Are you a people person? Help orient WisCon and SF3 volunteers in 60- to 90-minute training sessions as your schedule allows. You will need a stable internet connection for video conferencing. Mentoring available. Contact personnel@sf3.org (subject: Volunteer Trainer) to learn more!
Access Lead Needed
If you’re dedicated to making WisCon as accessible and welcoming as possible, this position is for you. As Access Lead, you’ll manage the Access Team of dedicated volunteers to arrange and hire live Closed Caption transcribers (training provided!), facilitate Alt Text, and remain available and flexible for unpredictable details. For more information, please contact personnel@sf3.org (subject: Access Lead).
What Is Possible
Hey WisCon,
You may have noticed a call going out urgently and repeatedly a couple of weeks ago, for three ConCom Co-Chairs. This call failed, and I believe this can make WisCon stronger. We now have the opportunity to staff for a WisCONline in 2025 (with gratitude to the 2020 leadership for paving the way, including making that delightful portmanteau.) We won’t know for sure unless we get confirmed staff by October 2nd.
We’ve restructured the ConCom into three new Committees, which have been chaired in the last two weeks, but don’t worry! There’s still lots you may be needed for! The roles that are needed as of this posting before we can hold a WisCONline in 2025 are:
Communications:
- AppDev lead (1-2), limited training
- Server Migration working group (needs 1 to launch), experience needed, temporary group
Board:
- SF3 Treasurer, training available
Chairs:
- Personnel Co-Chair, training available
- Comms Co-Chair, training available
- Fundraising (Co-)Chair(s) (new), training being researched
Operations & Hospitality:
- Access Co-Leads, training available
- Discord Con Lead, training available
- Registration Pre-Con Lead, training available
- GoH Team Lead (new), guidance being assembled
All current open roles are listed here: http://wiscon.net/volunteer/
Let’s discover what kind of WisCon we can build together.
Discord Lead Needed
Here’s your chance to shine and make order out of Discord! As part of the Online Con team, you’ll set up and manage the WisCon Discord. You’ll coordinate with other departments on programming-specific channels, and help manage Discord volunteers and at-Con moderators to help online attendees connect. If you’re familiar with Discord or similar computer-mediated chat systems and are a skilled project manager, we need you! Contact personnel@sf3.org (subject: Discord Lead) for more information.
Ops & Hospitality Chair
Do you want to sharpen your coordination, communication, and delegation skills? Or apply these skills to a convention setting? Volunteer to be WisCONline’s Ops & Hospitality Chair, and you will have the joy and challenge of coordinating six teams of fantastic volunteers to help WisCONline run well. We ask for 1-5 hours per week now, increasing to 10-15 hours closer to WisCONline. Duties can be split with a Co-Chair, depending on your energy and time. You’ll need experience behind the scenes at WisCon and/or WisCONline; we’ll provide orientation, mentoring, and documentation.
Contact personnel@sf3.org (subject: Ops & Hospitality Chair) for more information.
At-Large Board Member Needed
The SF3 Board is seeking an At-Large Board Member. This one-year term will give you an opportunity to become familiar with how the SF3 Board works while executing self-directed projects to help achieve the SF3 mission. You should expect to spend 1-2 hours per week on average, including a monthly one-hour Board meeting and SF3 Annual Membership Meeting. SF3 is the nonprofit that runs WisCon.
Prior non-profit and non-profit board experience, and experience attending WisCon, is helpful. The role will officially start when and if you’re voted in at the 2024 Annual membership Meeting, but you can start as an apprentice now. Contact personnel@sf3.org (subject: at-large Board member) for more information.
Personnel Volunteer Opportunities
Personnel Co-Chair
Do you have experience with HR or volunteer coordination and management? You can help SF3 gear up for the next WisCon! This remote role involves checking progress and follow-up with Personnel volunteers for a few hours per week. The Personnel Co-Chair is a member of the SF3 Personnel Committee and reports to the SF3 Vice President. Contact personnel@sf3.org (subject: Personnel Co-Chair) for more information.
Personnel Volunteer Interviewer
Interview prospective volunteers and help them find their best fit with open positions. Also perform exit interviews as needed. Member Time commitment varies from 1-2 hours per week May-Dec, up to 3-4 hours per week ramping up to WisCon. Contact personnel@sf3.org (
Personnel Volunteer Onboard/Off-boarder
Follow onboarding and offboarding templates to set up new volunteers with appropriate committee membership, shift volunteers to new positions, or release outgoing volunteers. Member of the SF3 Personnel Committee. Time commitment varies from 1-2 hours per week May-Dec, up to 3-4 hours per week ramping up to WisCon. Contact personnel@sf3.org (
Time to get your SF3 Membership!
The 2024 SF3 Annual Meeting is coming up soon on Sunday, Oct 13, 2024, at 2 PM Central. This meeting is entirely virtual! Information on joining will be sent to all current SF3 members a few days before the meeting.
If you’re interested in the future of WisCon and SF3, we encourage you to become an SF3 member and attend the Annual Meeting. Annual membership is $24, or $12 at our student/financial hardship rate, which we encourage anyone to use as needed. Free memberships are available to all BIPOC individuals. To join for free, please email board@sf3.org with the subject line “SF3 Membership for BIPOC”.
We take payment by PayPal (preferred) or check, though if you plan to pay by check we ask that you email treasurer@sf3.org to let us know it’s on the way. The deadline for joining SF3 in advance of the Annual Meeting is Monday, October 7. Madison no longer has an in-city postal sorting office, so if you are paying by check, please make sure your letter is postmarked no later than Monday, September 30, to ensure we receive it by October 7. Along with your check, please enclose a completed copy of the SF3 Membership form.
Letter from SF3 Treasurer Kit Stubbs
Hi everyone,
I’m Kit Stubbs — you may know me as a WisCon Co-Chair from 2020, 2022, and 2023; I’ve also served as Treasurer of SF3, WisCon’s parent nonprofit, since 2021. I’m writing to let you all know that it’s time for me to take a break: I’m officially stepping down as SF3 Treasurer. It’s been extremely rewarding to serve this community, and I am grateful for all of the wonderful volunteers and WisCon members I’ve met and worked with along the way. Thank you so much for supporting me and giving the time, energy, and financial gifts that continue to make WisCon possible.
As I step back, we now ask for someone new to step forward into the Treasurer role. We are legally required to have a Treasurer, so this is an important position that we’re looking to fill quickly. Please take a look at the job description below and consider whether you might be a possible fit. You’ll have the support of the rest of the SF3 Board; and I’ll be available to walk you through our documentation, help get you trained, and answer your questions. If you think you might be interested, or if you have additional questions about the position, please reach out to personnel@sf3.org.
TOP PRIORITY VOLUNTEER POSITION: SF3 Treasurer
The treasurer is a member of the SF3 Board of directors and reports to the Board and the SF3 President.
Time Requirements: 1-2 hours per month for Board-member duties plus 3-5 hours per month for Treasurer-specific duties (closer to five hours generally between April and June when a con is running)
Presence at WisCon: Optional: Can designate another person to be at-con representative
Term: Generally 3 years
Role summary: The Treasurer drafts the SF3 annual budget; submits all forms/licenses/permits to keep our organization in compliance; facilitates purchasing; obtains our insurance; and works with our professional bookkeeper.
Main Tasks:
General responsibilities as a member of the SF3 Board:
- Must hold SF3 Membership at the time of appointment and maintain that Membership for the duration of office
- Attend Annual Membership Meeting
- Contribute to all board conversations outside of Annual Membership Meeting in good faith
- Undertake 1-2 hours of work pertaining to Board responsibilities for oversight and direction of the organization
- Conform to Conflict of Interest Policy
- Remain aware of all SF3 project policy; propose and participate in creating policy as appropriate
- Vote on all issues before the Board at monthly one-hour Board meetings
- Review, vote to accept or reject, and sign contracts on behalf of the organization
- Whenever a vacancy occurs on the Board, the treasurer participates in appointing officers (President, Treasurer, Secretary) each year from the current Board, per Wisconsin nonprofit law
- Inform the Board when you will be unable to respond to communications (vacation, illness, life events, work demands, etc.)
- Respond to all WisCon communications as outlined in the volunteer Code of Conduct
Responsibilities specific to the Treasurer position:
- Submit annual SF3 budgets to the Board for approval, including those for all Committees, soliciting input as necessary
- Submit SF3 taxes and other licenses/permits
- Maintain D&O Insurance for SF3 annually and acquire event insurance for all in-person events
- Monitor PO Box; delegate collection of mail to a secondary, local Board member if necessary
- Serve as main admin for Board-specific secure online document storage (Google Drive); set access & permissions appropriately, and conduct general oversight regarding the contents of the account
- Give advice regarding requests for one-time purchases (including durable equipment) made by committees including the ConCom, in terms of SF3’s total financials
- Oversee purchasing and paying invoices, which may include issuing debit cards (physical or virtual) to designated volunteers; reimbursing individuals who have made approved purchases for WisCon or SF3; and sending artists their proceeds from the Art Show
- Before the con, withdraw cash needed during the con, and store at-con cash overnight (can delegate to an at-con representative)
- Liaise with and supervise the work of SF3’s bookkeeper, who maintains financial records and prepares reports (involves monitoring of SF3’s bank and other financial accounts)
- Maintain the roster of individuals who have purchased SF3 memberships for the current fiscal year
- Create new email forwarders as needed (e.g., if a new department is created, you’ll log into our web host to set that department@wiscon.net forwards to department@wiscon.sf3.org)
- Serve as backup for the Secretary’s duties in cases where they are unavailable
Skills & experience (should have):
- Excellent organizational skills.
- Excellent one-on-one communications skills (for communicating with other Board members and Committee/Department members).
- Basic knowledge of Google Sheets, including how to use formulas for arithmetic and how to open and copy data from CSV (comma-separated value) files.
- Time and ability to check email on a frequent basis.
Helpful skills (can be learned):
- Written communications / public relations skills for communicating with volunteers in Basecamp and providing occasional updates to the general WisCon community.
- Exporting CSV reports from PayPal, Stripe, and from the WisCon registration system for communication with the bookkeeper.
Exclusions:
- It is preferred that the Treasurer is not a WisCon Co-Chair.
Training Plan:
SF3 Orientation
Basecamp Orientation
Walkthrough of Treasurer Guidebook and key files in Google Drive
Ongoing:
SF3 Board Meetings
Outgoing Treasurer Kit Stubbs will be available to answer questions
If you are interested in being our SF3 Treasurer or if you have questions about the position, please contact Personnel at personnel@sf3.org!
Volunteer Position: Communications Committee Co-Chair
The communications Committee Co-Chair is part of the Communications Team (online and print) and reports to the SF3 Board President
Time Requirements: 5 hours per month pre-con, increasing to 6 hours per month around April-May and availability during the con
Presence at WisCon: Beneficial, but not required.
Term: One year. Alternatively, if other Communications team members are interested, the chair role could rotate throughout the year so that there’s a safety net if the current chair needs to step back.
Role summary: The Communications Committee Co-Chair maintains the flow of information between SF3 projects and the community. The Co-Chair manages communications team projects, deadlines, and team member assignments.
Main Tasks:
- Ensure the department report is completed prior to each ConCom meeting
- Attend ConCom meetings to represent the Communications team
- Monitor how each team is doing and checks in to provide support
- Ensure team role descriptions are kept up-to-date
- Upload and update Communications project documents as needed
- Facilitate communication among Communication teams and between Communications and other departments as necessary
- Decide whether to cancel tasks that can’t be completed due to a lack of time, resources, volunteers, or all three
- Receive media queries and handles as appropriate
- Make posts to newsletter/website/social media if other Communications members aren’t available
- During WisCon, assist various departments in communicating to attendees throughout the weekend.
- Oversee efforts to promote WisCon attendance, including advertisements, marketing campaigns, etc. Assign associated tasks to committee members as needed and track progress.
Skills & experience: Organized, responsive to deadlines and communications requests via email or Basecamp, available to attend monthly ConCom meetings and other team meetings as needed, working knowledge of how to maintain a WordPress site.
Beneficial skills (can be learned): Project management experience, experience working with communications tools or serving on a communications/marketing team.
Exclusions: Ideally, the Communications Co-Chair is not serving on the SF3 Board or as a Chair of any other SF3 committee.
Training provided: How to access and post to media and communications streams, including Basecamp, email newsletter, WisCon website + blog, and social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram). Will be provided access to the Communications Co-Chair email address and Communications team general email.
If you are interested in being the Communications Committee Co-Chair or if you have questions about the position, please contact Personnel at personnel@sf3.org
Learn More about SF^3, August 12th, 6:30 p.m. central time
If you or a friend were ever curious about how SF³ (the organization that runs WisCon) works, this is the event for you! We’ll review the current structure of SF³, base volunteer expectations, where the organization is at in Strategic Planning and volunteer recruitment, and what it will take to hold WisCon in 2025!
This orientation is open to anyone in the WisCon community, or interested in the WisCon community, whether or not they’re on Basecamp, so please invite a friend! There will be a mention of how to volunteer, but no pressure to join now.
The meeting will be held online (using the Fairmeeting tool) on August 12th at 6:30 p.m., central time.
https://fairmeeting.net/SF%