Official Announcements, WisCon 44

Help Us Feed WisCon!

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Help Us Feed WisCon!

WisCon’s Con Suite is something special. It’s more than a room stocked with sodas and some open packages of cookies; it’s a place to get coffee or tea, snacks, fresh salads from the local co-op, a tasty hot dinner every evening, fresh local bagels and donuts (or toast, or yogurt, or fruit) for breakfast each morning, a range of fast and easy to eat proteins including cheese and hard-boiled eggs throughout the day, and yes — cookies, chips, granola bars, and sodas as well.

We’re proud of it in part because we’ve created a space where we know the food is safe from contamination and spoilage, where we can confidently share the ingredient lists, where we have plenty of vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options, and where — with the exception of some individually wrapped & sealed single-serve items — we maintain a space that is tree nut free and peanut free.

We’re also proud of the fact that last year, everyone working in the Con Suite was also able to enjoy the rest of the convention. That’s a new thing! And it’s something we plan to ensure happens every year going forward. In order to do so, we need at least two additional Con Suite team members.

Con Suite team members are part of the WisCon Convention Committee (ConCom), and that means in the months between now and WisCon, they’ll help plan volunteer schedules, menus, and recipes. Just prior to and during the convention, they may help with our trips to Costco, or pick up our morning bagels from Gotham Bagels a few blocks from the hotel. They might take part in setting up the room we use for preparing food, filling crockpots according to our recipes, portioning prepared foods, brewing giant pots of coffee, and washing the (relatively few) dishes (mostly serving spoons and knives, since we use crockpot liners).

Con Suite team members will spend less than an hour a week on planning from January through the beginning of May. We have an experienced lead, so this will be time spent learning about what we can and can’t accomplish within the limited physical space we have at the con, our relationship with the hotel, and the time we need to safely prepare nourishing, satisfying meals. There’s far more work to do the week of the convention, but our plan is that no one will need to spend more than 4 hours a day in the Con Suite itself once con programming kicks off, unless they really want to. We will be recruiting folks in April and May to help during the convention without joining the ConCom as well, so the Con Suite team is well supported.

WisCon will pay for ServSafe food safety certification for anyone who joins the Con Suite team; ServSafe is an online course that takes a few hours, and the certification lasts for three years and is not WisCon specific.

These roles are part of WisCon’s ConSom, which means you’ll be automatically eligible to opt for a WisCon membership rebate of 40% of the registration fee. You also get to vote during the selection process for WisCon’s future Guests of Honor in autumn 2020. You do not need to be local to Madison or to the midwest; you should be planning to attend WisCon in 2020, and it’s useful if you will be there Thursday afternoon through Monday afternoon, but not a problem if you get there late or leave early.

We’ll cap this recruitment post off with a quote from a member of last year’s Con Suite team: “I was surprised. Once the con started, the Con Suite was actually really fun.” 🙂

Join us by emailing personnel@sf3.org. We also welcome your questions!

WisCon 44

You’ve Got TEN DAYS left to submit panel ideas to WisCon 44!

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Time flies! We’ve got just 10 days before panel submissions close, and we’re a bit lower on ideas than we would like to be. We know some of you love to leave things to the last minute, but anyone who can should go now and submit their amazing amazing ideas here: Submit Panel Ideas.

Got questions? We’ve got answers!

I’ve got a half formed idea and I need to breathe life into it. Can you help me?

Totally! Head over here to Dreamwidth and do some groupwork on panel idea. Even if you DON’T have an idea floating around, it’s a great place to help other craft panels!

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. (We know these screenshots are from last year–everything should be the same otherwise!)

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 19, 2020.

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.

Official Announcements, WisCon 44

WisCon Needs BRRRAAAAAAAIIIIIIIINNNNNSSSS!!!

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…to join us in building WisCon 44. Not to eat. Turns out that isn’t actually very healthy for anyone involved.

Hello! How did it get to be nearly the end of 2019 so quickly?

That means one thing: May 2020 is just around the corner, bringing WisCon 44 with it. (It also means a US election year, so we’re looking forward to WisCon as a place to restore our energies, catch our breath, share strategies, and stock up on good feelings as much as possible.)

We need you to help make that happen. We have a great Convention Committee this year, but we have a couple of departments that need you to join them!

WisCon’s Registration desk is the information hub of the convention, greeting folks, selling and handing out name tags and dessert tickets, and answering questions. It’s a great place to contribute time to help WisCon go smoothly, especially if you love knowing things and meeting people.

Registration needs two or three people to join us as At-Con specialists. What does that mean? Well, it means you get the time from now up to the convention to learn the ropes, meet the rest of the Committee, chime in on conversations, offer input on how we’ll set up and run the desk during the convention, and get trained. You can expect to spend an hour or two per month on tasks and email until the four weeks prior to the con, when you’ll have a few more conversations and emails to read. 🙂 At the con itself, you’ll help train volunteers and take some shifts on the desk. After the con things will drop back down to a few hours per month.

Love parties? Don’t want to host them yourself? Join the Party Programs team and help us help parties happen at WisCon! You’ll be part of an established team so you’ll get lots of help learning the ropes. You’ll be able to meet the rest of the ConCom and learn all about what we do behind the scenes with very few tasks up until March, when you’ll be part of scheduling our party suites and working with party hosts to make sure they know what they can do to make their happening the heights of hootenannydom. Or something. Alliteration is challenging, folks. You’ll spend an hour or two per month on email and online conversations between now and the convention; you may need to help troubleshoot during party setup time (7-9pm) Friday, Saturday, and Sunday during the convention, but you’ll have plenty of help if that happens. 🙂

We also have a couple of openings in our Communications Committee! We want you to help us get the word out about WisCon and our fantastic Guests of Honor, programs, and events. You don’t need any experience, but you do need to be self-motivated. There can be a little or a lot to do in both of these roles, and honestly, we’d be happy if you want to join us and only have the time or energy to do the minimum…but we’d be THRILLED if you want to sink your teeth in and make your mark and other exciting take-charge metaphors.

Could you be our Online Content person? (Or people!) You’ll post our blogs, update our web content, and link or re-post our blogs on social media. This can — but doesn’t have to — include writing blog posts, web page content, and social media posts. You tell us what you’re up for, and we’ll make it happen. This is not a technical job — you won’t be responsible for troubleshooting any software. This is a year-round role, but should take no more than two hours a month unless you decide you want to spend more time on it.

We also need one or more people to do Souvenir Program Book Ad Sales. This is a job that is active for 3-4 months each year and takes a total of 15-20 hours; the main task is sending emails to publishers, vendors, podcasts, fans, authors, agents, and local businesses to ask if they are interested in buying an ad in our program book. If you’re a fan of phone calls, you’re welcome to do that instead, but…let’s just say that we know it’s possible to do this entirely via email. We have a solid list of past advertisers, but we’re always looking for more.

All of these roles are part of SF3 & WisCon’s committees, which means you’ll be automatically eligible to opt for a WisCon membership rebate of 40% of the registration fee. You also get to vote during the selection process for WisCon’s future Guests of Honor.

To fill any of these roles you do not need to be local to Madison; for the Registration and Party Program roles you should be planning to attend WisCon in 2020. We particularly welcome volunteers from traditionally underrepresented or marginalized identities.

Join us by emailing personnel@sf3.org. We also welcome your questions!v

Official Announcements, WisCon 44

WisCon is now accepting proposals for games!

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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 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.

Official Announcements, WisCon 44

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS — WISCON INVITES SCHOLARS TO SUBMIT PROPOSALS FOR WISCON 44 ACADEMIC TRACK

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  • contact: academic@wiscon.net
  • Deadline for proposals: February 14

One of the things that sets WisCon apart, besides being the first feminist science fiction convention, is that we place many types of fannish interactions side-by-side in our programming. We have panels dedicated to exploring a single book or film as well as panels that look at, say, race across all of science fiction. We have author readings, discussions of fanfic or fanvids, and conversations about games and gaming.

We also have an entire track dedicated to scholarly investigations of feminism and science fiction — open to scholars of all descriptions. The proposal period for WisCon’s academic track programming is now open!

Land Acknowledgement: Madison, Wisconsin, the location of WisCon, occupies ancestral Ho-Chunk land, a place their nation has called Teejop (day-JOPE) since time immemorial.

In an 1832 treaty, the Ho-Chunk were forced to cede this territory. Decades of white supremacist, settler colonial violence followed as both the federal and state government repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, sought to forcibly remove the Ho-Chunk from Wisconsin. This history of colonization informs our shared future of collaboration and innovation. WisCon’s dynamic intersectional feminist process is informed by internal and external collaboration with displaced communities as we strive to enact decolonial politics.

Today, WisCon respects the inherent sovereignty of the Ho-Chunk Nation, along with the Miami, Menominee, Potawatomi, Oneida, Mohican, Ojibwe (Chippewa), Sioux, and all First Nations of Wisconsin.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS — WISCON INVITES SCHOLARS TO SUBMIT PROPOSALS FOR WISCON 44 ACADEMIC TRACK

 

WisCon has a track of academic programming, framed by the convention’s Statement of Principles, that encourages submissions from scholars in all fields, including interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and anti-disciplinary areas, from amateur and independent scholars as well as graduate students, postdocs, and faculty. One of the benefits of this track is that it strengthens the links between the wider feminist science fiction community, students, and other scholars working on feminist science fiction, speculative fiction, fantasy and related fields. The track operates very much like a conventional academic conference, with presentations based on research. However, the audience that WisCon reaches is able to provide scholarly work—on all aspects of feminist science fiction—a kind of passionate and informed feedback that is rare at academic conferences. We very much encourage submissions from people who aren’t involved in formal academic work! Over the years, people have presented papers on fantasy, horror, speculative and science fiction literature, media, and fandom, examining issues of feminism, gender, sexuality, race, disability, colonialism, and class, amongst many others.

Given our current political moment, we invite papers and panels that explore themes echoing the American Studies Association’s 2019 Annual Meeting, “Build As We Fight,” as well as the National Women’s Studies Association’s 2019 Annual Conference, “Protest, Justice, and Transnational Organizing.” With these themes in mind, we encourage proposals to consider science fiction as a site of protest. For example, how can feminist speculative fiction help us fight for a more just world? What lessons can be learned from Indigenous science fiction and science fiction from diasporic communities, to advance decolonial, anti-racist change? How can we use speculative fiction genres to respond to the threats of white supremacy, dispossession, militarization, and extractive capitalism?

This theme is an opportunity both for work that deals specifically with social and cultural questions about the radical politics of futures as they relate to feminist science fiction and for work on the histories and dream making of freedom-oriented fan communities.

Further, we invite proposals from anyone with a scholarly interest in the intersections of gender, gender identity, sexuality, race, class, and disability with science fiction—broadly defined—in literature, media, and culture. We encourage contributions that emphasize WisCon’s focus on how science fiction has played an important role in the exploration and creation of socially just futures: futures where people of all colors and backgrounds flourish, where women’s rights and women’s contributions are valued, where gender is not limited to one of two options, where no one is erased out of convenience, hidden discrimination, or outright bigotry. We especially welcome scholarship on the work of 2020’s Guests of Honor Rebecca Roanhorse and Yoon Ha Lee. An incomplete list of possible subjects:

  • What are the meanings, histories, and cultures of “protest?” How can feminist protest advance decolonial, anti-racist change? And how does this shape feminisms’ relationship to speculative genres (scifi, fantasy, horror, and beyond) both past and present?
  • Gender, gender identity, sexuality, race, class, and disability in individual works of science fiction and fantasy, especially in the works of our Guests of Honor, Rebecca Roanhorse and Yoon Ha Lee
  • Feminist, queer, critical race, and critical disability analysis of science fiction and fantasy in media (film, television, music, video games, online culture)
  • Speculative aspects of feminist and social justice movements
  • Race, colonialism, and speculative fiction; Indigenous Futurism, Afrofuturism and related cultural movements
  • Feminist pedagogy and speculative fiction in the academic classroom and beyond

An incomplete list of possible formats:

  • 15-minute paper presentations, with or without visual accompaniment
  • Groups of presentations submitted together as panels
  • Presentation of scholarly creative works, including digital scholarship
  • Discussion-based panels and roundtables on scholarly research, teaching, or service
  • Screenings and discussions of short films or videos

The deadline for submitting an abstract for WisCon 44 is midnight Central Time on February 14, 2020.

Please submit your proposal using this form (wiscon.net site profile is required). You will be asked for a 100-word abstract, which will be printed in the convention’s program, and for a more detailed proposal of up to 500 words. If you are proposing something other than a traditional paper, please make sure you describe the format of your proposed program item. A projector and screen will be available; if you have further technological needs, please let us know in your proposal.

If you have questions, please email: academic@wiscon.net

WisCon 45

Nominate Your Friends or Your Heroes (or Both) As WisCon 45 Guest of Honor

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The clock is running down on your time to nominate a Guest of Honor for WisCon 45 in 2021!

We opened nominations back in May during WisCon 43, and you have until Tuesday, October 15, at 11:59pm Central Time to send in all your wildest dreams of who you’d like to see us spotlight.

Don’t talk yourself out of sending us your thoughts! It’s easy, and nominations for Guest of Honor can come from anyone. That means whether you’ve been to WisCon forty-one times, one time, or maybe you’ll come someday in the future, we want your nominees. As long as WisCon is important enough to you to send an email, your ideas are important to us.

Our Guests of Honor help shape and focus our programming, influencing our conversations at the convention and afterward, so we welcome nominees who have something to say about the world, science fiction, fantasy, and elements of inclusive intersectional feminism as described in WisCon’s Statement of Principles. Guests of Honor can be essayists, critics, artists, reviewers, fans, authors, musicians, scientists, performers, or none of the above, so long as you think they fit the bill.

To make a nomination (or ten, or more), send an email to gohnoms@wiscon.net. We’d love to hear your reasoning, but that’s not mandatory. We’ll make a list of all of the nominees on October 16, and the convention planning committee will take a series of votes then extend invitations to the top candidates. We’ll announce the WisCon 45 guests during WisCon 44 in 2020, and then this whole process will start again.

More questions about Guests of Honor and the whole process? We’ve got lots of details in a previous version of this blog post – just don’t forget that the dates have changed.

Happy nominating – we can’t wait to hear who you want to invite!

Tiptree Award, WisCon 44

Statement of Support in Renaming the Tiptree Award

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Since the creation of the Tiptree Award was first announced by Guest of Honor Pat Murphy at WisCon 15 in 1991, WisCon has been proud to host the award winners and to support the award by hosting fundraisers at-con. Making big changes can be difficult, but listening to the voices of our community members exemplifies the values that our con continues to strive towards. We fully support the Motherboard in their decision to rename the award, and we look forward to celebrating the award under its new name at WisCon 44 in 2020.

Official Announcements, WisCon 44

More About Our WisCon 44 Guests of Honor — Rebecca Roanhorse & Yoon Ha Lee

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We are overjoyed to introduce our Guests of Honor for WisCon 44!

Rebecca Roanhorse

Rebecca Roanhorse's headshot
Rebecca Roanhorse

Rebecca Roanhorse is a Nebula and Hugo Award-winning speculative fiction writer and the recipient of the 2018 Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Her short fiction has also been a finalist for the Sturgeon, Locus and World Fantasy awards. Her novel Trail of Lightning (Book 1 in the Sixth World series) was selected as an Amazon, B&N, and NPR Best Books of 2018, among others, and is a Nebula and Hugo award finalist for 2019. Storm of Locusts, the second novel in the Sixth World series, was recently released to critical acclaim. She lives with her husband, daughter and dogs in Northern New Mexico.

Yoon Ha Lee

Yoon Ha Lee Headshot
Yoon Ha Lee

Yoon Ha Lee’s debut novel from Solaris Books, Ninefox Gambit, won the Locus Award for best first novel and was a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, and Clarke awards. Its sequel, Raven Stratagem, was a finalist
for the Hugo. He has also written a middle grade space opera, Dragon Pearl, from Disney-Hyperion. He lives in Louisiana with his family and an extremely lazy cat, and has not yet been eaten by gators.

WisCon 43

Building WisCon together — take our survey!

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Looking for the survey? Go here!

The thing that makes WisCon so amazing is that it’s built by its members. From your suggestions on how we can improve to what our programming should be, nearly everything that happens at WisCon happens only because a member proposed the idea.

We know things just got started, but as your weekend wraps up please take a moment to fill out our surveys and let us know what you thought and how we can keep improving the convention!

 

 

Official Announcements, WisCon 44

Updates for WisCon 44

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Reservations for both hotels and memberships for WisCon 44 are now open! Our amazing guests of honor are:

Yoon Ha Lee

Yoon Ha Lee’s debut novel from Solaris Books, NINEFOX GAMBIT, won the Locus Award for best first novel and was a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, and Clarke awards.  Its sequel, RAVEN STRATAGEM, was a finalist for the Hugo.  He has also written a middle grade space opera, DRAGON PEARL, from Disney-Hyperion.  He lives in Louisiana with his family and an extremely lazy cat, and has not yet been eaten by gators.

Rebecca Roanhorse

Rebecca Roanhorse is a Nebula and Hugo Award-winning speculative fiction writer and the recipient of the 2018 Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Her short fiction has also been a finalist for the Sturgeon, Locus and World Fantasy awards. Her novel Trail of Lightning (Book 1 in the Sixth World series) was selected as an Amazon, B&N, and NRP Best Books of 2018, among others, and is a Nebula and Hugo award finalist for 2019. Storm of Locusts, the second novel in the Sixth World series, was recently released to critical acclaim. She lives with her husband, daughter and dogs in Northern New Mexico.

Note on Hotel Offerings

We wanted to draw attention to a slight change in our Governor’s Club booking. Beginning WisCon 44, we will no longer be offering rooms for four people on the Governor’s Club level. Rooms for three people (including a rollaway bed) will still be available for WisCon 44.

We know that this is a change! We will continue to work with the awesome folks at the Concourse Hotel to advocate for our membership while respecting the needs of the hotel.
Thanks and we’ll see you next year!
Official Announcements, WisCon 43

WisCon’s Thursday Night Shuttle

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TL;DR: 4:30pm to 8:00pm Accessible Shuttle to and from Room of One’s Own!

WisCon is days away, and we’re darned excited to see you all! For those of you who will be in Madison on Thursday night, we kick off the long weekend with an intimate reception and reading at Room of One’s Own Bookstore with our Guests of Honor, G. Willow Wilson and Charlie Jane Anders. Room of One’s Own is about four blocks away from the Concourse Hotel, our main venue, so WisCon offers a complimentary accessible shuttle to and from the bookstore. Shuttles will start running to Room of One’s Own at 4:30pm, and will be making trips back to the Concourse as late as 8:00pm. This is an as-needed shuttle, so as seats fill up and/or passengers get antsy, the shuttle will depart to its destination. You may wait for the shuttle outside of the Concourse’s main entrance and at the entrance to Room of One’s Own. The vehicle, operated by Union Cab is a large van that is white with red lettering and a Bucky Badger mascot decal. It can fit 2 passengers using wheelchairs, and 6 passengers not, per trip. Tips aren’t necessary for the driver, but are always welcome. (WisCon will be compensating the driver, as well.) Room of One’s Own Bookstore is accessible by sidewalks and curb cuts, if you’d like to head over on your own time.

We look forward to this weekend. Safe travels!

Official Announcements, WisCon 43

Announcing the WisCon 43 Dealers’ Room!

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There are a lot of things to enjoy at a convention — seeing old friends, making new friends, discovering new authors, and having a few days away from the rest of the world. But there’s also the shopping. 😀 Without further ado, the vendors who will be joining us in the Dealers’ Room this year:

  • Angry Fox – Anime stuff, keychains, charms, pride stuff, figures, plushes, cat ears, artist goods, snacks.Unfortunately, Angry Fox can’t join us this year. We’ll see them next year.
  • Aqueduct Press – We publish feminist science fiction that stretches the imagination.
  • Book Lynx – Recent and vintage used SF, fantasy and cool books.
  • Charles Ott– Author.
  • Craft Brewed Suds – Handmade bath and body products for lovers of laughter, word nerds, and the geekily inclined!
  • Darlene P. Coltrain – Fine art craft jewelry in precious metals, precious and semi precious gemstones, and hand painted silk in fantasy and science fiction themes. I also have greeting cards featuring those silk paintings and the art of past WisCon artist guest of honor, Steven Vincent Johnson.
  • DC in 2021 Worldcon Bid – We are bidding to bring the Worldcon in 2021 to Washington, DC.
  • Dottie and Dad Soap Makers – Dottie and Dad Soap Makers make high quality glycerin soaps that are unscented, paraben and sulfate free, and packaged in home compostable cellophane. Their designs range from elegant to whimsical and include fantasy creatures, gay pride soaps, and other themes that would tend to appeal to the WisCon crowd. Unfortunately, Dottie and Dad can’t join us this year. Hopefully they can make it next year.
  • Dragon Abbey Jewelry Design – Hand made jewelry in a variety of materials including wire, stones, and glass.
  • Dylan Edwards – I sell book collections of my queer and trans comics, including sci-fi/fantasy, non-fiction, and contemporary fiction. I also sell my all-ages monster artwork, Feeping Creatures. This includes original art and sculpture, enamel pins, jewelry, and clothing.
  • F-BOM – F-BOM stands for “Feminist Book of the Month”. We are an online membership platform that lifts up the voices of indie SFF authors who identify as women. Our members get exclusive editions of each book we feature. Do you want to support more diversity in the SFF Genre? Join Today!
  • GlitterShip – GlitterShip is a small magazine and publisher which sells anthologies of LGBTQ short stories as well as related queer books by authors in attendance.
  • Frugal Muse Books – Frugal Muse is a brick and mortar store entering its 25th year of business in Madison. We have hundreds of thousands of books on every subject.
  • Kat’s Magical Creations – Formerly known as Fused Glass by Kathie, I create and sell fused glass jewelry and gift items, along with acrylic and oil paintings. My jewelry has won Best Jewelry at last year’s Windycon in the Chicago area.
  • Kinda Nerdy Housewife – Howdy! I’m a kinda nerdy crafter who makes pixel art with fuse beads! My wares include both fan art and original pieces. I make bead sprites, bows, pins, magnets, wall art, and coasters – all of which are lovingly hand-crafted one fuse bead at a time!
  • Let’s Be Legendary Podcast – We are an actual play queer focused Dungeons and Dragons podcast with a focus on storytelling and character development. Set in a wild west steampunk fantasy setting, our story currently follows a werewolf-shifter nonbinary gunslinger and a bisexual grave domain cleric of the god of death. The podcast is audio based however we have worked hard to bring in the visual element with beautifully done artwork and supplemental writing, through our online presence. We strive to tell the stories that we wished we would have had when we were growing up!Portable table, just outside the main Dealers’ Room.
  • Lioness: ornament for people and places – Art jewelry (a.k.a. the shinies) with names, often used as inspiration by writers and other artists. Also offers grab bags of jewelry and components, and an anthology of written works inspired by the jewelry (“Glass Bead Games”). If you like the Tiptree tiara, this is where to find other such items by the person who made it and donated it for use in the Tiptree awards.
  • Maps and Scraps – I make bags, blankets and other goods from T-shirts, remnants and a unique mix of textiles. Each piece is one of a kind and quality made.
  • O Human Star – Blue Delliquanti is a cartoonist and the creator of the webcomic O Human Star and the graphic novel Meal (published by Iron Circus Comics).
  • The Black Sheep’s Friend – I sew and machine embroider home items, jewelry, bags, patches, and more! Custom commissions are also available.
  • Ooooh Pretties – I hand-craft jewelry using beautiful and interesting stones. My work ranges from simple beading to larger hand-fabricated pieces with something for every budget.
  • Owl Post Greetings – Handmade greeting cards, vinyl decals and gifts inspired by fandom and fantasy.
  • Penguin & Pear – Penguin & Pear is a creative, fun business that enjoys sarcasm, adventure, and wit. We offer a variety of items, including tee shirts, tote bags, can coolers, decorative items, and more.
  • PM Press – PM Press is an independent publisher of fiction and nonfiction books and media to educate, entertain, and inspire!
  • Posh Geekery – Posh Geekery is all about expressing your fandom with style. We specialize in resin jewelry and can create custom items. Our current best sellers are book lockets that have a permanent and durable resin finish.
  • Rad Magpie & Speculative Literature Foundation – Rad Magpie’s mission is to support underrepresented creators and radical interactive media.
    We Enable development through funds, equipment and space.
    We Mentor for success, to send strong developers and leaders into the community to create and make bold change.
    We Champion these radical, diverse projects in an industry that desperately needs them.
    Speculative Literature Foundation’s mission is to promote literary quality in speculative fiction.
  • A Room Of One’s Own Bookstore – A Room Of One’s Own is a WisCon partner, hosting our Guest of Honor reception Thursday night, and endeavoring to carry titles from as many authors in attendance as possible. It’s a special place, and the Dealers’ Room recommends that you visit them both at the convention and in person at their bookstore, just a few blocks from the hotel.
  • Rosarium Publishing – Rosarium Publishing is a five-year-old venture, specializing in comics and science fiction with a multicultural flair.
  • r. r. campbell – r. r. campbell is an author, editor, and the founder of the Writescast Network, a podcast collective for writers, by writers. His sci-fi debut, IMMINENT DAWN, is the first installment in the epic EMPATHY science fiction saga. NYT-bestselling author Matt Forbeck has hailed IMMINENT DAWN as “an incisive techno-thriller that gets more tense with every page,” and author M.A. Hinkle has called it “freaking sci-fi GAME OF THRONES.”
  • SeWeird Galactic Accessories – One stop cosmic shop for out of this world items of holding. Each piece is handpainted, unique, and made of durable canvas. They are water and stain resistant, washable, and sewn with original patterns.
  • Artwork by Shauna Aura Knight – Shauna Aura Knight’s artwork is inspired by the stories of heroes and magic, of myth and mysticism, gods and goddesses, fairytales and fantasy. Her paintings use lush colors, metallic paint, and raised textures that include acrylic paint, textured paper, and jewels. Her imagery includes swords, angels, butterflies, keys, crowns, the tree of life, dragons, unicorns, phoenixes, ravens, wolves, stags, roses, dragonflies, and much more. As both an artist and an author, her work is inspired by shadow work and personal transformation.
  • Sign of the Unicorn – My hand-sculptured jewelry (mostly one-of-a-kind) is designed in feminist, mythic, science fiction and fantasy themes. The technique is lost-wax casting; the materials are sterling silver, bronze, 14k gold, and semi-precious stones. The jewelry includes a group of rings, earrings and pendants in feminist designs.
    In addition, I am showing and selling both the books and the photographs of Women En Large: Images of Fat Nudes and Familiar Men: A Book of Nudes, and my photography project Women of Japan (all works done in collaboration with social change activists and feminists).
  • Small Beer Press – Small Beer Press is an independent publisher based in Western Massachusetts.
  • tentacle-made studios – tentacle-made studios is a mixed media, conceptual art and illustration studio specializing in Participatory Culture and narrative pieces in a variety of mediums from purely illustrative works to small-scale sculpture to buttons.