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WisCon 40

What Would WisCon Drink?

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Chris Wallish
SF3 Communications Committee

Our friends at the Concourse Hotel are letting us take over the drink menu in the bar again!  If you can come up with an interesting idea for a WisCon-centric drink, the Concourse’s bartender will consider adding it to the menu for the convention.

How it works:

All you need to include is the drink name and any suggested colors/ingredients.  Give a short explanation of the reference if it’s obscure.

Alcoholic suggestions very welcome — non-alcoholic drinks strongly encouraged!

The one catch:  We have just 24 hours to collect suggestions, so think fast!  Give us your suggestions by commenting on this blog post, commenting on our Facebook post, or tweeting at us.

WisCon 40

Don’t forget to review your programming assignments!

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Chris Wallish
SF3 Communications Committee

We’ve reached the penultimate step in the process of revealing our schedule for WisCon 40 — preliminary programming assignments have been sent out!!

Did you receive an email about your preliminary assignment?  That means the crucial part of this step is now in your hands.  Please log into your WisCon account  and respond to each of your assignments.  Hit the accept/decline link and on the next page select either “This works for me.” or “I have a problem.”  There’s a box where you can leave a comment about what’s not working for you — use this box, as it will help our programming team sort things out!

If you’ve been placed on a panel, you have through Monday, April 25, at 11:59pm Central Time to respond to your preliminary assignments.

Did you NOT get an email about programming assignments?  Check your spam, and if you still don’t see it you can always just log in at account.wiscon.net to see if you’ve been assigned to anything.  Your preliminary program will show up on the main page after login.

If you are accepting ANY of your programming assignments, please take a moment to also review your program name and bio.  How do you find that?  On the main page — where it says “Hello, [name]!  You are logged in as [email address]” — you’ll find a line with your name.  Immediately to the right of your name will be the hyperlinked word “Edit.”  Click on that to be taken to the profile page.

On the profile page, you can set your badge name.  You can set how your name will appear in the Pocket Program Book.  And if you’d like your name to NOT appear when we post the schedule online, there’s a ticky-box for that.

If you enter a website URL, your participant information online will link to it.

Complete the “Short bio” box with how you’d like to be biographied in our Pocket Program Book and in the WisSched app.  Complete the “Long bio” to have a longer biography on our website, where the pixels are free and we’re not constrained by the limitations of paper size and cost.

Click “Save” and you’re good!  And we’re one bit closer to releasing the kraken full WisCon 40 schedule!!

WisCon 40

WisCon 40 — Announcing our Dealers’ Room!

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Dealers’ Room

We’ll have thirty amazing vendors displaying their wares on nearly fifty tables this year in the Dealers’ Room. You’ll see your old favorite publishers and booksellers, as well as many new faces, bringing clothes, crafts, dolls, masks, jewelry, comics, accessories, and decorative arts for sale.

Want details? We’ve got details! Read on…

AFKcrafts
Creator of nerdy items including jewelry, keychains, plushies, and more from some of your favorites games, shows, movies, and other media.

Alex Heberling
An online comics artist who has been creating comics for over 10 years, and is currently publishing The Hues, a post-apocalyptic magical girl series. She takes custom commissions, and will also be bringing jewelry, prints, and posters.

Aqueduct Press
Publishers of feminist science fiction and related titles, with emphasis on work that stretches the imagination and challenges readers.

Book Lynx
Books: used, rare, and collectible. A large stock of hard covers and vintage paperbacks in science fiction, fantasy, horror, and other interesting genres.

Broad Universe
Broad Universe is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to celebrating and promoting women writers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror.

The Crafty Dyborg
Bringing beautiful art to the masses, The Crafty Dyborg specialize in modular origami balls and lamps, but don’t be surprised to see wire jewelry or duct tape creations as well!

Darlene P. Coltrain
Fine art craft wearable art in fantasy, science fiction, and visionary themes. Sculptural lost wax cast jewelry in precious metals, beads — glass, gemstone, and natural materials — knotted on silk, and hand dyed & painted silk scarves. Some of the images on silk are also made available on greeting cards.

DreamHaven Books
One of the oldest and largest science fiction specialty dealers in the world, with the largest and most diverse selection of books and ephemera found anywhere.

Dylan Edwards
A comic creator with a focus on queer comics, his work includes Transposes, a Lambda Literary Award finalist for Transgender Non-Fiction, and Politically InQueerect: Old Ghosts and Other Stories. His comics have also appeared in QU33R (2014 Ignatz Award), No Straight Lines (2013 Lambda Literary Award), and the Beyond Anthology. His current project is Valley of the Silk Sky, a YA science fiction webcomic that features a cast with queer, asexual, and trans characters.

Frugal Muse Books
Sellers of all types of books, DVDs, and CDs serving the Madison science community for 17 years, as well as providing a home to the Madison Science Fiction book discussion group.

Sadly, Geekiana had to cancel this year!

Geekiana
Intensely geeky clothing and accessories designed and printed by a geek for geeks. Geekiana references TV, comics, movies, and geek culture. Each design is meant to be a beautiful, funny, or inspiring beacon to other fans and fan-friendly folk, with work that appeals across genders and ages.

The Heathersmith
Erika Hammerschmidt, author of the science fiction novel Kea’s Flight and other works, makes a wide variety of fantasy-style wire-wrapped gemstone jewelry. Pieces include crowns and tiaras, elf-earrings that make the ears look pointed, jeweled-dagger letter openers, gemstone chess sets, rings, earrings, and necklaces made with crystals, geodes, meteorites, and fossils.

Interlude Press
A boutique publisher of exceptional LGBTQ fiction including science fiction and fantasy for YA and adult audiences. In its first 18 months, Interlude Press titles have garnered five Publishers Weekly starred reviews and kudos from the American Library Association’s GLBT Roundtable, Booklist magazine, Foreword Reviews, Library Journal and USA Today’s HEA book reviews. Three 2014 novels were finalists for five Foreword Indiefab Book of the Year Awards, including the winner of the Silver Indiefab for LGBT fiction. Rachel Davidson Leigh, author of the upcoming debut novel Hold, will be representing the press.

Lady Purl Designs
A geeky shop for knitters and fiber lovers. Yarns inspired by favorite fandoms and characters in geek culture, as well as sewn knitting accessories such as needle organizers and project bags with nerdy licensed fabrics. Lady Purl designs and sells original knitting patterns, all fandom inspired, and has recently fallen in love with making soap and lotion bars in geeky shapes.

Lioness: Ornament for People and Places
Named jewelry that may make you want to write things or make art or sing for joy. Shiny goodness. Inspiration and delight. The creator of the Tiptree tiara, Lioness jewelry has been used as inspiration by many writers.

Maggs Creations
Lampworked glass critters and wearable art. Using a torch, simple hand tools, heat, and gravity, Maggs works glass into fun sculptural critters and pendants, making everything from exotic space aliens with googly eyeballs and tentacles to delicate seahorses and goddess pendants — and she loves talking about the science and art of glass.

MLPoliceBox221BagEnd
MLPoliceBox221BagEnd is devoted to expressing exactly what people love about their particular fandoms, and includes hand-knitted hats, scarves, and dolls inspired by fantasy, cult classic, gamer, and science fiction favorites.

OoohPretties
Hand fabricated sterling silver jewelry incorporating a variety of interesting, beautiful stones, and including many pieces that lend themselves to story-telling.

Philip Kaveny Bookseller
Books of high quality in the area of science fiction criticism, feminist theory, and fantasy, as well as art and idea books.

PM Press
An independent publisher that creates radical, feminist, and stimulating science fiction and nonfiction books, pamphlets, visual, and audio materials to entertain, educate, and inspire. PM Press aims to distribute important ideas and resources through every available channel with every available technology; they’re old enough to know what they’re doing and young enough to know what’s at stake.

Revolutionary Lemonade Stand
Clothing and gifts that are politically fresh and in season! Handmade peace and justice items including baby onesies, toddler, youth, and adult t-shirts, scarves, hats, cups, bags and totes, framed art, pillows & pillowcases, coasters, bandanas, bracelets, and more.

A Room of One’s Own
Madison’s independent bookstore, you can find them in the Dealers’ Room throughout the convention as well as in a beautiful new-and-used bookstore just a few blocks down State Street from the Concourse. RoOO provide people with great books by WisCon’s Guests of Honor, attending authors, and a variety of books discussed on panels and of interest to feminist SF/F lovers.

Rosarium Publishing
A fledgling publisher specializing in speculative fiction, comics, and a touch of crime fiction — all with a multicultural flair. Echoing a belief that talent does not inherently have a race, religion, gender, or region and that talent is everywhere, Rosarium combs the four corners of this globe to find it.

Sign Of The Unicorn
Hand-sculptured jewelry — mostly one-of-a-kind — designed in feminist, mythic, science fiction, and fantasy themes using lost-wax casting and incorporating sterling silver, bronze, 14k gold, and semi-precious stones, and including rings, earrings, and pendants in feminist designs. Additionally, Laurie Toby Edison’s books and photographs Women En Large: Images of Fat Nudes, Familiar Men: A Book of Nudes, and Women of Japan, all works done in collaboration with social change activists and feminists, will be available.

Small Beer Press
Publishers of a few very good novels and short story collections every year, Small Beer Press also run a DRM-free indie ebooksite, weightlessbooks.com. This year we will publish WisCon GoH Sofia Samatar’s second novel, The Winged Histories, as well as books by Joan Aiken and Ursula K. Le Guin.

Strange Land Costuming
Tailor-for-hire with a focus on costumes and accessories, also selling fandom-related neckties, scarves, and hats, SLC is known for their line of Nerdy Neckties and specialty embroidery services. They also welcome clients who have been rejected by other less-experienced tailors for their size, and are eager to fit clients who wish to dress across gender lines.

Toot Sweet Ink
Woman-owned independent publishers crafting books with love who publish strong and unique voices in historical fiction, science fiction, fantasy, contemporary fiction, and non-fiction.

20th Century Books
New and used books catering to WisCon-relevant interests and specializing in small press, comics, graphic novels, magazines, and fantasy related toys.

Twin Cities Speculations
“Welcome to Minnesota, where aliens go ice fishing, angels roam the streets of Minneapolis, and missing socks show up on a distant planet.” St. Paul authors, co-chairs of Geek Girl Brunch Twin Cities, and co-editors of HerStoryArc, Cecelia Isaac and Lindsey Loree will bring their recently published short story anthology Twin Cities Speculations, as well as Cecelia Isaac’s debut dragon infused fantasy novel Turquoiseblood. Who knows? Maybe you’ll discover something amazing from Minnesota 😉

White Hawk Press
This local Madison area publisher and literary resource will bring books of fantasy and science fiction, poetry, literary biography, and other interesting stuff. This year, under WordWiz4You, they will also offer spontaneous skiffy poems on demand!

WisCon 40

Hotel update #2 — Room block filled, overflow block still available

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Shayla
Hotel Liaison

We are 51 days away from the start of the best weekend of the year and our hotel block has filled up — but don’t despair!

The Concourse has an overflow block that is a slightly higher room rate than regular block: $145 single on the Concourse level and $225 single on the Governor’s Club level.  Overflow reservations will automatically move into the regular, lower-priced room block if there are any cancellations before April 25. Beyond that, there may also be some regular-priced rooms available. You can also ask to see if there are any Governor’s Club rooms still available in our regular room block, though be aware that all Governor’s Club rooms have a single king-sized bed. This might accommodate 4 if you’re very, very friendly. Happily, they also have room for a twin-sized (single) cot.

If the hotel does fill up or you desperately need a lower-priced room, you can check the fan-run communities on Dreamwidth and LiveJournal or the WisCon-Talk Google Group. As the con gets nearer, people often offer up reservations they can no longer use. The deadline for the regular block and the overflow block is April 25, but you can transfer rooms to other guests at any time while keeping the rate in effect when you originally made your reservation. Simply call the hotel to tell them you are transferring your reservation and give them the name of the person you wish to transfer it to. That person will then need to call to give the hotel their credit card information. Voila!

If you have a reservation that you don’t need, now is the time to call the hotel to release it back to the room block or offer it up on one of online venues listed above. Our hotel page also has an up-to-date list and a map of other hotels some of which offer shuttle service downtown for easy access.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, drop us a line at rooms@wiscon.net. See you soon(ish)!

WisCon 39

WisCon 39 Con Suite postmortem

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Chris W.
Con Suite

By far the biggest changes at WisCon 39 were in our Con Suite. The most momentous of the changes was that Hope Kiefer, our Con Suite organizer for 18 incredible WisCons, stepped down from the concom. Together with David Devereaux-Weber, her co-organizer for many years, Hope made the Con Suite into the amazing space that we all know and love — a friendly, welcoming space where anyone can pick up a snack or a full meal. Our Con Suite is a great place to relax and chat with friends, and it’s also a key component to how WisCon works to make attending the convention more financially realistic for many members. This all came about because of the hard work and dedication of both Dave, who stepped down from the concom in September 2014, and Hope, and we’re deeply grateful to both of them.

WisCon 39 challenges

With Hope officially stepping down from the Con Suite at the end of March 2015, we were in a bit of a scramble to find someone who could take on the responsibility of wearing the apron. By late April, the concom had assembled a team of three for the Con Suite — Julia as lead, with Jen and myself (Chris) assisting as co-coordinators.

Julia immediately set about talking with Hope to get the basic Con Suite information and shopping lists so that we could place our food orders, but we immediately ran into one enormous problem — we were now only three weeks out from WisCon, and placing orders was not only difficult but impossible in some places. Our soft drink order was initially denied because the distributor required a longer lead time, although eventually we were able to make arrangements with them. Some of our food orders had to be placed with different vendors because many places in Madison were already tied up with the annual Memorial Day Weekend Brat Fest. And one of our supply orders expected on the Friday of WisCon was delayed in Chicago for the weekend, although they very helpfully offered to deliver it first thing on Tuesday.

We look back now and say, “Wow, we managed to pull the Con Suite together in just three weeks.” And it certainly was an epic accomplishment! But at the time, unfortunately, we hadn’t articulated all of our challenges and expected changes to our community prior to the convention. This, too, was a result of our extremely shortened timeline. We had hoped to have a blog post announcing the new menus to expect — because we had planned several changes that we were really excited about and we couldn’t wait to share them with everyone! But with food orders changing almost daily and the Communications team (hi, that’s me, Chris, again) juggling a packed editorial calendar, we unfortunately just ran out of time to post information ahead of time. We deeply regret this and apologize.

WisCon 39 changes

hot dogs::

And then WisCon was upon us and immediately, everyone noticed one major change:

The hot dogs were gone.

We heard about this on the blog. We had comments from many Con Suite guests over the weekend. And we discussed the issue during the WisCon Postmortem panel on Monday afternoon.

Unfortunately, the beloved hot dog roller and everyone’s favorite tubular meats will not be returning. We did not lightly make the decision to ax the hot dogs — we took into consideration complaints from over the years that focused on the smell. And there were, indeed, complaints from many areas: from members, from party hosts, from the Concourse. The persistent smell of the hot dogs, so welcome to many members, turned the Con Suite into a space that many other members could not access. Every day that we were open we received several compliments thanking us for removing the persistent hot dog (and popcorn) smell and thereby turning the Con Suite into a more welcoming space for all convention members to spend time enjoying.

This was a difficult decision to make for WisCon 39 and it continues to be a hard decision to make for all WisCons going forward, because it’s very obvious that we’re disappointing our members by removing the hot dogs. And, of course, we really do hate disappointing our members! But this is one of those turning points where we have to consider what will make WisCon overall better accessible to all members, and unfortunately that does mean eliminating a smell problem.

(And as a side note from a logistical and health perspective: Machines like the hot dog roller and the popcorn popper, which run all weekend long and get very greasy, are a pain to clean at the best of times and doubly-so when we need to make sure that they’re thoroughly cleaned before going into storage for an entire year — and I’m saying this knowledgeably because I spent almost a decade as a concessionaire at a cinema. In the past the Con Suite volunteers were primarily Madison locals with more time to clean the machines properly. These days, the Con Suite crew are all flying home on Monday and Tuesday.)

limited hours::

The other biggest complaint we heard was about our reduced hours: Instead of staying open until 3am, we closed four hours earlier at 11pm. This is entirely because of limited staffing. The biggest sticking point here is that the Con Suite must have a ServSafe-certified supervisor on hand whenever food is being prepared or served. This is, in general, an excellent idea for providing the happiest, healthiest convention hospitality suite we can! And it’s also something required of WisCon by our contract with the Concourse after an infamous incident in 2008 that’s become known as WisCholera — when a norovirus outbreak, which was ultimately not traced back to WisCon (let alone the Con Suite), swept not only WisCon but much of Madison.

The ServSafe requirement in our hotel contract is that if we don’t have a certified supervisor on hand, then the Con Suite must close for the time being. And because we had relatively few ServSafe certified Con Suite volunteers going into WisCon 39, we deliberately limited the hours so that we didn’t give any false hope. For WisCon 40, we may not be able to keep the Con Suite open quite so late as it had been in previous years, but we are already looking at possible ideas to keep it open later during the evening party hours. When we have a firm plan, we will announce it, I promise!

grab-and-go food::

One new feature of the Con Suite that was well-received was the introduction of lots of food that you could grab and take with you. Sometimes the Con Suite is full, sometimes you’re on your way to a panel, sometimes you just want to crash in your room with a snack. We’re hoping to expand this feature for WisCon 40.

expanded options for dietary restrictions::

Another goal that we had this year was improving our options for those with dietary restrictions. We tried to provide options that were gluten-free, that were vegetarian, that were vegan. We especially tried to expand the options for non-meat proteins. Overall, our options for restricted diets were extremely well-received — which meant, unfortunately, that we were also regularly running out! We’re increasing our orders for everything.

new hot meals each night::

We also experimented with not only having hot meals every night at dinner-time, but with offering a new main dish each time. Friday night was Ian’s Pizza, which was gobbled up in no time. Saturday night — because we were in Wisconsin, after all! — we had brats that had been slow-cooked all afternoon. (Yes, there was a momentary panic that the brats were undercooked, but the culprit turned out to be a defective thermometer. We tested things with our other two thermometers and got accurate readings. Plus we microwaved the rest of the brats just to be on the safe side.) Sunday night was cocktail meatballs which had been cooked in a mix of cocktail sauce and grape jelly — and which were, our volunteer reported, “hoovered down at an alarming rate.”

WisCon 40

WisCon 39 was definitely a bumpy Con Suite in many ways, but in many other ways it was also incredibly successful. The number of food runs we made during the weekend suggests that the menu was, overall, very well received. The catering from Willy Street Co-op in particular was praised all weekend long. At the Postmortem panel, most of the complaints centered on not understanding all the changes, which was entirely a communications problem that we are very, very cognizant of (since Chris (hi!) happens to be on both the Con Suite and the Communications crews), and we’re already planning to have blog posts leading up to the convention to announce both our hours and our menus for the weekend.

One thing we’d very much like, as we plan out the Con Suite for this year, is feedback from you — our community. How do you use the Con Suite? What times are you there? What did you think of the changes for WisCon 39? We’ve created a survey at SurveyMonkey, and we really hope you’ll take a few minutes to add your thoughts. The survey will close on Wednesday, March 30, at 11:59pm Central Time.  For those two weeks, we also invite comments from you here on this blog post.

We all had a tremendous amount of fun operating your favorite convention diner last year, and we can’t wait to tie on the apron and to serve you again this May. See you at WisCon!

-> Con Suite survey at SurveyMonkey

WisCon 40

Hotel update — Do you need a room? We have rooms!

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Shayla
Hotel Liaison

As of this writing, we are 72 days away from the start of the pre-convention meeting with hotel staff (not that I’m counting…) and we still have rooms available in our hotel block at the Concourse.

Yes! We still definitely have rooms in our block at the Concourse. Ignore any rumors to the contrary! (As of our Feb. 26 update from the Concourse, there are also Governor’s Club rooms available, too.) The easiest way to book a room in our block to get our room rate is using our reservation link right here, but if that gives you any sass — it doesn’t connect or it claims there are no rooms remaining — then you can go ahead and call the Concourse directly and they’ll take care of everything (because we do still, really!, have rooms available!). Their toll-free number is 1-800-356-8293.

The WisCon group rate is available through April 25!

If you have reservations for more rooms than you can use, please contact the hotel to release whatever you don’t need. If the room block fills up, you can also transfer the reservation to another member. If you visit the LiveJournal community, the Dreamwidth community, and the WisCon Talk Google group people often post queries and offers for rooms as the days count down.

If you find that you need to cancel your reservation closer to the convention, we ask that you do so at least seven days prior to your scheduled check-in. It is the Concourse’s policy to charge one room night plus tax for stays canceled without a seven-day notice.

There are a limited number of cribs available for the use of our guests for a relatively nominal fee. As well as cots — also for a nominal fee — that are surprisingly comfortable and can, if properly situated, turn one bed in the room into a MEGABED. This is probably more exciting to me than it is to you.

(Did you know you can also rent a piano at the Concourse? Fee does not include pianist, but if you pay me enough I’ll play “Chopsticks” and “Heart And Soul.” In fact, I will keep playing them until enough people pay me to stop. Jackpot!)

If you have any hotel-related questions (or wish to book me for your piano bar party!), you can contact me at rooms@wiscon.net!

WisCon 40

Open call for games, game masters, and gaming volunteers!

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SarahTops
Gaming

WisCon Gaming is looking for tabletop games, game masters, and gaming volunteers for WisCon 40! On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, from 8pm to midnight, we will host board, storytelling, and role-playing games open to convention members. We are enthused to offer an alternative way to enjoy WisCon evenings in a (sometimes) quieter, more intimate setting… over dice and cards! Interested in playing with us? Read on.

Games

WisCon needs games! Please email us at gaming@wiscon.net if you have a game or are interested in seeing a particular game at the table this year. Please answer the following questions as relevant to your offering or request:

Are you bringing a game you’d like to keep with you, but run in the public Gaming Space? Please share a description of the game and what night(s) you’d like to run it.

Are you bringing a game you’re offering to leave with Gaming through the course of the convention, for others to play at the public Gaming Space? Please provide a description of the game. We will take the best care we can with your game, but there is always risk in loaning games to a public gathering.

Do you have a game you’d like to donate to WisCon? To make sure we have the storage space to accept your offering, please provide dimensions of the box or book, as well as the game’s condition. We are also accepting dice, pencils, and other gaming supplies.

Do you have a game you’d like to see at WisCon? Please share a description of the game, how to find it, and if you’d like to play or run it should a copy be found. We are happy to put a call out for specific games attendees request!

Popular board games tend to be those with simpler mechanics or rules and those that take two hours or less. Get in touch to share your ideas!

Game Masters

WisCon is looking for people who want to run storytelling and role-playing games! Please email us at gaming@wiscon.net if you’d like to run a tabletop RPG or LARP. To help us reserve space for your game, please email us before our March 18 deadline. (But do feel free to get in touch after; we may be able to cast a Location Spell.) Some of the information we’d like from you includes:

  • a description of the game
  • how long the game will take
  • how many players you’ll need
  • evening(s) you’d like to run the game (Friday, Saturday, and/or Sunday)
  • any other logistics we should keep in mind to make the game happen

WisCon is especially interested in games that fit well within the convention’s themes (e.g., feminism, identity politics, and social and cultural theory). Rules that are familiar or easy for new players to learn tend to be the most successful. We look forward to hearing more about your adventures!

Gaming Volunteers

WisCon needs Gaming volunteers! If you’d like to volunteer in the public Gaming Space, and/or help with Gaming before the convention, please get in touch with gaming@wiscon.net. Let us know if there’s a particular game you’d like to play or help teach on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday evenings.

Stay tuned for games we will be offering at WisCon 40, to be announced in April!

WisCon 40

$2,500 matching donation met

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Chris Wallish
SF3 Communications Committee

We did it!  YOU did it!!  Yesterday, we met Jed Hartman’s matching donation.  In just five days’ time, we raised $5,000 for the WisCon Member Assistance Fund.  This means that in the 10 days since Wrdnrd announced their matching donation, we’ve raised a total of $7,300!  This is completely unprecedented for the Fund and just shows what a strong and caring community WisCon has.

This year, WisCon made a very deliberate effort to raise awareness of the Assistance Fund, because attending a convention like WisCon can be quite expensive (Madison is not cheap to fly into, and the Concourse is a very nice hotel).  WisCon does what it can to make attending the convention more economically feasible — from providing Childcare for just $1 to offering free snacks and meals in the Con Suite — but by far the most valuable is the Fund, which puts money exactly where recipients need it.

And now, thanks to the outpouring of support from the WisCon community (and beyond!), the Fund will be assisting almost 30 people attend WisCon 40 this May.  Many of the recipients will be attending their first WisCon!

Our active fundraising is going into hiatus for the time being, although you can donate to the Member Assistance Fund at any time.  All money donated to the Assistance Fund from yesterday afternoon (Madison time) will go toward seeding the Fund for WisCon 41.  And at WisCon in May this year, we’ll be continuing to raise awareness of the Fund for potential nominees and also talking more about various ways to keep the Fund funded on a regular basis.

We are deeply grateful to Jed and Wrdnrd, and to everyone who donated in the past few weeks — especially to the donor who took us over the finish line yesterday.  We’re thankful for everyone who signal-boosted our fund drive and for everyone who worked in the background to encourage donors from all corners.  Thank you for helping to make WisCon a reality this year for more people than we ever thought possible.

See you in May!

WisCon 40

Let’s fund the Fund — $966 and 31 hours to go

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Allison Morris
SF3 Fundraising Committee

We are amazed and thankful for all of the generosity that our WisCon Member Assistance Fund’s fundraising efforts have been met with this year — it’s truly inspiring to be a part of this community, and to know that we are all committed to seeing WisCon, and WisCon’s principles, continuing to benefit from a variety of voices.

I’m someone who believes in the power of the stories that communities tell themselves. Those stories create our reality, set forth our dreams, and define our worlds. It’s crucial that those stories include many voices. The WMAF is one of the ways that we work to make sure that it’s possible for the people who want to be a part of our conversations to join us. Our stories suffer without them there.

We’ve been very lucky this year to have two amazingly generous challenge donors in Wrdnrd and Jed Hartman. They have both staked their money in the belief that others would join them to help meet the wonderful number of requests for assistance we received this year. I know that we will meet the challenge. That’s the story I am telling, and I believe in our power to create that reality.

As I write this, we’ve raised $1,533.94 out of our $2,500.00 goal. There are 31 hours left before our challenge deadline of 11:59pm Saturday night in Madison.

Give now to make our dreams become reality.




WisCon 40

Assistance Fund matching fundraiser — this one goes to 11

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Chris Wallish
SF3 Communications Committee

We had an amazing week last week with Wrdnrd’s matching fund drive, raising $1,500 for our Member Assistance Fund in just two days.

This week we have even more incredible news:  Our Member Assistance Fund is about $5,000 away from being able to fund everyone who qualifies, and Jed Hartman wants to help make that happen.

From now until the end of the day (11:59pm Central Time) on Saturday, Feb. 27, Jed is matching dollar-for-dollar all donations up to $2,500.

This is an unbelievable opportunity that would give us the chance to help more people than we’ve ever been able to help before.

This week, if you have just $10 to donate to the Fund, thanks to Jed that means $20 into the Fund.  And so, bit by bit, maybe we can make it all the way to $5,000.

What do you think, everyone?  Can we do it?




WisCon 40

WisCon 40 panel sign-up and interest survey open!

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Tanya D., Joanna Lowenstein, K Tempest Bradford, Stef Maruch
Panel Programming

YES!! The moment we’ve been eagerly awaiting is here. The WisCon 40 panel sign up and attendance interest form is now open!

(Viewing the survey does require an account.wiscon.net login, but they’re quick to get right here!)

Traditionally, WisCon programming has been divided into separate tracks to provide some visual organization in the at-Con programming pocket guide. However, they serve other purposes. By grouping like concepts together, we hope to prompt you to think of fascinating and important directions to take programs. The tracks are listed below. Click “More»” to read each full description to aid you as you fill out the survey.

Changes for WisCon 40! This year we have a Gaming Track as well as a Teen Programming track. Remember these new tracks, and when we announce that panel suggestions for WisCon 41 are open, please give us plenty of suggestions!

Please review your panel interest expressions on the panel sign up and attendance interest form!

For your convenience, we also provide a full list of proposed panel items. You may wish to open this link in a separate tab or window for ease of reference.

Thank you for your continued attendance, feedback, and support of WisCon as we finalize programming for this year.

Cheers!

Official Announcements, WisCon 40

Matching donation reaches its goal!

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Chris Wallish
SF3 Communications Committee

We are absolutely delighted to announce that Wrdnrd’s matching donation to the Member Assistance Fund was 100% successful!  We are incredibly grateful for the community’s support with this fund drive this week, and humbled by the outpouring of generosity.  This WisCon is the first that we’ve run a dedicated fundraising campaign for our Fund, and we’ve been blown away by the response.  Not only did we meet Wrdnrd’s match in under two days, but we were almost half-way to the goal in only twelve hours.

Another notable thing about this fund drive is that many of the donations were in the $10-$15 range.  All donations add up!  You absolutely don’t have to make “big” donations of $100, $500, or whatever dollars to make a difference.  If you’re able to toss in only a few dollars, it all adds up and helps one more person.

With Wrdnrd’s donation, this means $1,500 into the Fund to help members who have requested assistance to attend WisCon in May.

Thank you all, so, so much!

But wait, there’s more!!  We’ve had another incredibly generous donor step up to challenge the community to see just how narrow we can make the gap between the money in the Fund and the amount of requests we have this year.  Stay tuned for details on Monday!