Our traditional Thursday evening (5/26) Guest of Honor reading has moved this year to the Madison Public Library Central branch (201 W Mifflin St), a 0.2 mi (~5 min) walk from the Concourse! Here’s a Google Map with walking directions.

Doors will be open at 5:30, and the event starts at 6pm Central. Our Guest of Honor Sheree Renée Thomas will be reading this year.

Afterwards, she’ll be signing books. No book? No problem! Room of One’s Own will have a table at the event with Ms. Thomas’s books available for purchase. If you’re in town Thursday night, please come out and join us!

If you need to take a taxi to or from the venue and could use some financial assistance, taxi vouchers for Union Cab are available at the Concourse front desk. Be aware that wait time may be up to an hour due to staffing shortages.

Since the reading happens before WisCon and is free and open to the public, we cannot guarantee that attendees will be vaccinated and/or masked.

We sincerely apologize to the members of the WisCon community! We accidentally misinterpreted CDC guidance regarding how long it takes to be “up-to-date” after a booster (according to the CDC, you are up-to-date immediately after receiving a booster). This means that for people ages 12 and over, if you received your primary series more than 6 months before the con, as long as you have received at least one booster shot prior to picking up your con badge, you are up-to-date. It’s not too late to get boosted and attend WisCon!

Here is the fixed vaccination policy language, in full:

Everyone attending the convention—including members, vendors, and any contractors—must be up to date on their COVID vaccines when they arrive at Registration to pick up their con badge. Up to date means a person has received all recommended doses in their primary series of COVID-19 vaccine; and for individuals 12 and older, one booster dose if their primary series was completed more than six months before the con. (See “Stay Up to Date with Your COVID-19 vaccines.”)

At Registration, we will be checking vaccination cards to verify that EITHER:

• a primary series was completed on or after November 27, 2021 and before May 12, 2022  (This means, your primary series happened less than 6 months before the con. In which case, your last shot needed to happen at least 2 weeks before the con for you to be up to date.) OR
• a primary series was completed before November 27, 2021 AND a booster shot was administered at any time afterward. (This means, your primary series happened more than 6 months before the con. In that case, you need to be boosted, but you are up to date as of whenever you got the booster.)

For those coming to WisCon from other countries: we will accept proof that you have received any vaccine recognized by the WHO. More information on WHO recognition of COVID vaccines can be found on their website.

TLDR: Party applications are now open until Saturday, 4/30, at 11:59pm US Central time — but in order to reduce the amount of unmasking that happens during parties, we’re only permitting non-alcoholic beverages to be served at parties: no food, no booze.

As fun as room parties at conventions can be, what’s even more fun is an open party available to everyone.  Starting at 9pm Friday-Sunday, WisCon offers parties hosted by WisCon members and open to every member of the convention.  In past years, parties have included karaoke, a haiku-and-earring party, and piñata-smashing.

Party spaces must be requested in advance. Unfortunately, we are unable to entertain late party requests due to scheduling requirements.

Party reservations are prioritized due to a number of factors.  We are particularly enthusiastic about parties with a history at WisCon as well as parties that are promoting other cons, SF groups, book & author promotional parties, and other events. Please note that there are a limited number of party room reservation slots available.

We’re counting on your creativity to host awesome parties even without the appeal of food.  Maybe your party have will awesome music, fun games, or cool craft activities! How about a mocktail bar?

To submit your party request, please email parties@wiscon.net. Include in your request:

• Your name, email address, and a phone number where we would be able to reach you
• The names and email addresses of all other party hosts
• Name or title of your party
• Brief description of your party (just a sentence is fine)
• Scheduling preferences, as party schedules impact other programming, and it may not be possible to change dates once initial schedules are set.
• Any special equipment or room layout needs you have

If you’re considering requesting party space, please read the complete list of WisCon Party Rules. Questions? You can reach us at parties@wiscon.net.