WisCon 39

Call for donations and nominations to WisCon Member Assistance Fund!

Lisa Cohen
WisCon Member Assistance Fund

Do you remember your first WisCon?  I remember mine.  I remember going to panel after panel where people were talking about fiction, about social justice, about Buffy and Xena, about the future, and about history.  I was amazed.  I was enchanted.

That’s the reason that I choose to work on WisCon, and that’s the reason why one of the things that I work on is helping people who need a little help coming to WisCon to make it here.  The WisCon Member Assistance Fund isn’t just for first-timers.  It isn’t just for old hands, either.  It’s for people who are drawn to WisCon, but can’t make it there on their own.

Every year, we try to help as many people as we can come to WisCon. It’s the time of year when we ask you to please consider contributing to the member assistance fund. All contributions should be made to SF3 and sent to:

SF3
Attn: WisCon Member Assistance Fund
P.O. Box 1624
Madison, WI 53701

SF3 is a 501(c)(3) organization, so your donations are tax deductible. Every penny will be used to help potential WisCon members attend in May. You can also use Paypal and send the money to treasurer@sf3.org.

We are also accepting nominations for potential recipients of assistance. Nominate someone else or nominate yourself. Tell us why the potential recipient would be a good person to attend WisCon and give us an idea of what funds would make the difference between being able to attend and missing the convention. Typically, we give amounts between $200 and $500.

We are often asked whether a previous recipient of assistance can receive help again. The answer to that is that yes, that is a possibility, but if we do not have enough money to help everyone who applies, we will give priority to people who have not previously received assistance. Depending on the number of nominations and the amount of donations, the WMAF committee will try to help out as many people as possible who would like to come to WisCon but need some support to do so.

All nominations need to be made by midnight, PST, February 15, 2015. Assistance recipients will be notified by March 15, 2015. These deadlines are timed to allow people who receive assistance time to sign up to be on programming. Nominations for the WisCon Member Assistance Fund should be sent to fund@wiscon.net.

Nominate away! And please, if you have a little money to help other people come to WisCon, donate!




WisCon 40

Come build WisCon with us

Alexandra Erin
Media & Communications

Who runs WisCon?

You do.

WisCon is your con. It’s run by you, for you. Every year, it takes the hard work of a dedicated band of volunteers to make the convention happen, but every year, through your efforts we can make the con that much better for everyone. We have a need for volunteers with many different skills and all levels of experience. Fresh voices and enthusiasm are just as needed as old seasoned hands. Whether this is your first WisCon or your fifty-first*, you can become a part of the heart of the con by volunteering.

While you can step up to help the day of the con by just putting yourself forward when someone asks for help, the best way to get involved in on-site volunteering is send an email to volunteers@wiscon.net and let us know that you’re interested.

But we also have an immediate need for people who are willing and able to step up and take on essential roles in the running of the con. By volunteering for one of these positions, you will step into the Convention Committee (ConCom), the overarching committee that does the work to make WisCon happen. You will become a part of planning discussions and decision making throughout the year, in addition to your at-con role. This means that you’ll have a direct hand in shaping WisCon 39 and the future of WisCon beyond. While these positions do require you to take on responsibility, this also means you’ll have a support network and the expertise and experience of other ConCom members, or at least some sympathetic brains to pick.

If you’re interested in joining a particular department, just send an email to recruitment@wiscon.net,

Right now, we have a particular need for people to fill the following roles:

  • Organizer for the WisCon Writer’s Workshop.  The workshop  traditionally takes place on the Friday before the con, and gives up-and-coming and newer writers a chance to share their work and have their stories critiqued by a pro writer.
  • The front desk needs some people willing to take a lead position for At-Con Registration. You can become a personal hero to one of the tireless heroes of the con by taking responsibility for the registration desk for just half a day during the con. This position requires you to be able to answer questions about the con with knowledge and confidence, and be prepared to handle all forms of payment for same-day registration sales. This is the perfect role for someone who likes to meet people, share information, and help people out. If this position interests you but you feel you lack the experience, the registration desk always has a need for helper minions. Feel free to put yourself forward during the con.
  • WisCon traditionally ends with an After-Con Party, but this party doesn’t just happen! We need someone to organize it. Remember, this is a wind-down affair, so you wouldn’t need much in the way of activity planning, but while there’s a potluck of food leftover available from the rest of the con, some fresh refreshments will have to be lined up. The main thing about this party is that it happens after many people’s brains have handled all the pressure and responsibility they can in one long weekend, so we need someone who will take charge of lining up food, setting it all up, and closing it all down.
  • We need a Banquet Liaison for the hotel. In the months before the con, your responsibility will be to collect information about furniture layouts and menus required for catering services by different groups, and follow up as necessary during the con when reality diverges from expectations. Requires organization skills, communication skills, and an ability to follow-through and encourage others to do so.
  • The Art Show requires a lead for set-up, as well as “understudies” who can assist in running it and also step up to lead if needed during the con.
  • We need an Ad Salesperson for the Pocket Program book & souvenir book.
  • Do you have experience in non-profit funding? We are building a team with experience in Grant-Writing and Fundraising.
  • We need additional volunteers to run the Gaming Area, preferably enough to have one person to take lead for each night. You would be overseeing the set-up, clean-up, and operations of the gaming area.
  • A Pre-Con Head for the Green Room to organize the schedule for the Green Room, set up volunteer time slots and work with the Volunteer Coordinator to fill them before the convention begins. You will also set the menu for the Green Room and may make changes to its layout as necessary.
  • Programming can always use more people!
  • In order to ensure the Bake Sale comes off, we need someone who can act as a second to the organizer with an eye towards taking over the role in the future. Due to external uncertainties, there is a chance you may become the primary organizer on-site at the con.
  • Last but certainly not least, our current ConCom chairs (Mikki Kendall & Levi Sable) would like a 3rd or even 4th Chair for WisCon 39 to share duties and expertise.

If you’re interested in filling any of these roles and joining the ConCom, send a query to recruitment@wiscon.net. For general volunteering during the con, send an email to volunteers@wiscon.net.

*Time travelers are by definition always welcome.

Official Announcements

Adjust your dials

WisCon is embracing the blogging life and moving from our old Blogspot digs to a shiny new blog hosted on the WisCon webserver.  Please adjust your receiver to tune in our new RSS frequency.

We’ve also changed the name of our blog to clearly differentiate it from the at-con newsletter, which has long been called “A Momentary Taste of WisCon.”  Our new blog is “WisCon, WisCon, do you read?” — a title, like Momentary Taste, taken from a James Tiptree, Jr., story.

Stay tuned this week and next while we break in the new blog with updates from the concom as we begin work on WisCon 39.

WISCON OVER AND OUT

Official Announcements

Jeanne Gomoll leaves the concom

Jeanne Gomoll has announced her resignation from the WisCon concom:

I resigned from the WisCon planning committee and from the SF3 Board on October 5, 2014. To put it mildly, this has been a momentous decision for me.

You can read the full text below or on Facebook. If you’re on Facebook and would like to leave a note for Jeanne, you can navigate from that link to the version of the announcement she posted on her personal page.

Jeanne has done an absolutely tremendous amount of work on WisCon over the years. It’s hard to imagine we would have reached 38 WisCons without her. We are deeply grateful for her continued support.

My resignation from the concom does not affect my support of WisCon. I will be forever proud of my work on WisCon and for the space it offers the feminist science fiction community and its allies. I count myself lucky to have worked on WisCon for as long as I have, and hope that it continues for many more years. I plan to attend WisCon 39 in 2015 and many future WisCons.

Continue reading Jeanne Gomoll leaves the concom →

Official Announcements

Piglet recuses herself from harassment process

From the SF3 board (WisCon’s parent organization):

In response to member concerns, Piglet Evans has stated that she will not volunteer for Safety positions at WisCon in the future, and will recuse herself from handling reports of harassment or related matters in any other ConCom position. We further guarantee that she will be held to this. We thank Piglet for her cooperation, and for her years of service in many capacities.

Comments can be sent to SF3’s Corresponding Secretary: info@sf3.org

Official Announcements, SF3

An apology from SF3

The board of SF3, WisCon’s parent organization, has posted the following apology on their blog:

An Apology

The SF3 Board extends heartfelt apologies to those who have been harassed at WisCon, to those who feel unsafe at WisCon, to the ConCom, and to our wider community, for letting you down. We regret allowing Rose Lemberg’s report to languish. We are writing this statement as prompted by Rose Lemberg’s liaisons, Saira Ali and Alex Dally MacFarlane (link: . While this statement is being written per their request, the SF3 board would like to emphasize that it is genuinely sorry for Rose Lemberg’s pain being perpetuated by a seemingly unending tangle of bureaucratic lapses. WisCon co-chairs change from year to year, as do department heads such as Safety, but the makeup of the SF3 Executive Board is more static, as the turnover is staggered. Our board is organized so as to provide continuity and stability, and we recognize that our positions make us uniquely culpable for having failed to monitor and intervene in the communications with individuals who reported harassment at WisCon.

We failed to see that our process was a flawed and porous system that allowed reports to get misplaced. Since the SF3 Board officially appoints the chair(s) of WisCon, which in turn is technically a committee within the larger organization of SF3, the board acknowledges that it is ultimately our responsibility to oversee issues of safety that affect all WisCon attendees.

We will focus on our accountability and responsibilities as an institution and be vigilant in the future to try and prevent such events from happening again.

A number of valued concom members have chosen to resign over the summer, including several past WisCon chairs. In addition, several other former chairs have decided to significantly reduce their work on WisCon. We recognize that chairing Wiscon is a difficult task, even with co-chairs, and that the responsibilities of chair and other high-responsibility positions need to be rethought. The concom is currently examining itself, and has begun work to replenish committee positions and to provide training or apprenticeships for prospective chairs.

You may leave comments on SF3’s blog post or send them via email to the SF3 Corresponding Secretary.

Official Announcements

Subcommittee requests additional information

As one of the concerns brought up regarding the Frenkel decision was that all available reports were not considered, the subcommittee convened to consider Rose Lemberg’s report would like to ask if anyone has additional information about the events publicly discussed by Rose Lemberg [http://rose-lemberg.livejournal.com/354919.html] and Saira Ali and Alex Dally MacFarlane [http://sairaali.livejournal.com/201577.html] that they would like to make WisCon aware of at this time.

We do have Rose Lemberg’s report, Saira Ali and Alex Dally MacFarlane’s open letter to WisCon, and WisCon’s other correspondence with Rose Lemberg, FJ Bergmann, Saira Ali, Alex Dally MacFarlane, and other witnesses. If you have additional statements or information, please email it to safety@wiscon.net by Monday, October 6.

Thank you.

Official Announcements

Update from subcommittee

The subcommittee reviewing Rose Lemberg’s report of harassment by FJ Bergmann is continuing its deliberations, while being mindful of the ways in which the first subcommittee’s process was flawed. We believe that WisCon owes all involved parties, and the WisCon community, a resolution to this matter sooner rather than later, given how long this situation was neglected by WisCon. All subcommittee members will be involved in deciding what information should be reviewed, we will be very mindful of WisCon’s Statement of Principles and our commitment to member safety, and the WisCon concom will be reviewing our recommendations for action before the decision is finalized.

Official Announcements

Concom decision on Jim Frenkel

The WisCon 37 and WisCon 38 concom members jointly reviewed the Frenkel subcommittee’s recommendation, and, after extensive discussion and consideration of additional evidence, voted whether to clarify or strengthen the existing ban, or to make the ban permanent. By an overwhelming majority, the decision is for a permanent ban. This decision cannot be appealed. Jim Frenkel will not be allowed to return to any future WisCon conventions.

Official Announcements

State of the Concom, July 30th — vote commencing

The WisCon concom has begun the voting process in its appeal of the subcommittee’s decision on Jim Frenkel. In addition to reviewing the subcommittee’s decision, the concom is also considering information that has been brought to its attention in the weeks since the July 18th announcement from the subcommittee. Voting will close over the weekend. The concom’s decision will be announced Monday afternoon (Seattle time).

Official Announcements

Concom update for July 26th

We have several announcements to make as updates to our previous post:

1) In light of the intense community response to the Frenkel subcommittee’s decision, and the concom’s own concern about the “provisional ban,” the WisCon concom is itself currently appealing the subcommittee’s decision and will vote on the matter this week.

2) Debbie Notkin has resigned as Member Advocate, effective immediately.

3) The Bergmann subcommittee is assessing if they can continue given the valid concerns about Wiscon’s existing process.

4) Regarding refunds of registrations for WisCon 39, we received this question via Twitter: “Will there be a policy for refunds for those of us who are against the con’s current harassment actions?”

WisCon has traditionally had a fairly free refund policy for any registered members who are unable to attend. Anyone who has registered for WisCon 39 and would like a refund for any reason can request one by emailing registration@wiscon.net.