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WisCon 40

WisCon 40 — Announcing our party lineup

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Gretchen & Sooshe
Parties

A good part of the fun at WisCon is the numerous member-hosted parties. Here is the lineup for WisCon40. Check your pocket program or the WisCon app to get the correct time, location, and additional details of each event. See you at WisCon40, and party on, people!

Friday’s events

Carl Brandon Society Party Up!

  • Friday in Room 629
  • Hosted by Nisi Shawl and K. Tempest Bradford of The Carl Brandon Society

Colo(u)r your world(s) with the Carl Brandon Society in celebration of POC representation in the fantastic genres. Make crowns, win award-earning books, give donations, hear about progress in our many programs, hang out. And remember: If you stay ready, you don’t have to get ready.

SCI-FI SAVED MY LIFE! (A Think Galactic Party)

  • Friday in Room 627
  • Hosted by Jacob Daniel Casella and Elijah Itah of Think Galactic

At SCI-FI SAVED MY LIFE! we want to collect passages and quotes from spec fic stories that have been meaningful or transformative to us personally. Please consider the story that made you realize you loved sci-fi or something you read that shifted your viewpoint, something that resonates with where you are at or want to be, or just a beautiful bit of writing that feeds you. We encourage you to bring short pieces of fiction to share. Also, come dressed as people in need of saving and/or saviors and/or wearing implements of saving. We’d love to see folks in armor, doctors, survivalist gear, life preservers – for example. SCI-FI SAVED MY LIFE! is brought to you by Chicago’s premier leftist sci-fi book group THINK GALACTIC. The current reading list is on thinkgalactic.org.

Saturday’s events

Haiku Earring Party

  • Saturday in Room 627
  • Hosted by Elise Matthesen

The Haiku Earring Party is back after last year’s hiatus! Come be part of a WisCon tradition. There are many many pairs of earrings waiting for you to choose yours, get a title from Elise, and write a haiku. (Well, senryu, usually, but we’re flexible. We’ve even gotten the occasional sonnet.) Come and write, or just come by to visit and read the poetry.

Vid Party

  • Saturday in Room 629
  • Hosted by Melissa Getreu, Sandy Olson, Alexis Lothian, and Gretchen T.

Vids are fan-created remix videos with something to say. They are also super fun. Come join us at WisCon’s 7th annual Vid Party! As usual there will be a sing-along portion with subtitled vids, as well as short shows on various themes (to be announced). #VidParty

Will Do Magic For Small Change Book and CD release Party

  • Saturday in Conference V
  • Hosted by Andrea Hairston and Pan Morigan

This is a release party for Andrea’s new novel, Will Do Magic For Small Change and Pan’s CD–which is songs from Andrea’s novels Redwood and Wildfire and Will Do Magic For Small Change, and from Andrea’s novelette Saltwater Railroad. We’ll do singing and theatre and eat yummy food and get everybody to tell tall tales.

Saturday Night DDP Yoga Party (and Dance Off)

  • Saturday in Conference II
  • Hosted by Jacqueline Gross and Mikki Kendall

We know that yoga can be appropriated but can it also be gendered? Join us as we plumb the mysteries of DDP (Diamond Dallas Page) Yoga, as well as other sources. There may also be dancing at the end. This is a very casual activity. Come ready to laugh and sweat.

Floomp VI: Time Travel

  • Saturday in Assembly
  • Hosted by Liz Gorinsky and Meghan McCarron

Continuing a six-year-old WisCon tradition, The Floomp is a gleeful dance party that seeks to create a queer space for everyone. Beyond the obvious fun of dressing up and dancing our brains out, we aim to foster an inclusive and responsible space for the queer-identified and all their friends. Like its inspiration, The Tiptree Awards, The Floomp remains a safer space to explore and expand ideas of gender with no judgements. DJ Buckminster Fuller and other special guests, including Charlie Jane Anders and Annalee Newitz, will keep the party going all night—or at least until the hotel kicks us out. This year’s theme is Time Travel. Adherence to theme is by no means required, but it’s a fine time to break out your best historic or futuristic duds if you have them.

Sunday’s events

Strange Horizons Tea Party

  • Sunday in Room 627 from 3pm-4:30pm
  • Hosted by Catherine Krahe of Strange Horizons

The Strange Horizons Tea Party offers a variety of tea and treats for you to enjoy as you chat about stunning poetry, insightful articles, critical reviews, inspiring short fiction, eye-opening art, and anything else that comes to mind.

The Robot’s Guide To Love Roboriffic Release Party

  • Sunday in Room 627
  • Hosted by Shayla Dunn and Theo Lorenz

Come join us to color the night away and celebrate the release of The Robot’s Guide To Love Coloring Book by Theo Lorenz. If you are now or ever plan to become a robot, you might just need this book to help you find your perfect dreambot.

By the bi

  • Sunday in Room 629
  • Hosted by Lou Hoffman, Betsy Lundsten, and Colleen Waldie

A Venn diagram of non-monosexuals and fandom would put this party right in the fabulous middle. Come celebrate bisexual, pansexual, queer, unlabeled, and other non-monosexual identies in fandom. Food, drinks, games, what else makes a great party? Will we have live fanfic readings? Will we have a raffle for bi and pan colored swag? You’ll just have to come by to find out. (It WILL be amazing, though. That’s not in dispute.) While this is a celebration of non-monosexual identities, all are welcome.

Monday’s events

Fond Farewell Party

  • Monday in Room 629
  • Hosted by Ctein and Laura Majerus

If you’re still here on Monday night, come join others who are still here for a Fond Farewell party. We’ll have munchies, beverages, and good conversation. It’s the last party for Wiscon 2016! It’ll begin at 9 PM and run until the last fan falls over.

WisCon 40

WisCon 40 — Gaming update!

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SarahTops
Gaming

WisCon is weeks away! Are you ready to get your game on?

On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, WisCon will offer role-playing, storytelling, and board gaming.

Board games will run each evening from 8pm to 12am in the second floor lobby in front of the Dealers’ Room doors. We will teach and play a variety of modern board games open to casual drop-in players. Most games will be suitable in theme and content for players of a variety of ages from teens and up, although they may not hold the attention of those 12 and younger. New players are welcome!  We are especially excited to welcome a team of volunteers from Madison’s own Pegasus Games, who are bringing an onslaught of new and popular board games.

Reserving Seats

Reserve a seat to ensure a spot in one of our games! Reservations are not required, but they are recommended, especially for role-playing and storytelling games. A board outside of the Dealers’ Room will feature that evening’s featured board games, along with board game sign-up space.

For role-playing and storytelling games, please sign up by contacting us at gaming@wiscon.net, or visit the Gaming table at the Gathering on Friday. Throughout the con, we will advertise games that are looking for players, so keep your eyes and ears peeled for posters, tweets, and whispers.

Game Scheduling

For board games, please refer to the board in front of the Dealers’ Room each afternoon for a list of proposed featured games for the evening.  We still have room for more!  If you would like to add a game you’re prepared to facilitate, please contact us at gaming@wiscon.net. Our board gaming space lends itself to multiple concurrent games, so the more, the merrier!  Please stop by any time between 8pm and 12am to see if new games are starting up soon, or start one yourself; board gaming is open to casual drop-ins.

For role-playing and storytelling games, please see below. If you’re planning to participate in a role-playing game, please arrive on time and consider reserving a spot by emailing us at gaming@wiscon.net.

Please note that more games may be added between now and the convention; visit the Gaming table at the Gathering or check the board in the Dealers’ Room Lobby for each evening’s offerings!

Board Games Available at WisCon 40

  • Bullfrogs
  • Chess
  • Chez Geek
  • Codenames
  • Coup
  • Cribbage
  • Dominoes
  • Galaxy Truckers
  • Knit Wit
  • Mansions of Madness
  • Pandemic
  • Playing Cards (jumbo face)
  • Resistance
  • Settlers of Catan
  • Sheriff of Nottingham
  • Telestrations
  • Ticket To Ride
  • … and many more!

Role-Playing Games at WisCon 40

Laser Kittens

  • facilitated by Megan Condis
  • Friday, 8pm-11pm
  • Conference 3

Welcome to the Knoll St School for Wayward Kittens! KSSWK is a big house where orphaned kittens are fostered until they are big enough to be adopted by their forever homes. To the humans, KSSWK is just an ordinary home where they take in kittens who need some love — but to the kittens, it’s like a school where you learn to be a real cat. As a student at KSSWK, you’ll go on exciting kitty adventures and learn important lessons about how to grow up into an awesome cat. Your most important lesson will be how to control your laser — a unique and powerful supernatural ability that the humans don’t know about!

Shemesh

  • facilitated by Jon Cole
  • Friday, 8pm-12am
  • Conference 4

Welcome to Shemesh — the city of light! Built over the remains of an old, rusted city, Shemesh is a utopia of innovation, sustainability, and peace. This diverse city draws most of its power from the sun. Rooftop gardens, solar panels, and luminescent moss provide a colorful and serene backdrop for city life. The most beautiful gems of Shemesh, however, are its inhabitants — the caring, beautiful, flawed people who live within its walls.

In Shemesh, players will work together to create and explore a Solarpunk utopia. Play will involve creating locations, characters, and examining how conflicts are resolved in utopia.

HeroQuest Glorantha

  • facilitated by Edgar “Gar” Francis
  • Sunday, 8pm-12am
  • Conference 3

Pavis is a city of a thousand stories. Your story begins with questions like: “Who killed your employer?,” “How can you stay one step ahead of the most feared swordswomen in the city?”, and “Who or what is the mysterious Purple Troll?”

“The Purple Troll” is an adventure for HeroQuest in Glorantha. No prior experience with HeroQuest or the world of Glorantha is necessary.