Category Archives: Official Announcements

Two Weeks Left! WisCon 43 Panel Sign-Up and Interest Survey Is Open!!! Deadline to Submit Survey – March 24th

You have two weeks left! Panel Surveys are open until March 24th  Now’s the chance to give YOUR feedback on what panels will run during WisCon 43.  The survey is a big part on how Panel Programming is decided every year!  If you want to more about how panel programming works, please view this post for a quick overview.

WisCon Panel Programming is divided into separate tracks which group related concepts together in order to facilitate interesting and complex discussions.  The current list of tracks are below:

  • Feminism and Other Social Change Movements
  • Power, Privilege, and Oppression
  • Spirituality, Organized Religion and Politics
  • Science and Technology
  • The Craft and Business of Writing
  • Reading, Viewing, and Critiquing Science Fiction
  • Fandom as a Way of Life
  • Interactive Storytelling and Media

You will need to a WisCon account in order to view and fill out the survey.  If you don’t have an account, create one at the “Create Your Account” page.  For those with an account already created, go to “Log in to My Account” page.  You should see the link to the survey once logged into your account. Then you can choose your panel interests on the panel sign up and attendance interest form!

This is a very important stage of Panel Programming. The more people who participate in the survey and sign up for and/or rate the panels, the better chance you will have at seeing your panel submissions on the final schedule. We understand that completing the survey can be laborious, but doing so is completely for your benefit.

Questions/Concerns/Feedback can be sent to panels@wiscon.net.

Jackie Gross, Lead Panel Programming
JP Fairfield, Panel Programming
Jennifer Cross, Panel Programming
Charlie Hawkins, Panel Programming

Art Call for Souvenir Program Book

The Souvenir Program Book is currently looking for artwork for its cover. (Just like last year, the Souvenir and Program Books will be combined!)

Dimensions–8×10, 300 dpi
Works in all media that can be easily scanned/laid out in an 8×10 cover are welcome!
Please send a proposal and 3-5 work samples.
We pay $100!
Deadline for consideration is March 30.
Please send proposals for consideration to souvenirbook@wiscon.net.

AV & Hand-Staffed Panel Requests – Do You Need A Special Request For Your Proposed Panel?

AV Requests for WisCon 43

As you probably know, the Panel Survey is currently live and will close on March 24th. However, some of you fine folk put in requests for AV equipment when you submitted your proposed panel ideas. If your proposed panel ideas for which you requested AV equipment made it onto the Survey, we ask that you confirm that you still require said equipment.

The Madison Concourse provides conference rooms with projector screens and projectors with HDMI ports for your laptop. We recommend that you bring your own HDMI cables or Macbook converters for your laptops, and any external sound amplifier equipment, as we cannot guarantee that the Concom will have equipment like that available.

To confirm, please email us at panels@wiscon.net with “AV Request – Your Submitted Panel Title” in the subject line, and what type of AV equipment you require in the body of the email by March 24th.

In order to streamline this process, we ask that only those who submitted the panels which made the survey email us with these requests. To view the entire list of panels, please log in to your WisCon account, click “Sign Up For Programming”, then click the full list of proposed panels link.

Hand-Staffed Panel Requests for WisCon 43

You may have noticed that certain panels allow for only a “I would like to attend this panel” option. That is because those suggesters had requested that these particular panels be staffed with those folk who best fit with the marginalized identities about which the panels will discuss. If you have not already contacted us about hand-staffing your proposed panel, please email us at panels@wiscon.net with “Hand-Staff Request – Your Submitted Panel Title” in the subject line, and who you would like to be on your panel in the body of the email by March 24th.

Questions/Concerns/Feedback can be sent to panels@wiscon.net.

Later Days,

Jackie Gross, Lead Panel Programming
JP Fairfield, Panel Programming
Jennifer Cross, Panel Programming
C.J. Hawkins, Panel Programming

WMAF Nomination Deadline is March 8

WisCon is a wonderful weekend, and is the type of convention that can come to feel like a kind of “home” for regular attendees. But, of course, attending WisCon requires many folks to stay in a hotel room for several nights, to travel long distances, and to incur other costs that can be significant enough to prevent one from attending at all.

But maybe you’re someone who could attend WisCon, if only you got a little bit of financial help. If this sounds like you — or someone you know — the WisCon Member Assistance Fund may be able to help.

The WMAF is a pool of money which exists to help folks attend WisCon. Anyone can apply to request funds that can be used to cover airfare or other travel costs, hotel costs, childcare, or any other prohibitive expense. Members may also nominate friends or others who they know would like to attend WisCon but who may need a bit of help to do so.

One of the aims of the fund is to promote diversity and to give folks a way to join us if they’ve been unable to do so in the past. If you’ve never attended WisCon because the cost kept getting in the way, we strongly encourage you to nominate yourself for the Fund! Whether you’re an established industry professional, a long-time reader, or a brand-new fan, we’d love to have you. Whether you want to be on panels, give readings, or sit quietly in the back of a conference room, we want you at WisCon.

If you’re a regular attendee but things are looking tight this year, we also encourage you to apply to the Fund. We recognize that peoples’ needs and circumstances can change from year to year, and want to make it clear that the WMAF is not only for new attendees, but for everyone with a need that we might be able to help with.

If you have attended WisCon via Member Assistance Fund monies in the past, you can be nominated or apply again. If funds are limited, we will give priority to people who have not previously received assistance — but we do try to help as many nominees as we possibly can.

This year, we’ve extended the WMAF deadline to Friday, March 8. If you were considering applying for yourself, or nominating someone else, now is the time! For more details and specific instructions for nominating or applying to the WMAF, please see the WMAF information page. We look forward to hearing from you, and we hope to see you at WisCon 43!

WisCon 43 Panel Sign-Up and Interest Survey Is Open!!! Deadline to Submit Survey – March 24th

Panel Surveys are open until March 24th.  Now’s the chance to give YOUR feedback on what panels will run during WisCon 43.  The survey is a big part on how Panel Programming is decided every year!  If you want to more about how panel programming, please view this post for a quick overview.

WisCon Panel programming is divided into separate tracks which group related concepts together in order to facilitate interesting and complex discussions.  The current list of tracks are below:

  • Feminism and Other Social Change Movements
  • Power, Privilege, and Oppression
  • Spirituality, Organized Religion and Politics
  • Science and Technology
  • The Craft and Business of Writing
  • Reading, Viewing, and Critiquing Science Fiction
  • Fandom as a Way of Life
  • Interactive Storytelling and Media

You will need to have a WisCon account in order to view and fill out the survey.  If you don’t have an account, create one at the “Create Your Account” page.  For those with an account already created, go to the “Log in to My Account” page.  You should see the link to the survey once logged into your account. Then you can choose your panel interests on the panel sign up and attendance interest form!

This is a very important stage of Panel Programming. The more people who participate in the survey and sign up for and/or rate the panels, the better chance you will have at seeing your panel submissions on the final schedule. We understand that completing the survey can be laborious, but doing so is completely for your benefit.

Questions/Concerns/Feedback can be sent to panels@wiscon.net.

Jackie Gross, Lead Panel Programming
JP Fairfield, Panel Programming
Jennifer Cross, Panel Programming
Charlie Hawkins, Panel Programming

One Week Away! WisCon 43 Panel Sign-Up and Interest Survey Opens on February 25!

We’re very excited to announce that the Panel Sign-Up and Interest Survey will go live in 1 week! On February 25th, get ready to give us YOUR feedback on what panels will run during WisCon 43.

 WisCon Panel Programming is divided into separate tracks which group related concepts together in order to facilitate interesting and complex discussions.  The current list of tracks are below:

  • Feminism and Other Social Change Movements
  • Power, Privilege, and Oppression
  • Spirituality, Organized Religion and Politics
  • Science and Technology
  • The Craft and Business of Writing
  • Reading, Viewing, and Critiquing Science Fiction
  • Fandom as a Way of Life
  • Interactive Storytelling and Media

You will need a WisCon account in order to view and take the survey.  If you don’t have an account, create one at the “Create Your Account” page.  For those with an account already created, go to “Log in to My Account” page.  Come February 25th, you should see the link to the survey once you have logged into your account.

This is a very important stage of Panel Programming. The more people who participate in the survey and sign up for and/or rate the panels, the better chance you will have at seeing your panel selections on the final schedule. We understand that completing the survey can be laborious, but doing so is completely for your benefit.

So mark February 25th on your calendars!

As always, questions/concerns/feedback can be sent to panels@wiscon.net.

Jackie Gross, Lead Panel Programming
JP Fairfield, Panel Programming
Jennifer Cross, Panel Programming
C.J. Hawkins, Panel Programming
WisCon 43

ACADEMIC PROGRAMMING DEADLINE EXTENDED TO FEBRUARY 20

If you’re interested in submitting a proposal for our Academic Programming track, you still have time!

We will now be accepting academic proposals until February 20.

If you are ready to submit but missed the deadline, please use this form.

If you need more information on what we’re looking for check out our Academic Programming page.

This Just In: WisCon 43 Panel Sign-Up and Interest Survey Opens on February 25!

We’re very excited to announce that the Panel Sign-Up and Interest Survey will go live in 2 weeks! On February 25th, get ready to give us YOUR feedback on what panels will run during WisCon 43.

WisCon programming is divided into separate tracks which group related concepts together in order to facilitate interesting and complex discussions.  The current list of tracks are below:

  • Feminism and Other Social Change Movements
  • Power, Privilege, and Oppression
  • Spirituality, Organized Religion and Politics
  • Science and Technology
  • The Craft and Business of Writing
  • Reading, Viewing, and Critiquing Science Fiction
  • Fandom as a Way of Life
  • Interactive Storytelling and Media

You will need a WisCon account in order to view and take the survey.  If you don’t have an account, create one at the “Create Your Account” page.  For those with an account already created, go to “Log in to My Account” page.  Come February 25th, you should see the link to the survey once you have logged into your account.

This is a very important stage of Panel Programming. The more people who participate in the survey and sign up for and/or rate the panels, the better chance you will have at seeing your panel selections on the final schedule. We understand that completing the survey can be laborious, but doing so is completely for your benefit.

So mark February 25th on your calendars!

As always, questions/concerns/feedback can be sent to panels@wiscon.net.

Jackie Gross, Lead Panel Programming
JP Fairfield, Panel Programming
Jennifer Cross, Panel Programming
C.J. Hawkins, Panel Programming
WisCon 43

WisCon is now accepting proposals for games!

Submit your games here by clicking the link, logging into your WisCon account, and selecting Gaming from the drop down menu. The deadline for proposing games is February 28th.

We have a few slots available all day for two dedicated gaming rooms every day of the con, so don’t be shy about proposing games. We’re excited to see your game submissions, be they tabletop roleplaying, larp, board games, or, if you’ve got a way to make it work, video games! We also encourage you to submit games to the Teen Program at teenprograms@wiscon.net and Kids Program at kidsprograms@wiscon.net. You can submit to these tracks by following the link above and selecting them from the drop down menu.

If you’d like to propose a game but are out of ideas, or want help figuring out what of several options you want to offer, please reach out to gaming@wiscon.net and we’d love to work with you to find something you’d be excited about running.

Again, submit your games here by clicking the link and selecting Gaming from the drop down menu.

Once you have submitted your game proposal you can expect an email from gaming@wiscon.net within the next couple days confirming that we received your submission and asking any follow up questions. After submissions close on February 28th a schedule will be created and sent out by early March so you will know your commitments when the call for panelists goes out.

TOMORROW IS THE LAST DAY TO SUBMIT A PANEL IDEA FOR WISCON 43!

ONE DAY MORE! You have one more day to submit your panel ideas, so to give you a quick refresher, check out our skit below on how to submit your panel ideas to make sure they get to us!

I’m a little fuzzy on how I should go about submitting a panel idea. Can you help me out?

Of course we can! Here’s the best way to go about it:

If you log into your profile, you will see a list of different options where you can submit your program idea to the right department on the left-hand side of the screen. Please see the screenshot below for an example.

If you want to submit a panel idea, please click on the “Submit Ideas” option.

We ask that you please use the correct option for submitting your program idea. Please do not submit any other type of programming to us. If you want to submit a party, you will need to click on the “Host a party” option. If you want to submit a paper proposal or academic proposal, please click on the “Submit Paper Proposal” option. If you want to submit a workshop proposal, please email workshop@wiscon.net. Information about workshops can be found via this link.

If you submit an event to us that is not a panel, due to the volume of panel requests and the subsequent organization of the panel schedule, we cannot guarantee that your submission will be timely transferred to the correct department.  The deadline to submit a panel idea to Panel Programming is tomorrow, January 21, 2019 at 11:59p.m. CST.

OK, that sounds very easy. I need to make sure I only submit panel ideas to you. So, do I have to log in to submit a panel idea?

You actually don’t have to log in to your profile to submit a panel idea, unless you want to receive a confirmation email to show that your submission has been received. For your benefit, we recommend logging in, especially if you submit multiple panel ideas! It will be easier for you [and us] to keep track.

This is super helpful information. Anything else I should know?

Panel Programming wants to help you get the best WisCon panel programming experience, so after you register, we would like for you to do a couple of things to help us help you.

  1. Update your profile, especially your email address.

All you need to do is log in to your profile, click the “Edit” link on the right side of your name, then click on “Save” once you’re done.

  1. Update your availability.

This information is essential to us. The more information you provide us, the better chance you have in getting your top choices of panels at your most desired times. To update your availability, please click on “Tell Us Your Schedule”. After you click on “Tell Us Your Schedule,” you will be brought to the following screen:

In this text, you will be asked for your arrival/departure information, your desired number of panels, as well as your preferred panel times. Once again, the more information you provide us, the better it will be for you. Given that it is still early, you can start off with a ballpark estimate, but please continue to update as needed as we get closer to the availability deadline in March 2019.

As usual, if you have any questions regarding Panels, please email us at panels@wiscon.net.

TWO WEEKS LEFT TO SUBMIT A PANEL IDEA FOR WISCON 43!

Mark your calendars, Friends! Two weeks left until panel submissions close! We’re excited to see what the community will share at this year’s WisCon!

I’m a little fuzzy on how I should go about submitting a panel idea. Can you help me out?

Of course we can! Here’s the best way to go about it:

If you log into your profile, you will see a list of different options where you can submit your program idea to the right department on the left-hand side of the screen. Please see the screenshot below for an example.

If you want to submit a panel idea, please click on the “Submit Ideas” option.

We ask that you please use the correct option for submitting your program idea. If you want to submit a party, you will need to click on the “Host a party” option. If you want to submit a paper proposal or academic proposal, please click on the “Submit Paper Proposal” option.

If you submit an event to us that is not a panel, due to the volume of panel requests and the subsequent organization of the panel schedule, we cannot guarantee that your submission will be timely transferred to the correct department.  The deadline to submit a panel idea to Panel Programming is January 21, 2019.

OK, that sounds very easy. Do I have to log in to submit a panel idea?

You actually don’t have to log in to your profile to submit a panel idea unless you want to receive a confirmation email to show that your submission has been received. For your benefit, we recommend logging in, especially if you submit multiple panel ideas! It will be easier for you [and us] to keep track.

This is super helpful information. Anything else I should know?

Panel Programming wants to help you get the best WisCon panel programming experience, so after you register, we would like for you to do a couple of things to help us help you.

  1. Update your profile, especially your email address.

All you need to do is log in to your profile, click the “Edit” link on the right side of your name, then click on “Save” once you’re done.

  1. Update your availability.

This information is essential for us. The more information you provide us, the better chance you have in getting your top choices of panels at your most desired times. To update your availability, please click on “Tell Us Your Schedule”.  After you click on “Tell Us Your Schedule,” you will be brought to the following screen:

In this text, you will be asked for your arrival/departure information, your desired number of panels, as well as your preferred panel times. Once again, the more information you provide us, the better it will be for you. Given that it is still early, you can start off with a ballpark estimate, but please continue to update as we get closer to the availability deadline in March 2019.

As usual, if you have any questions regarding Panels, please email us at panels@wiscon.net.