Technically, the “spontaneous” in WisCon’s “Spontaneous Programming” doesn’t mean that those programs are the result of stray or surprising impulses. It just means that the ideas didn’t make it into the regular program schedule, or that one of the regular panels or workshops or papers provoked enough discussion — tangential or otherwise — that it sprouted a part 2 that same weekend.

Or maybe someone woke up that morning and realized they’d had an epiphany about how Riker is symbolic of the textually un-examined specter of extractive colonialism in Star Trek: The Next Generation and they had to panel about it right away. In which case it is the result of a stray or surprising impulse. And that’s also valid.

So this weekend’s virtual spontaneous programs are sort of both of the above and sort of neither. Creating WisCon’s program schedule — including Readings, Gaming, Workshops, Panels, and Parties — is a massive undertaking that involves a small army of volunteers, several software platforms, lots of proofreading, surveys, reminders, data entry, and weeks of tweaks until it all fits together and is ready to happen.

We wanted to keep Visioning WisCon as an easy-entry, accessible, low stress event. Our (virtual) doors open at 4pm Central TODAY (Saturday), and you can either show up with an idea for a discussion — panel, presentation, demonstration, reading, roundtable — and people to have it with, or you can gather participants from among other attendees on the spot. We’ll have a schedule available for you to reserve a slot and promote your topic in one of our spontaneous programming rooms.

You know you don’t want to wait ANOTHER year before you talk through your feelings about Bill & Ted Face the Music, or Star Trek: Picard, or Lovecraft Country, or…how is time even real it’s making my brain feel funny. You get the drift.

Signups for spontaneous slots will open up today (Saturday) at 4pm Central, and will continue all weekend.

Register here to join us THIS WEEKEND May 29 & 30 at Visioning WisCon!