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Letter from SF3 Treasurer Kit Stubbs

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Hi everyone,
I’m Kit Stubbs — you may know me as a WisCon Co-Chair from 2020, 2022, and 2023; I’ve also served as Treasurer of SF3, WisCon’s parent nonprofit, since 2021. I’m writing to let you all know that it’s time for me to take a break: I’m officially stepping down as SF3 Treasurer. It’s been extremely rewarding to serve this community, and I am grateful for all of the wonderful volunteers and WisCon members I’ve met and worked with along the way. Thank you so much for supporting me and giving the time, energy, and financial gifts that continue to make WisCon possible.
As I step back, we now ask for someone new to step forward into the Treasurer role. We are legally required to have a Treasurer, so this is an important position that we’re looking to fill quickly. Please take a look at the job description below and consider whether you might be a possible fit. You’ll have the support of the rest of the SF3 Board; and I’ll be available to walk you through our documentation, help get you trained, and answer your questions. If you think you might be interested, or if you have additional questions about the position, please reach out to personnel@sf3.org.
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TOP PRIORITY VOLUNTEER POSITION: SF3 Treasurer

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The treasurer is a member of the SF3 Board of directors and reports to the Board and the SF3 President.

Time Requirements: 1-2 hours per month for Board-member duties plus 3-5 hours per month for Treasurer-specific duties (closer to five hours generally between April and June when a con is running)
Presence at WisCon: Optional: Can designate another person to be at-con representative
Term: Generally 3 years
Role summary: The Treasurer drafts the SF3 annual budget; submits all forms/licenses/permits to keep our organization in compliance; facilitates purchasing; obtains our insurance; and works with our professional bookkeeper.
Main Tasks:
General responsibilities as a member of the SF3 Board:

  • Must hold SF3 Membership at the time of appointment and maintain that Membership for the duration of office
  • Attend Annual Membership Meeting
  • Contribute to all board conversations outside of Annual Membership Meeting in good faith
  • Undertake 1-2 hours of work pertaining to Board responsibilities for oversight and direction of the organization
  • Conform to Conflict of Interest Policy
  • Remain aware of all SF3 project policy; propose and participate in creating policy as appropriate
  • Vote on all issues before the Board at monthly one-hour Board meetings
  • Review, vote to accept or reject, and sign contracts on behalf of the organization
  • Whenever a vacancy occurs on the Board, the treasurer participates in appointing officers (President, Treasurer, Secretary) each year from the current Board, per Wisconsin nonprofit law
  • Inform the Board when you will be unable to respond to communications (vacation, illness, life events, work demands, etc.)
  • Respond to all WisCon communications as outlined in the volunteer Code of Conduct

Responsibilities specific to the Treasurer position:

  • Submit annual SF3 budgets to the Board for approval, including those for all Committees, soliciting input as necessary
  • Submit SF3 taxes and other licenses/permits
  • Maintain D&O Insurance for SF3 annually and acquire event insurance for all in-person events
  • Monitor PO Box; delegate collection of mail to a secondary, local Board member if necessary
  • Serve as main admin for Board-specific secure online document storage (Google Drive); set access & permissions appropriately, and conduct general oversight regarding the contents of the account
  • Give advice regarding requests for one-time purchases (including durable equipment) made by committees including the ConCom, in terms of SF3’s total financials
  • Oversee purchasing and paying invoices, which may include issuing debit cards (physical or virtual) to designated volunteers; reimbursing individuals who have made approved purchases for WisCon or SF3; and sending artists their proceeds from the Art Show
  • Before the con, withdraw cash needed during the con, and store at-con cash overnight (can delegate to an at-con representative)
  • Liaise with and supervise the work of SF3’s bookkeeper, who maintains financial records and prepares reports (involves monitoring of SF3’s bank and other financial accounts)
  • Maintain the roster of individuals who have purchased SF3 memberships for the current fiscal year
  • Create new email forwarders as needed (e.g., if a new department is created, you’ll log into our web host to set that department@wiscon.net forwards to department@wiscon.sf3.org)
  • Serve as backup for the Secretary’s duties in cases where they are unavailable

Skills & experience (should have):

  • Excellent organizational skills.
  • Excellent one-on-one communications skills (for communicating with other Board members and Committee/Department members).
  • Basic knowledge of Google Sheets, including how to use formulas for arithmetic and how to open and copy data from CSV (comma-separated value) files.
  • Time and ability to check email on a frequent basis.

Helpful skills (can be learned):

  • Written communications / public relations skills for communicating with volunteers in Basecamp and providing occasional updates to the general WisCon community.
  • Exporting CSV reports from PayPal, Stripe, and from the WisCon registration system for communication with the bookkeeper.

Exclusions:

  • It is preferred that the Treasurer is not a WisCon Co-Chair.

Training Plan:
SF3 Orientation
Basecamp Orientation
Walkthrough of Treasurer Guidebook and key files in Google Drive

Ongoing:
SF3 Board Meetings
Outgoing Treasurer Kit Stubbs will be available to answer questions

If you are interested in being our SF3 Treasurer or if you have questions about the position, please contact Personnel at personnel@sf3.org! 

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Volunteer Position: Communications Committee Co-Chair

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The communications Committee Co-Chair is part of the Communications Team (online and print) and reports to the SF3 Board President
Time Requirements: 5 hours per month pre-con, increasing to 6 hours per month around April-May and availability during the con
Presence at WisCon: Beneficial, but not required.
Term: One year. Alternatively, if other Communications team members are interested, the chair role could rotate throughout the year so that there’s a safety net if the current chair needs to step back.
Role summary: The Communications Committee Co-Chair maintains the flow of information between SF3 projects and the community. The Co-Chair manages communications team projects, deadlines, and team member assignments.

 Main Tasks:

  • Ensure the department report is completed prior to each ConCom meeting
  • Attend ConCom meetings to represent the Communications team
  • Monitor how each team is doing and checks in to provide support
  • Ensure team role descriptions are kept up-to-date
  • Upload and update Communications project documents as needed
  • Facilitate communication among Communication teams and between Communications and other departments as necessary
  • Decide whether to cancel tasks that can’t be completed due to a lack of time, resources, volunteers, or all three
  • Receive media queries and handles as appropriate
  • Make posts to newsletter/website/social media if other Communications members aren’t available
  • During WisCon, assist various departments in communicating to attendees throughout the weekend.
  • Oversee efforts to promote WisCon attendance, including advertisements, marketing campaigns, etc. Assign associated tasks to committee members as needed and track progress.

Skills & experience: Organized, responsive to deadlines and communications requests via email or Basecamp, available to attend monthly ConCom meetings and other team meetings as needed, working knowledge of how to maintain a WordPress site.

Beneficial skills (can be learned): Project management experience, experience working with communications tools or serving on a communications/marketing team.

Exclusions: Ideally, the Communications Co-Chair is not serving on the SF3 Board or as a Chair of any other SF3 committee.

Training provided: How to access and post to media and communications streams, including Basecamp, email newsletter, WisCon website + blog, and social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram). Will be provided access to the Communications Co-Chair email address and Communications team general email.

If you are interested in being the Communications Committee Co-Chair or if you have questions about the position, please contact Personnel at personnel@sf3.org

Gap Year, SF3

Learn More about SF^3, August 12th, 6:30 p.m. central time

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If you or a friend were ever curious about how SF³ (the organization that runs WisCon) works, this is the event for you! We’ll review the current structure of SF³, base volunteer expectations, where the organization is at in Strategic Planning and volunteer recruitment, and what it will take to hold WisCon in 2025!

This orientation is open to anyone in the WisCon community, or interested in the WisCon community, whether or not they’re on Basecamp, so please invite a friend! There will be a mention of how to volunteer, but no pressure to join now.

The meeting will be held online (using the Fairmeeting tool) on August 12th at 6:30 p.m., central time.

https://fairmeeting.net/SF%5E3Orientation

Con or Bust, Official Announcements

Seeking Co-Chairs and Apprentice Co-Chairs for WISCON 2025!

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Hello WisCon community!

We are currently considering the prospect of having a convention in 2025. However, to have a WisCon in 2025, we need at least three (3) Co-Chairs by end of August. At least one of these people should have had some previous experience with WisCon/SF3 in a pre-con role, meaning that the person is current or former member of the ConCom, Personnel Committee, Comms, or the SF3 Board. We would also like either additional Co-Chairs or apprentice Co-Chairs who can act in a supporting role. Apprentice Co-Chairs do not require experience and will have a smaller work load.
Are you interested in serving as a co-chair or apprentice co-chair?  Contact Personnel (personnel@sf3.org)
For more information about the roles, please read the information below.

Role: Conference Committee (ConCom) Co-Chairs
Department/Team: The Co-Chairs supervise the ConCom and work with other SF3 committees also working on Con business (Communications, Personnel, etc.)
Reports to: SF3 Board via monthly reports

Time Requirements: During the less-busy part of the con year (July-February), each co-chair spends an average of about 2.5 hours/week on con-related tasks. During the more-busy part of the con year (March-May) this increases to 4-5 hours/week; exact time requirements depend on how well-staffed the rest of the ConCom is.
Presence at con: Required. At least one Co-Chair is “on duty” at all times during the con.
Term: One year (typically starting in July) with the expectation of serving as a “Fairy ConParent (advisor)” the following con.
Role summary: The role of the Co-Chairs is to work together to provide high-level management over other ConCom departments to ensure that WisCon takes place (details below). Co-Chairs generally keep track of Department activity, help Departments coordinate with each other, run the Guest of Honor selection process for the following WisCon, and analyze the prior WisCon’s feedback survey results. If a task doesn’t have anyone working on it, Co-Chairs must decide whether to complete the task themselves, delegate it to someone else, or leave the task undone. The Co-Chairs interface with the SF3 Board primarily through monthly reports.

Main Tasks:

  • Running ConCom Meetings. This includes setting the dates and reminders, setting the agenda, collecting reports in advance of each meeting, presiding over the meetings themselves, and making sure minutes are published afterwards.
  • Tracking Responsiveness/Reports. A large part of the job is keeping track of who hasn’t reported in for a while and what emails are going unanswered to make sure everyone’s on track and to keep morale up. If someone isn’t responding to emails about once a week or so, the Co-Chairs reach out to them, and if they get no response, notify Personnel, who makes a determination on how to proceed. If a role is to be listed again, it should be taken to a ConCom meeting for a discussion, any suggested/agreed-upon modifications made, and then posted.
  • Tracking Departmental Coordination.If a Department has a question that can be answered by another Department, or is proposing changes that may impact another department, Co-Chairs must help connect the relevant Departments to each other as needed. Sometimes Departments know who to ask or realize which other Departments are involved with a task, and sometimes they don’t.
  • Making Judgement Calls on Events/Roles to Keep/Drop.Sometimes it is not possible to fill a role before the con. There’s a limited number of things that can just be cut, but Co-Chairs must also weigh whether events will keep happening at future cons if they are not formally run at a present con. Co-Chairs have to determine what tasks absolutely have to be done.
  • Being On-Call During the Con.There is a chair cell phone that can be used to contact the Co-Chairs anytime during the con. Most of the calls will come from the hotel. Co-Chairs can choose how to split up the times of being responsible for the phone. Some chairs alternate days, others take specific shifts during each day — whatever works for the all Co-Chairs.
  • Participating in Safety Processes. If someone wants “to talk to a manager,” Co-Chairs are our ultimate at-con managers. Co-Chairs may also be involved in judgment calls about Safety issues (such as potentially banning someone, asking them to leave, etc.).
  • Running Guest of Honor Selection Process.The Co-Chairs are responsible for selecting a GOH Vetting Committee and making sure the GOH nomination and voting process is executed according to schedule. This involves collating the GOH suggestions and putting together bios for the candidates, making sure the surveys get run, and contacting the top finalists to invite them (for which there are templates).
  • Answering Questions. Co-Chairs may receive a wide number of questions (both from inside and outside the ConCom/SF3), and they must either answer the questions directly or help forward the question to the person/department who might be able to answer. It’s not uncommon for people to write basically asking to be invited in an “official” capacity. We have an email template for responding to that.
  • Analyzing Prior WisCon Feedback Survey Results.Co-Chairs are in charge of analyzing the post-WisCon survey results from the con before theirs. This may involve working with other departments to implement changes based on the feedback received.
  • Manage tasks that don’t belong to any other department or that have slipped through the cracks between two departments.
  • Interfacing with the SF3 Board.

Skills & experience:

All Co-Chairs Should Have:

  • Task management and delegation skills.
  • Excellent organizational skills.
  • Excellent one-on-one communication skills (for communicating with other Co-Chairs)
  • Time and ability to check email and Basecamp on a frequent basis

At Least One Co-Chair Should Have (no one person needs all these skills):

  • Some degree of comfort with public speaking in front of large audiences
  • Excellent written communications / public relations skills
  • Ability to lead meetings effectively, including making sure everyone gets heard, covering an agenda, and sticking to a time limit.
  • Ability to take notes during meetings (these do not have to themselves be minutes-quality, just enough to write the minutes later).
  • Prior ConCom experience of at least one year preferred

Exclusions:

  • Co-Chairs should not also be chairing/leading any other Departments/Teams within WisCon or chairing any other cons
  • Co-Chairs should not co-chair two WisCons in a row

If you are interested in co-chairing for 2025 or if you have questions about co-chairing, please contact Personnel at personnel@sf3.org! 

Role: Apprentice Conference Committee (ConCom) Co-Chairs
Department/Team: Convention Committee aka ConCom
Reports to: Co-Chairs, SF3 Board via monthly reports

Time Requirements: Minimum 1 hour/week, maximum of about 2.5 hours/week (during less busy times) or 4-5 hours/week (March-May) depending on the Apprentice’s interest and availability. As this is a new role, this is an estimate. The exact time needed may also depend on how well-staffed the rest of the ConCom is.
Presence at con: Preferred. At least one Co-Chair is “on duty” at all times during the con and Apprentices may be added to the schedule.
Term: One year.
Role summary: The role of the apprentice Co-Chairs is to provide support to the Co-Chairs as they manage ConCom departments and ensure that WisCon takes place. Apprentices will take on tasks delegated by the Co-Chairs. This can include liaising with departments, analyzing feedback, creating monthly reports, and other subsets of Co-Chair tasks. Mentorship will be provided, with the idea that the Apprentices will learn how and feel confident to serve as Co-Chairs in the future. However, Apprentices are not required to become a co-chair! While this is a learning opportunity, it can also simply be a role you like and want to fill for one or more years.

Main Tasks:

  • Assisting Co-Chairs with their tasks. Depending on the Co-Chair needs and your skills, this may include running ConCom meeting, tracking responsiveness/reports, and tracking departmental coordination.
  • Potentially being On-Call During the Con.There is a chair cell phone that can be used to contact the Co-chair anytime during the con. Most of the calls will come from the hotel. As Co-chair split up their time, it may make sense to include Apprentices.
  • Assisting in Safety Processes. Apprentices will likely be there to watch and assist as Co-Chairs deal with safety issues and liaise with the Safety Team. Apprentices will not make any final decisions.
  • Helping to Answer Questions.The Co-Chairs may receive a wide number of questions (both from inside and outside the ConCom/SF3), and Apprentices may be asked to help field those questions.
  • Assisting with Analyzing Prior WisCon Feedback Survey Results.Apprentices can help Co-Chairs analyze the post-WisCon survey results from the con before theirs. This may involve working with other departments to implement changes based on the feedback received.
  • Help manage tasks that don’t belong to any other department or that have slipped through the cracks between two departments.
  • Interfacing with the SF3 Board. 
  • Generally shadowing the Co-Chairs. One of the goals of this position is for the Apprentice to learn how to be a Co-Chair. This will include taking on support tasks for the Co-Chair, but also observing and asking questions for your own growth.
  • Acting as a backup to the Co-Chairs.If a Co-Chair must step away before the con, Apprentices may be offered the Co-Chair role first–especially if the change happens very near to the con. Apprentices are under no obligation to accept.

Skills & experience:

All Apprentice Co-Chairs Should Have:

  • Task management and delegation skills.
  • Excellent organizational skills.
  • Excellent one-on-one communication skills (for communicating with other Apprentices and Co-Chairs)
  • Time and ability to check email and Basecamp on a frequent basis

Helpful Skills Include (but can be learned):

  • Some degree of comfort with public speaking in front of large audiences
  • Excellent written communications / public relations skills
  • Ability to lead meetings effectively, including making sure everyone gets heard, covering an agenda, and sticking to a time limit.
  • Ability to take notes during meetings (these do not have to themselves be minutes-quality, just enough to write the minutes later).

Exclusions:

  • It is preferred that Apprentices are not chairing/leading any other departments/teams within WisCon or chairing any other cons, however exceptions can be made.

If you are interested in being an Apprentice Co-Chair for 2025 or if you have questions about the position, please contact Personnel at personnel@sf3.org! 

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Volunteer Opportunity: Documentation Co-Lead

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Our Documentation Team (part of the Communications Committee) needs a Documentation Co-Lead.

If you enjoy organizing information and have experience (or a desire to learn) project management and volunteer coordination, this position is for you. As Documentation Co-Lead, you’ll coordinate the team creating and maintaining role descriptions and other vital documents that allow volunteers to produce WisCon.

Duties include: collaborating with other Documentation Team members; helping ensure that role descriptions and other important information for running the con are extant, accurate, up to date, and easy to find; respectfully responding to all WisCon communication as outlined in the Volunteer Code of Conduct (provided); and letting the Communications Chair know whenever you’re unable to respond to communications due to other demands on your time.

Mentoring will be provided.

Contact personnel@sf3.org (subject: Documentation Co-Lead) for more information.

Gap Year

Volunteers needed!

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We need 3+ volunteers to form a Communications Server Migration Working Group.  Duties include: find a suitable cloud server and work with the current physical server owner to migrate our data and video to the new server. This temporary working group will report to the Gap Planning committee, which meets twice monthly. Prior service migration experience helpful. Contact personnel@sf3.org (subject: Server Migration Working Group) for more information.

 

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Vounteer Opportunity: Server Migration Working Group

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We need 3+ volunteers to form a Communications Server Migration Working Group.

Duties include: find a suitable cloud server and work with the current physical server owner to migrate our data and video to the new server. This temporary working group will report to the Gap Planning committee, which meets twice monthly. Prior service migration experience helpful.

Contact personnel@sf3.org (subject: Server Migration Working Group) for more information.

Gap Year

Disability Audit

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WisCon is conducting a Disability Justice Audit. We would like to know about everyone’s experiences regarding accessibility, disability, and justice at WisCon. If you’ve ever attended WisCon, in any capacity, please fill out this survey by July 31. If you’re short on spoons or time, we ask that you focus on the questions marked with an asterisk (*). Your answers will help us determine the direction of future programming and accommodations at WisCon.

The Disability Justice Audit committee is not requesting any personally identifying information in this survey. We will anonymize info or quotes from survey results if presenting them in our audit conclusions.

The survey is here: https://forms.gle/9XmZbKxRH8DU53KBA

Gap Year

WisCon Gap Year Discord Launched

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Over Memorial Day weekend, we launched our gap year Discord server — a place for all WisCon loving folks to chat, organize and attend virtual events, and make friends. This server will be available all year long, not just for a weekend.

To join, fill out this form and we’ll send you an invite link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScZJJPVPS6FcFGvCUvZn5CFtd9lOJ5o89IvYo-fVbgjpA3Dgg/viewform

If you have any questions, email discord@wiscon.sf3.org. We hope to see you soon! 

SF3

Announcing New Board Members!

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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!

Official Announcements

No WisCon in 2024! Read on for more about our Gap Year.

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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!