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

  • 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

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

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!

Statement of Support in Renaming the Tiptree Award

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.

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

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.

Building WisCon together — take our survey!

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!

 

 

Updates for WisCon 44

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!

WisCon’s Thursday Night Shuttle

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!

Announcing the WisCon 43 Dealers’ Room!

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!
  • GlitterShipGlitterShip 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.

Planning Ahead? Here Are The Con Suite Menus!

The Con Suite is WisCon’s hospitality suite. Its mission is to provide good, nourishing food in order to improve convention accessibility for everyone attending. When we talk accessibility in relation to the Con Suite, we mean several things. The Con Suite improves financial access, helping attendees who are stretching their dollars. It improves mental and emotional accessibility, allowing attendees who just want to take food somewhere quiet to do so with minimal interactions in the process if they need that. It improves physical access, allowing attendees to get meals without walking additional distances. And the Con Suite improves dietary access by providing a range of foods with gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, and vegetarian options, as well as posting information about the presence of common allergens and other ingredients.

We do all of this with volunteers, and we need your help! See what volunteer shifts are available here: https://signup.com/go/LCshkGa If you have any questions about volunteering in the Con Suite, please email us at consuite@wiscon.net.

On to the menus!

First up: The Grab & Go Space! This one is easy because it doesn’t really have a menu. There will be portions of many of our side dishes available there on ice throughout the convention, and this is also where any leftover donuts and bagels will go after breakfast each day, once we have individually wrapped them. The Grab & Go is also where you will find coffee, tea, sodas of many descriptions, a variety of chips, cookies, granola bars, string cheese, and more. The Grab & Go opens Friday at noon and every morning thereafter at 8am, and it closes at midnight Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and then at 5pm on Monday.

And the main event: The Con Suite Commissary Space! The Commissary is only open and serving at mealtimes, but is a seating-only space 9pm-1am Friday and Saturday, and 10pm-1am Sunday.

Friday Dinner 5:30pm–7:30pm

  • Shredded BBQ Chicken, served as sandwiches or on rice (GF*)
  • BBQ Tofu, served as sandwiches or on rice (V, Veg, GF*)
  • Various side dishes (see list at end of menu)

Saturday Breakfast 8am–10am

  • A selection of bagels from Gotham Bagels; toast; gluten-free bagels and toast; a variety of topping choices (varies, but includes GF)
  • A selection of donuts from Greenbush Bakery; gluten-free donuts (varies, but includes GF)
  • Hard-boiled eggs (GF)
  • Bananas and other fruit (V, Veg, GF)
  • Yogurt (Veg, GF)

Saturday Lunch 11:30am–1:30pm

  • A selection of meat, cheese, condiments, and bread for sandwiches (GF*)
  • Chickpea salad sandwiches (V, Veg, GF*)
  • Chips (varies)
  • Carrots and celery with a variety of dipping choices (varies)

Saturday Dinner 5:30pm–7:30pm

  • Beef chili; cheese and sour cream available (GF)
  • Black bean and quinoa chili (V, Veg, GF)
  • Rice
  • Various side dishes (see list at end of menu)

Sunday Brunch 8am–11am

  • A selection of bagels from Gotham Bagels; toast; gluten-free bagels and toast; a variety of topping choices (varies, but includes GF)
  • A selection of donuts from Greenbush Bakery; gluten-free donuts (varies, but includes GF)
  • Hard-boiled eggs (GF)
  • Bananas and other fruit (V, Veg, GF)
  • Yogurt (Veg, GF)

Sunday Supper 3pm–5pm

  • A selection of pizzas from Ian’s Pizza (varies, but includes GF)
  • Various side dishes (see list at end of menu)

Monday Breakfast 8am–11am

  • A selection of bagels from Gotham Bagels; toast; gluten-free bagels and toast; a variety of topping choices (varies, but includes GF)
  • A selection of donuts from Greenbush Bakery; gluten-free donuts (varies, but includes GF)
  • Hard-boiled eggs (GF)
  • Bananas and other fruit (V, Veg, GF)
  • Yogurt (Veg, GF)

Side dishes are from Willy Street Co-op; a selection will be available at each dinner, as well as between meals in the Grab & Go room. They include: curried chickpea & spinach salad (V, GF), two bean quinoa (V, GF), emerald kale salad (V, GF), corn & black bean salad (V, GF), sun dried tomato pesto pasta (Veg), cole slaw (Veg), cheezy pasta (V), and chicken parmesan pasta salad.

WisCon will endeavor to keep the commissary nut-free. WisCon will endeavor to prevent any cross-contamination. If you have concerns about potential allergens, please contact a member of the Con Suite staff. A list of ingredients highlighting common allergens will be available in the commissary.

GF = gluten-free
GF* = gluten-free if served with gluten-free bread or rice
V = vegan
Veg = vegetarian

Still have questions? Shoot us an email at consuite@wiscon.net.

Introducing Introvert Corner!

This WisCon 43 will be the convention’s first year offering Introvert Corner, a “pop-up” space for shy folks to meet and make friends during convention downtime. In past years, attendees have provided feedback requesting such a space, and this year, we’re making it happen.

Mealtimes and evening parties can be socially daunting whether you’re new to the con, attending alone, or otherwise shy. The lobby during mealtimes can be overwhelming, over-stimulating, and chaotically confusing. The Introvert Corner seeks to provide some relief for wallflowers, fluttershys, and anxious androids, while creating opportunities to meet new people who could become convention friends.

The Introvert Corner is a kind of “pop-up,” temporary space that will be utilizing the Spontaneous Programming room when it’s not in use for programming. This is located at University D on the far end of the 2nd floor hallway, to the left when facing the Registration table. This Corner is tucked away from crowds, but is still not far from the action. Look for signage at the convention.

We envision Introvert Corner both as a meet-up spot and a hang-out spot. It provides a meet-up spot from which to venture out with new acquaintances during meals or parties. It can also be hang-out spot with other introverts, whether you’re chatting, or simply sharing space in a semi-social and absolutely acceptable fashion. If Spontaneous Programming is happening inside the room during downtime hours, look for fellow wallflowers metaphorically shuffling our feet just outside the doors. The space will be completely self-directed, so some bravery will be required for breaking the ice and taking lead in decisions on where to eat together, what party to attend together, etc., should you decide it. You’re also welcome to bring quiet, fidgety, semi-social activities, like coloring books, knitting projects, or similar, to simply “be” in the space with other folks around. We welcome people who use this space to talk with each other, get to know one another, and hopefully make some friends, but, of course, socializing is optional.

The Introvert Corner is a work-in-progress, and if you have ideas or want to help take lead on this new “pop-up” space, please reach out to access@wiscon.net.

News for WisCon Tiptree Bakers

Greetings from Kit and Renay, your Bake Sale co-leads this year! You’re receiving this email because at some point you told WisCon you were interested in participating in our Bake Sale to benefit the Tiptree Award. (Yay! Thanks!)
Once again this year, the Bake Sale will be on FRIDAY from 1-5 pm in room 627 (during and after the Gathering).
We’re continuing to push for better food safety practices at the Bake Sale, so please review these guidelines before you start baking a treat:
  • DO bring a single batch or pan of whatever treat you’re making. If you want to make more than one type of treat, that’s fine, but we don’t want large batches of any one item.
  • DON’T bring a treat that requires refrigeration. This is a food safety issue: Non-perishable treats only, please!
  • DO bring pies if you have a sturdy recipe that will hold up to travel well. However, make sure they’re not dairy-based, because we CANNOT accept treats that require refrigeration. Fruit pies = yes. Pumpkin pie/cheesecakes = no.
  • DO cut up brownies or bar cookies ahead of time.
  • DON’T bring a store-bought treat. We really want the Bake Sale to be mainly items that we’ve made in our own kitchens to raise money for the Tiptree Award. (If you’re traveling from out-of-town or your before-Con baking time is running short, consider volunteering during the Bake Sale instead!)
  • DO bring your treats in a disposable plate or container, covered with aluminum foil or plastic wrap if the container doesn’t have a lid. (If you absolutely can’t bring a disposable container, label your container with your name AND Con phone number.)
  • DO bring a list of ingredients for each treat you bring. WisCon has many members with food constraints, and we want as many people as possible to enjoy tasty baked goods! When making your list of ingredients, be particularly aware of the following allergens: wheat/gluten, eggs, dairy, soy, tree nuts, peanuts. The more information you can provide, the better!
  • DO follow basic food safety guidelines when preparing and handling food items: baking in a clean kitchen; hand-washing before touching baked goods or containers; storing in a cool, dry place; etc.
  • DO NOT BAKE if you or anyone in your household (including kids) is sick (especially with stomach- or digestive-related ailments, or with a viral infection). We will still love you, and will happily eat, er…, sell whatever you bring next year.
Dropping off your treats: Please bring your treats to University A (AKA “The Green Room”, on the second floor, through the double doors near the elevator lobby) during the following times:
Thursday: 3pm-10 pm
Friday: 8 am-12 noon
Please make every effort to drop off your treat during those hours; it’s more difficult for us to accept items once the Bake Sale is underway.
What should I make? Make whatever YOU like! Every year we see cakes, pies, cookies, brownies, fudge, and so much more. We love to see a huge variety of goodies come across the table, especially colorful or unusual items. (Chocolate treats are always popular!)
THANK YOU to everyone who’s willing to contribute treats for our Bake Sale! If you have other questions about baking, don’t hesitate to contact us at bakesale@wiscon.net .
Traveling from out of town or not sure you’ve got time to bake this year? In addition to bakers, we’re looking for volunteers to staff the Bake Sale for 1-hour shifts from 12:30pm to 5:30pm on FRIDAY (during & after the Gathering). Any time volunteering entitles you to our volunteer gift — ask about it at the Registration Desk. Six hours or more of volunteering entitles you to a 40% rebate on your WisCon membership; to claim this, ask for a volunteer rebate form at the Registration Desk.
Be a Tiptree Hero: Everyone who bakes OR volunteers at the Bake Sale can stop by the Bake Sale to receive a Tiptree Hero button!
Thank you again for your support of the Bake Sale and the Tiptree Award! We look forward to meeting you in Madison. If you have any questions about baking or volunteering, contact us at bakesale@wiscon.net.