SF3, the parent non-profit which oversees WisCon, is proud to welcome two new members to our Board of Directors: Margaret McGrath is joining us as President, and Gail Leinweber is joining us as an At-Large Board member! Huge thanks to our outgoing President, Jeannette Juricic, for all of her hard work with SF3 and WisCon over the past several years. Thanks also to Margaret, Gail, and everyone else who expressed interest in joining the Board for your support of WisCon and feminist speculative fiction!
No WisCon in 2024! Read on for more about our Gap Year.
There will be no WisCon in 2024 as we take a year to rest, plan, and make adjustments that we don’t usually have time for during the rush of putting on this life-giving feminist speculative fiction convention.
Online Connections
Last year’s Discord server is still active. We are in the process of creating a Gap Year Discord Community and if you’d like to know about it once it opens, or to keep up with things generally, sign up for our newsletter.
Volunteering
During our planning year there are several projects we’re working on to make WisCon better. Take a look at what we’re currently working on below. If there’s anything you’d like to help with while spending time with other cool WisCon people, send an email to personnel@sf3.org and they’ll get you connected! And don’t feel limited by what’s here, there’s all sorts of projects that could help WisCon. If you’ve got an idea send an email to the address above and we’ll see if we can connect you with other people who want to work on that project as well.
- Anti-Racism Audit
WisCon wants to better live up to its anti-racist values before, during, and after WisCon. If you’ve got ideas or opinions on how to do this, check out this group! - Platform Replacement
Right now we use Basecamp to organize our work behind the scenes. For various reasons, we want to find a different service to organize our work on the convention. If you’ve got ideas or opinions about places we can store documents and communicate, check out this group! - Video Call Replacement
Right now we use an assortment of video call services, none of which really work well for us. If you’ve got ideas or opinions on secure video call services with robust captioning services, check out this group! - Disability Audit
WisCon wants to improve the experience for folks with disabilities before, during, and after WisCon. If you’ve got ideas or opinions on how to do this, check out this group! - Website Redesign
WisCon’s website can be difficult to navigate and is in need of an update. If you’ve got ideas or opinions on how to make our website look nicer and easily provide the information that people need, we would love for you to participate! - Documentation
Volunteering can be difficult if you don’t know what you’re supposed to be doing. For some volunteer roles, we don’t have clear documentation of what a person does in that role. For some roles we have it… somewhere? If you’ve got ideas or opinions on making sure we find and document everything we need for people to do their jobs with minimal effort, check out this group! - 2024 Discord Community
We are planning to foster community online. If you would like to help with this, please let us know. - Email Provider & Mailing List Provider Replacement
We’re looking to change how we email our members and send out our newsletter. If you’ve got ideas or opinions, check out this group! - WisCon Gap Year Planning Group
All or none of the above appeal to you? This is the place to help out more generally, take part in decision making, and/or offer ideas for other working groups to make WisCon better than it is now.
We also have a Strategic Planning Committee that’s looking at the big picture for WisCon to re-center us on our principles and form some long term plans about how to live out those principles. They will be reaching out with surveys to the WisCon community about some of these plans and principles, and following up with focus groups. Be sure to sign up for our mailing list so you can take part in this important process!
To participate in any of these groups, please e-mail personnel@sf3.org to get started.
And regardless of whether you decide to volunteer, we hope you will stay connected via our mailing list, and that we see you in 2025!
SF3 President Needed
SF3 is the nonprofit organization that’s responsible for WisCon; it provides long-term governance and financial management not only for the annual convention, but also for other projects and initiatives.
Jeannette Juricic, after three years of fabulous service, has stepped down as SF3 President in order to focus on other commitments. The position of President must be filled for SF3 to continue to legally operate and keep its 503(c)(3) status. We are looking for an organized, reliable person to join the Board as President. While the title sounds a little intimidating, the duties of President mostly boil down to 1) Attend & participate in one-hour monthly Board and Annual SF3 meetings, 2) complete tasks that enable SF3 to do business that amount to 1-5 hours of work per month, 3) serve as backup to Treasurer at moments they are not available, and 4) manage and serve as titular owner of a few online resources. (The President must also be willing to tell the Board immediately if they are unable to complete their responsibilities and step down when a new President is appointed.) Training and mentoring available via our other three wonderful Officers, who will be excited to support you. No prior experience with WisCon is necessary (Jeannette’s first WisCon was after she joined us as President)!
If you’re at all interested or have additional questions about the position, the Board would love to hear from you! Please drop us a line at board@sf3.org, and we’ll find a time to chat.
WISCON 2023 POST-CON COVID-19 REPORT
COVID-19 Safety Measures for WisCon 2023
The following measures were taken by the hotel, the ConCom, and the COVID-19 Safety Team in particular:
- The ConCom instituted a vaccination policy that required all members to be “up to date” on their vaccinations including bivalent boosters and show proof before picking up their badges. The registration desk (including vaccine checking) was in a separate room, rather than out in the open on the second floor, to help separate possibly un- or under-vaccinated members from the general con space. There were no exceptions to our vaccine policy, meaning that those who could not be vaccinated (including all children under 6 months) could not attend in-person. The policy also included contractors and vendors such as our childcare providers, our CART providers, and the dealers in the Dealers’ Room.
- The ConCom instituted a masking policy requiring well-fitting masks in all public WisCon spaces, with unmasking only permissible for necessary sips or bites. As people have different intake needs for food, drink, or meds for their health, safety, and comfort, we trusted our members to follow the spirit of this policy. WisCon members overwhelmingly followed the masking policy in WisCon spaces. We also strongly recommended high-quality medical-grade masks rather than cloth masks or other types of masks, and provided such masks to in-person WisCon members for free at the Info Desk.
- The ConCom, COVID-19 Safety Team, and Communications Committee encouraged members to test as much as they were able before, during, and after the con, and provided free rapid testing kits as well as information on where to obtain rapid testing kits and PCR tests locally.
- The ConCom instituted a 600-member in-person attendance cap (down from our typical 800-900 attendance) to ensure that WisCon-exclusive spaces were less crowded. However, this came with tradeoffs in regards to other hotel guests, not subject to our policies, taking up more of the non-WisCon-exclusive spaces. Please see our final case report and takeaways (below) for additional related considerations. Our final in-person attendance was approximately 570 people.
- The Parties policy was changed such that no food, and only non-alcoholic beverages, could be served. As Parties are WisCon spaces, masking was still required between sips.
- Only individually pre-packaged food was served in the ConSuite, and meal vouchers were provided so members who needed them could obtain free hot meals at the hotel or a nearby restaurant following their own safety needs and comfort levels. We also had designated rooms for eating for those who were not staying in the hotel and could not eat in their rooms.
- The Dessert Salon (which includes the Guest of Honor speeches) utilized a takeaway format, with no eating at the salon itself during the speeches and the desserts served afterwards in containers. Dessert Salon seating was a spread out auditorium format (rather than seating people close together at round tables for eating and talking). The Dessert Salon ticket system for both seating and serving discouraged crowding as people waited to be seated or served. The Dessert Salon was also streamed, and members attending in person who did not wish to be in the ballroom but still wanted a dessert could purchase a ticket, watch from wherever they felt comfortable, and come get a dessert after the event was over.
- In all programming spaces, we requested and the hotel developed individual room layouts such that seating was reduced and spread out.
- The 2023 Con Co-Chairs asked for and the SF3 Board approved a budget of $3,000 for the COVID-19 Safety Team; not all of these funds were used.
- The COVID-19 Safety Team provided free N95 masks, hand sanitizer, and rapid testing kits to in-person WisCon members. They also provided clear masks to panelists. Here is a list of supplies purchased or donated for WisCon 2023.
- The COVID-19 Safety Team used a reporting and contact tracing form for anyone who tested positive or was experiencing symptoms, including space for members to specify their locations and activities while at the con. The COVID-19 Safety Team sent emails with all shareable details of these reports daily at 6pm if new cases had been reported. The emails included information on local healthcare resources. The COVID-19 Safety Team had a member (with backup) dedicated specifically to the task of communication, compiling and disseminating this information.
- The COVID-19 Safety Team recruited at-con volunteers to help provide quarantining or isolating WisCon members with supplies such as food, testing kits, and medication without those members having to leave their rooms.
- The COVID-19 Safety Team distributed five LEVOIT Core 400S commercial air purifiers and fifteen Corsi-Rosenthal boxes stored from 2022 in key locations around WisCon spaces.
- The COVID-19 Safety Team purchased materials for 24 additional Corsi–Rosenthal Boxes to supplement the commercial air purifiers and the hotel’s HVAC system. The day before WisCon started, ConCom members, COVID-19 Safety Team members, and at-con volunteers constructed the boxes in a Fan Club party. Between the Corsi-Rosenthal Boxes and the commercial air purifiers, all public WisCon spaces had at least one kind of supplemental air purification, with larger spaces having multiple boxes and/or purifiers. After WisCon, most of the Corsi-Rosenthal boxes were given away to reduce storage.
- We also distributed 18 CO2 monitors throughout WisCon spaces to help members decide if they felt comfortable in the space. The monitors were for informational purposes only.
- And, of course, we did our best to offer hybrid programming, including streaming of Guest of Honor speeches and three fully online programming tracks, so that members, whether in-person or online, could participate from their homes or hotel rooms.
Final COVID-19 Case Report and Takeaways
Parties! Parties! Parties!
Have you checked out the 2023 Wiscon party lineup? We’ve got a little nighttime socialization planned, and the good news is, we’re all going masked. All parties this year have chosen to follow the “Covid-Safer” protocol, with the same masking expectations as our panels.
Take a look a look at what we’ve got planned, both in the hotel, and online.
WisCon Moderator Training 5/14
Are you a WisCon moderator? Or have you considered becoming a moderator at WisCon or another convention in the future? This training is for you!
Our second and last pre-con WisCon Moderator training will take place via Zoom on May 14th (4pm CT).
We encourage all WisCon panel moderators or potential moderators to join Gretchen Jones for a discussion of tips, tricks, moderator best practices, and how to make your WisCon panel the best it can be.
Current moderators check your email for a zoom link, others can email panels@wiscon.net for a link, or newsletter subscribers can refer to the email from 5/5 with the subject line “WisCon Moderator Trainings 5/6 & 5/14 – All welcome!”
Sign up for Special Session Workshops!
Artist Roundtable, Sun. 10:00 a.m.
Join us for an open mic/ sharing session to celebrate this year’s workshops. From (visual art) to (poetry/stories) to scenes from speculative plays, this is your chance to see new art of all genres created right here at Wiscon! Slots are five minutes (those presenting plays or scenes from the acting workshop may go up to ten). The open mic is open to all on a space-available basis, but we will be prioritizing pieces that originated at convention workshops. (Sign-up for the open mic will be during WisCon weekend.)
We also have volunteer shifts open for Writing Space Facilitators in-person and on Discord. You can sign up through the Volunteering link that shows up at the top of the WisCon website when you’re signed in to your WisCon account.
POC Outreach Committee Registration and Travel Grants
Hotel & 6th floor discounted room lottery deadlines are 4/25!
Our hotel reservation deadline is THIS TUESDAY, 4/25!
If you’re attending WisCon in person this year, you only have until Tuesday before our discounted room block closes! Please make your reservation by April 25 so that you can get our special discounted rate and so that your room counts towards our hotel contract. (Cancelled reservations don’t count towards our contract, so please only make a reservation if you plan to use it.) You can make your hotel reservation by visiting the Concourse’s front desk, using the Concourse’s reservations link for WisCon, or calling the Concourse at 1-800-356-8293 and telling them you’re part of WisCon’s room block. If you have a hard time getting a room using the web link, please call! For more information, visit our Hotel page.
6th Floor Discounted Room Lottery deadline also THIS TUESDAY, 4/25!
Being able to stay in a room in the Concourse Hotel is one of the pleasures of WisCon — and also one of the biggest financial barriers to attending the convention. As part of our commitment to affordability, each year WisCon is able to provide a limited number of rooms where WisCon pays for the Saturday night of the stay. We hope that offering this discount can help just a few more people get to WisCon by making your stay a bit more affordable. To be eligible, you must already have a room reservation at the Concourse that covers Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. You may be staying longer, but you must at least be staying on these three nights. More information at https://wiscon.net/6th-floor-discounted-rooms/.
Noise caveat: Because the rooms that are marked as “eligible discounted sleeping rooms” are on the sixth floor, that puts them on the same floor where many of the parties are held in the evenings and also where the Con Suite is. This means that there’s more noise generated by foot traffic, elevators, and so on. If you are someone who needs a very quiet room with not many people passing by at all hours, then the discounted rooms may not be a good fit for you.
To enter the lottery for a discounted room, please complete the Google Form at the link below. Entries are limited to one per party – that means if you have roommates for the booked room, only one of you should apply. If you received funds from the WMAF, you are still eligible for the room rate discount as well! Please don’t self-reject!
https://tinyurl.com/roomswiscon2023
WisCon needs more organizing volunteers!
You’re not alone: Every one of these 5 roles has an experienced Lead to act as trainer and mentor. Volunteers support each other at WisCon, if we know support is needed! If you and a friend would like to share a role, email us and Personnel will do our best to make that work!
Safety Co-Lead: Do you love meeting others at WisCon, help direct people to the right places, and help others? In this role, you’d get to provide training & guidance to Safety Volunteers. Communicate with Con Chairs and/or Anti-Abuse as needed. Receive and respond to reports appropriately. Safety procedures are well-established. You get to build supervisory skills to improve safety at WisCon. Mainly a during-WisCon role.
Hotel Event Spaces Organizer: Coordinate with WisCon to ensure that each event space is set up as needed. This is a pre-Con position, plus setup/teardown checks Friday and Monday at-Con.
Hotel Room Blocks Responder: Coordinate with WisCon to ensure that the correct number and type of rooms are reserved. This is a pre-Con position, with a possible surge of activity immediately pre-Con.
Time: Unless marked otherwise, the pre-Con roles take 1-5 hours each week, plus extra time for some closer to the convention. Some roles have tasks during WisCon, some don’t.
Action: If something here catches your eye, or if you’re not sure what you’re interested in, then email personnel@sf3.org to schedule a conversation. Personnel will match your interests with WisCon’s needs. Remote options available!
We also have openings for Twitter Specialist, Facebook Specialist, Personnel Chair, Comms Co-Chair, Online Workshop Manager, Safety’s At-Con Volunteer Scheduler, Safety’s At-Con Volunteer Recruiter, Trans & Genderqueer Safer Space Organizer(s), Disability Safer Space Team Member(s), Dessert Salon Apprentice/Co-Lead, Art Show Room Set-Up Apprentice, Restaurant Guide Coordinator, Restaurant Guide Updaters, and Access Team Members! These roles also have training mentors available.
You might want to join WisCon’s ConCom! Organizing with WisCon is a great way to meet wonderful WisCon people, practice and develop a variety of organizing skills, and learn how conventions can be run. Plus, it looks great on your resume or author’s bio! Email personnel@sf3.org to schedule a conversation!
Panelists Wanted!
Last updated 4/26/23
The Wiscon Panels team are looking to finish staffing a handful of panels for this year’s con. Please email panels@wiscon.net if you’re interested in stepping up to be on one of the following panels:
NEW Get That Lady Some Pants: Superhero Costumes – in-person panel – Friday at 7:30 PM – Looking for at least one more panelist for a fun evening panel.
NEW Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in SF/F – in-person panel, Saturday at 2:30 PM – Looking for at least one more panelist with experience working with diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in SF/F spaces.
Pleasantly Parasocial – online panel, Saturday at 4:00 PM – Looking for at least one more panelist and/or moderator for this panel.
Tell Us About Your Virtual RPG Group – online panel, Saturday at 7:30 – Looking for at least one more panelist for a fun evening panel.
An Absence of Rippling: Queer Bodies in OFMD – in-person panel, Saturday at 9:00 PM – Looking for art least one more panelist for a late-evening panel.
Essential Skills for the Coming Apocalypse – in-person panel, Saturday at 9:00 PM – Looking for at least one more panelist for a late-evening panel.
Decolonization and Diasporas: Race in TTRPGs – online panel, Monday at 10:00 AM – Looking for at least one more panelist. BIPOC panelists strongly preferred.
Building and Maintaining Community – in-person panel, Monday at 10:00 AM – Looking for at least one more panelist.
FILLED Assembling a Class Discussion Toolkit – online panel, Saturday at 4:00 PM
FILLED Abolition and Transformation – in-person panel, Sunday at 1:00 PM – Looking for one or more panelists to join our Guest of Honor Rivers Solomon in talking about abolition as a means of transforming society.
FILLED Healing from Cissupremacy – online panel, Friday at 4:00 PM
FILLED Labor and Sovereignty in Martha Wells’s Work – online panel, Friday at 2:30 PM
FILLED Generational Trauma in Rivers Solomons’ Fiction – in-person panel, Saturday at 1:00 PM
FILLED 50 Years of NSFW Transformative Fiction – online panel, Saturday at 7:30 PM.
FILLED Vid Deep Dive – online panel, Sunday at 10:00 AM.
FILLED Discussing Fanfic at Wiscon – in-person panel, Sunday at 1:00 PM
FILLED A Trans History of Wiscon – online panel, Saturday at 4:00 PM
FILLED May the Force Be With You: Spirituality in SFF – in-person panel, Sunday at 4:00 PM
FILLED Gaming Groups and Writing Groups – online panel, Sunday at 1:00 PM
FILLED How To Handle the Deplorables Among Us – online panel, Saturday at 1:00 PM
FILLED Queer Horror – online panel, Friday at 2:30 PM
FILLED Why Are Corporate Diversity Programs Terrible? – online panel, Saturday at 9:00 PM
FILLED The Schadenfreude of the Evil Rich Character – in-person panel, Friday at 7:30 PM
FILLED Where are the Pans of Yesteryear? – in-person panel, Friday at 9:00 PM
FILLED The Kids’ Books That Made Us – in-person panel, Saturday at 2:30 PM
FILLED More Celebrating Jewish SFF – in-person panel, Sunday at 10:00 AM
FILLED Use of Narrative to (re)Make the World – online panel, Sunday at 10:00 AM
FILLED Welcome to Wiscon 101 – in-person panel, Saturday at 10:00 AM
FILLED NOT ANOTHER F*CKING RACE PANEL – online panel, Sunday at 4:00 PM
FILLED Community Care for Burnout – in-person panel, Sunday at 4:00 PM
FILLED Plague Fiction in the Plague Times – in-person panel, Friday at 9:00 PM
FILLED Fighting the Good Fight with Limited Resources – in-person panel, Friday at 1:00 PM
WisCon 2023 Schedule available!
Our schedule for WisCon 46 in 2023 is now published! The public schedule is available at https://wiscon.net/schedule. We have some absolutely amazing sessions planned both in person and online, and we can’t wait for you to join us.
And while you’re checking out the schedule, please think about signing up for a couple of volunteer shifts. WisCon is volunteer-powered and we can’t make the con happen without you. You can find volunteer shifts through the programming system! To sign up for shifts, log in at program.wiscon.net, select the “Volunteer” tab, and click “Add shifts” on the right. This will bring up a list of all Volunteer shifts, organized by time.
Confirm Panel Assignments, Round Tables, & Mod Training
The initial WisCon panels schedule has been set. Please visit https://wiscon.net and click “Your WisCon Account” to log in and confirm or reject your panel and moderator assignments!
Note that this year, there is a room dedicated to round table format panels where there are only moderators and no official panelists. These are spaces set for anyone to come and have a conversation on the designated topic.
Also new this year: Moderator training. On May 6th (11am CT) and May 14th (4pm CT) we will be hosting Zoom training sessions to help moderators of all levels prepare for their WisCon panels. This training is not required, but we strongly encourage you to come participate in building a better WisCon panels community. Zoom links will be forthcoming closer to the dates.