Official Announcements, WisCon 33

Take Back the SciFi: WisCon’s response

WisCon members who attended a WisCon 33 panel entitled “Take Back the SciFi,” have expressed serious concerns about the panel’s focus and moderation. They have raised important questions about comments and decisions the moderator made in guiding the conversation and accepting questions during the discussion of personal experiences.

The panel was intended to focus on the use of rape and sexual assault in science fiction writing and the influence of rape culture in the genre. The panel was described as “Sexual assault and rape frequently get used as symbolic plot devices with no consideration about the realities of how these events effect survivors and the people around them and the larger social realities of this epidemic. Sometimes these stories get told well but often they perpetuate social myths and stereotypes that normalize predatory behavior and make survivors complicit. How do authors work to create a culture where stories that perpetuate rape myths are not acceptable? Examples?”

However, as can happen in programming on topics such as this, the discussion shifted to personal experiences of rape and sexual assault. Unfortunately, the panel also became a place in which male survivors, their families, and friends felt marginalized and re-traumatized.

We are very sorry that this occurred. As organizers of a feminist convention, we understand that rape knows no gender.

We thank the panelists and attendees who have expressed their concerns. WisCon’s Convention Committee (ConCom) will continue to discuss these concerns and to respond to people who contact us directly. Also, ConCom members have spoken with the moderator, who may choose to respond individually. Moderators, like all program participants, are volunteers who express interest in a panel. Although we believe the moderator had no intent to harm, we know that harm occurred and we take that harm seriously. In response to member suggestions, this programming item will be offered again at WisCon 34 in a facilitated discussion format to encourage audience participation.

We understand that panelists and attendees will continue to engage in dialogue about this panel, and we welcome any additional suggestions that arise from these discussions. Please contact us at program@wiscon.net.

WisCon 33

Sunday Programming Changes

Panel 151, Judging the Tiptree
Sunday, 8:30-9:45 am, Senate B
Gavin Grant was unable to attend WisCon.

Panel 152, The Etiquette of Self Promotion
Sunday, 8:30-9:45 am, Wisconsin
Marianne Kirby will also be on this panel.

Reading 162, Scotch and Bacon
Sunday, 10-11:15 am, Conference 2
Gregory Frost was unable to attend WisCon.

Panel 174, The Obligatory Workshop Panel
Sunday, 1-2:15 pm, Wisconsin
Debbie Lynn Smith was unable to attend WisCon.
Alex Wilson will also be on this panel.

Panel 175, Battlestar Galactica: Our Sine Qua Non
Sunday, 1-2:15 pm, Capitol A
Michael Underwood was unable to attend WisCon.
Larry Sanderson will also be on this panel.

Panel 183, Fathers and Daughters in SF & F
Sunday, 1-2:15 pm, 629
Greer Gilman was unable to attend WisCon.

Panel 186, Hey, Wait a Minute…
Sunday, 2:30-3:45 pm, Caucus
Michael Underwood was unable to attend WisCon.
John Helfers will also be on this panel.

Panel 187, Adapt, Revise, Revisit
Sunday, 2:30-3:45 pm, Senate A
Debbie Lynn Smith was unable to attend WisCon.
Bill “whump” Humphries will also be on this panel.

Panel 223, Women of the Horror Film: The British Fears
Sunday, 10-11:15 pm, Caucus
This panel was moved to Saturday, 10:30-11:45

Panel 225, Death Is Weirder Than We Think
Sunday, 10-11:15 pm, Senate B
Gregory Frost was unable to attend WisCon.
Catherine Cheek will be moderating this panel.
Kerrie Hughes will also be on this panel.

Joan Vinge was unable to attend WisCon.

Alex Lamb was unable to attend WisCon.

WisCon 33

Volunteering in the Con Suite

The Con Suite is a great resource for everyone – but it doesn’t run itself. This is especially so given the new food safety procedures in place, which require more intensive work, and less casual help (for example, those serving food must wash up and wear gloves and aprons.) This is putting a lot more stress on our regulars in the Con Suite, who do yeoperson work keeping us fed.

Help support our Con Suite by signing up for a shift or two, especially for mealtimes and party time. The signup is just to the right of the hot dog grill. It’s a great way to meet people – like Rick’s, everyone comes to the con suite sooner or later – (hey, I served Geoff Ryman a hot dog last night!) and it really, really helps out WisCon.

And remember, those who volunteer for six hours or more are eligible for a membership rebate…

WisCon 33

Programming Changes and Updates, 5/22/09

Here are the programming changes and updates as of 5/22/09:

Panel 119, SF/F TV Shows This Season
Saturday 4-5:15 pm, Caucus
James Frenkel replaces Kate Mason as moderator

Panel 158, Andrea Smith’s Conquest
Sunday 10-11:15 am, Senate B
Diantha Sprouse will also be participating in this panel.

Panel 231, An Uncertain God: A-gnostic Mysticism in History
and Speculative Fiction
Monday 8:30-9:45 am, Senate B
Steven Schwartz will also be participating in this panel.

SignOut
Marianne Kirby will be participating in SignOut.

Panel 38, Rethinking Disabling Metaphor
Friday, 4-5:15 pm, Conference 3
Deanne Fountaine will not be able to participate in this panel.

Panel 40, The Female Bachelor
Friday, 4-5:15 pm, Conference 5
Greer Gilman was unable to attend WisCon.
K. S. Latta was unable to attend WisCon.
Annalee Newitz will not be able to participate in this panel.
M.K. Hobson will also be participating in this panel.
Marianne Kirby will also be participating in this panel.

Panel 41, The Object In the Story, the Story In the Object
Friday, 4-5:15 pm, 623
Catherine Crowe will also be participating in this panel.

Panel 51, Norovirus and You: Responses to WisCholera 2008
Friday, 9-10:15 pm, Caucus
Susan Simensky Bietila will also be participating in this panel.

Academic 55, Humans, Machines and Science Fiction
Friday, 9-10:15 pm, Conference 3
Rosalyn Berne (Urgent and Essential: The Role and Function of Science Fiction in the Societal Stabilizing the Converging Technologies) was unable to attend WisCon.

Panel 68, It Are Fact: Science and Oppression Intersect
Saturday, 8:30-9:45 am, Capitol B
Safiya Mohamed was unable to attend WisCon.

Reading 84, Attendees Receive Free Cyborg Unicorn
Saturday, 10-11:15 am, Room Of Ones Own
Greer Gilman was unable to attend WisCon.
Rosalyn Berne was unable to attend WisCon.

Reading 102, Wisps, Wizards…
Saturday, 1-2:15 pm, Michaelangelo’s
Heather Shaw and Tim Pratt were not able to attend WisCon.

Panel 107, Your Friend Academia
Saturday, 2:30-3:45 pm, Wisconsin
Gregory Frost was unable to attend WisCon.
Ariel Franklin-Hudson will also be participating in this panel.
Larisa Mikhaylova will also be participating in this panel.

Reading 110, Myths, Dreams, and Stories
Saturday, 2:30-3:45 pm, Conference 2
Delia Sherman will also participate in this reading.

Panel 118, Are We Done Believing in God Yet?
Saturday, 4-5:15 pm, Assembly
K. S. Latta was unable to attend WisCon.
Keith Watson will be joining and moderating this panel.

Panel 119, SF/F TV Shows This Season
Saturday 4-5:15 pm, Caucus
Michael Underwood was unable to attend WisCon.
Debbie Lynn Smith was unable to attend WisCon.
Richard S. Russell will also be participating in this panel.

Panel 131, Roll to See if I Advance the Plot
Saturday, 4-5:15 pm, 629
Pan Morigan will not be participating in this panel.

Party 136, Verb Noire
Jamie Nesbitt Golden will also be hosting this party.

Panel 142, One God or Many—Or None
Saturday, 10:30-11:45 pm, Senate A
Safiya Mohamed was unable to attend WisCon.

Panel 151, Judging the Tiptree
Sunday, 8:30-9:45 am, Senate B
Gavin Grant was unable to attend WisCon.

Panel 152, The Etiquette of Self Promotion
Sunday, 8:30-9:45 am, Wisconsin
Marianne Kirby will also be participating in this panel.

Reading 162, Scotch and Bacon
Sunday, 10-11:15 am, Conference 2
Gregory Frost was unable to attend WisCon.

Panel 174, The Obligatory Workshop Panel
Sunday, 1-2:15 pm, Wisconsin
Debbie Lynn Smith was unable to attend WisCon.
Alex Wilson will also be participating in this panel.

Panel 175, Battlestar Galactica: Our Sine Qua Non
Sunday, 1-2:15 pm, Capitol A
Michael Underwood was unable to attend WisCon.
Larry Sanderson will also be participating in this panel.

Panel 183, Fathers and Daughters in SF & F
Sunday, 1-2:15 pm, 629
Greer Gilman was unable to attend WisCon.

Panel 186, Hey, Wait a Minute…
Sunday, 2:30-3:45 pm, Caucus
Michael Underwood was unable to attend WisCon.
John Helfers will also be participating in this panel.

Panel 187, Adapt, Revise, Revisit
Sunday, 2:30-3:45 pm, Senate A
Debbie Lynn Smith was unable to attend WisCon.
Bill “whump” Humphries will also be participating in this panel.

Panel 223, Women of the Horror Film: The British Fears
Sunday, 10-11:15 pm, Caucus
This panel has been moved to Saturday, 10:30-11:45 pm in Conference 2.

Panel 225, Death Is Weirder Than We Think
Sunday, 10-11:15 pm, Senate B
Gregory Frost was unable to attend WisCon.
Catherine Cheek will be moderating this panel.
Kerrie Hughes will also be participating in this panel.

Panel 240, Always a Companion, Never a Doctor
Monday, 10-11:15 am, Conference 5
Safiya Mohamed was unable to attend WisCon.

Developer Recruiting Meeting
Monday, 11:30 am-12:45 pm, 627
Come meet the developers of the new WisCon application, volunteer to help, and tell us how the app could be improved. Pizza will be served.
Panelists: Piglet, Jim Hudson, John H. Kim

SignOut
Monday, 11:30 am-12:54 pm, Capitol/Wisconsin
Gregory Frost was unable to attend WisCon.
Greer Gilman was unable to attend WisCon.
Geoff Ryman will participate in SignOut.

The following bios were not in the pocket program:

Janice Bogstad was one of the three folks who started SF-3, WisCon and Janus in 1975. She has been writing about, reviewing books by, and doing interviews with women in science fiction, writers and critics, since before that time. She currently reviews for 11 publications, including ones on women and science fiction and fantasy, but also women in China, women in medieval culture and library journals on collection development. She is a professor, head of collection development, for McIntyre Library at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and also teaches in the Women’s Studies and English departments. Her language-studies of SF and women include French, German and Chinese, as well as English and she especially enjoys literature and history from 7th, 12th and 20th-21st century China and 12th and 20th-21st century France.

Eileen Gunn is the author of the story collection Stable Strategies and Others and the co-editor of The WisCon Chronicles Two. Her fiction has received the Nebula Award in the US the and Sense of Gender Award in Japan, and been nominated for the Hugo, Philip K. Dick, and World Fantasy awards and short-listed for the James Tiptree, Jr. award. She is the editor/publisher of the Infinite Matrix webzine and for twenty years has been a member of the board of directors of the Clarion West Writers Workshop.

WisCon 33

WisCon33 Interactive Program Schedule Now Online

The brand-new, extremely shiny WisCon 33 Programming Schedule is now online. Simply click on the name of any panel to see the description and the panelists.

[Note: If you’re using IE7 on Windows, you may notice that the grid layout gets a little wacky if you click on a panel and then hit the back button to see the whole schedule grid. We’re working on the issue; for now, we suggest that you refresh the page. That will return the grid to its usual orderly self.]