcome and usually very popular! We will provide materials if necessary, just let us know what’s needed. Note: submissions closed on 17th July.
Can I be on the programme if I’m attending virtually?
Absolutely, we will have a virtual programme track as well as live streaming in-person events. Note submissions closed on 17th July.
How can I submit a vid to the vidshow?
Submissions for the vidshow can be made via the Vidshow page.
Can I cosplay?
Cosplay (dressing up in costume) is absolutely encouraged. Any weapons must be clearly fake or prop weapons (e.g. wooden, foam, plaster, cardboard, etc.) and must not be dangerous to any other attendees.
I’d like to enter the cosplay competition. How can I do that?
Full information on entering the cosplay competition is available on our cosplay page.
How do I submit art or a fic for the zine?
Submissions for the convention zine are closed. The zine will be available to download during the convention.
How do I host an exhibition booth?
Vendors are welcome in person or virtually, or both!
To host a booth, simply complete the form on our Exhibitors page.
Can I donate to the auction, or provide prizes?
You can, and everyone at TIC and ARUK is very grateful! You can find out more on our auction and prizes page.
Can I volunteer?
We absolutely welcome volunteers, whether you’re attending in person or online. We will put a call out once the programme has taken shape; please keep an eye on our social media or join our mailing list.
If you want to volunteer to run a new activity, please get in touch!
My question is not covered here. What should I do?
Please send us an email at info@theineffablecon.org.uk or get in touch on any of our social media.