Tag Archives: wisconline

WisCONline 2025

WisCONline Art Show Applications are Open

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Since the con is online-only this year, we won’t be setting up a physical room or selling artists’ work directly (or charging commission fees). However, we would still love to see and show the artwork of the WisCon community!

In past years, the Art Show has included painting, drawing, illustration, photography, comics, printmaking, jewelry and other wearable art, sculpture, and more — basically, please do apply if you make any form of visual art and want to share it with WisCon members.

The online show will consist of images and descriptions submitted by artists, curated on a 2025 Art Show page on wiscon.net. They will also be shared on WisCon’s social media, and artists who attend will be able to post about their work in an Art Show channel on the private WisCon Discord.

To apply for the show, please fill out this Google form: https://forms.gle/8D94BCMzmZCzwrZB9

Applications will be open through March 31.

Please contact the Art Show organizers (Tahlia and Sherry) at artshow@wiscon.netif you have any questions.

WisCONline 2025

WisCONline Programming Survey Opens

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Get excited everyone! We’re starting to plan WisCon 2025, which means we need you to tell us what you want it to be.

This year, we’re using a Google form for our interest survey so you can express interest in all the things we’re doing in one place. Note that there is no section for gaming or parties because we weren’t sure how much interest there would be with an online-only con. But if that is your thing and you want one of those things to happen at WisCon this year, there’s a space at the end of the survey for you!

If you have more thoughts that cannot be covered in this survey, please feel free to email Panels@wisCon.net Otherwise, click on the link here: https://forms.gle/Q9j2A5cADQbmja6BA

The survey will be open through January 31st.

WisCONline 2025

Volunteers Needed for WisCONline 2025: Ceremonies Lead, Gathering Lead, Access Team

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Ceremonies Lead
Love being the center of attention? Become Ceremonies Lead for the WisCONline 2025! You’ll organize the Sunday evening awards ceremony, introduce our Guests of Honor, recognize the contributions of committee chairs (and possibly Otherwise folk), and make other important announcements as needed. This is your chance to shine. Contact personnel@sf3.org (subject: Ceremonies Lead) for more information.
Gathering Lead
If you believe in the importance of social connections, Gathering Lead is the role for you. You’ll solicit gathering activity ideas (via the Communications team) and organize Discord channels to help people socialize as they join WisCONline 2025.
If helping people connect with friends, established and new, is your passion, please contact personnel@sf3.org (subject: Gathering Lead).
Access Team Member
Help make WisCONline 2025 accessible and welcoming to all! You’ll work with the Access Lead(s) to provide Closed Captions, facilitate Alt Text, and troubleshoot other accessibility issues as they arise. For more information, please contact personnel@sf3.org (subject: Access Team Member).
Volunteering, WisCONline 2025

Discord Co-Lead and Personnel Co-Chair Needed

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Discord Co-Lead:

Here’s your chance to shine and make order out of Discord! As part of the Online Con team, you’ll set up and manage the WisCon Discord. You’ll coordinate with other departments on programming-specific channels, and help manage Discord volunteers and at-Con moderators to help online attendees connect. If you’re familiar with Discord or similar computer-mediated chat systems and are a skilled project manager, we need you! Contact personnel@sf3.org (subject: Discord Lead) for more information.

Personnel Co-Chair:

Do you have experience with HR or volunteer coordination and management? You can help SF3 gear up for the next WisCon! This remote role involves checking progress and follow-up with Personnel volunteers for a few hours per week. The Personnel Co-Chair is a member of the SF3 Personnel Committee and reports to the SF3 Vice President. Contact personnel@sf3.org (subject: Personnel Co-Chair) for more information.

WisCONline 2025

Announcing WisCONline 2025

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The WisCon Convention Committee is pleased to announce that we will be having an online convention in 2025!

What will WisCONline 2025 look like? In addition to being fully online with no in person presence, we are currently looking at changes to WisCon to make it more sustainable for our volunteers. This means WisCon may appear to “shrink”, but if we offer less (for example, fewer panels), it’s because our focus is on quality and maintaining WisCon’s values.

While we can’t give exact details this early, more than ever, the capacity WisCon has to do the things we all love will depend on having volunteers step up. We’re committed to avoiding the past burnout we’ve seen come from volunteers taking on too many roles.

When is it? It will take place Memorial Day weekend as always! (May 23-26, 2025, with some programming possible Thursday evening and Tuesday morning.)

Why online only? Unfortunately we weren’t able to recruit key volunteers in time to make an in-person con viable. We’re excited, however, to use this opportunity to explore what we can do to engage and reach our community in ways we can’t usually.

When can I register? We will send out more information soon about registering!

How can I get involved? We are still in need of many important volunteer roles, which will determine what the con actually looks like. Please check our list at
https://wiscon.net/open-volunteer-positions/
and contact personnel@sf3.org if there are any roles you’re interested in. Also look out for panel submission requests and other contact from our team!

Volunteering

AppDev Team Lead Needed

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Are you a developer interested in making WisConline 2025 possible? As AppDev Team Lead, you’ll manage a team of other application developers to keep our applications running; plan and execute updates on a timely basis; and work with other committees to prioritize enhancements/fixes based on importance and your team’s resources. You’ll also work with Convention Committee leadership, recommending appropriate updates or changes, and using their practical feedback to guide priorities. Expect to spend 1-2 hours a week on this role most of the year, and 10-20 hours (verifying applications) ramping up to WisCon.  Sound interesting? Please contact personnel@sf3.org (subject: AppDev Lead) for more information.

Official Announcements, WisCon 44

WisCONline Update: Platforms + Volunteers

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The excitement is intensifying for WisCon 44 next weekend! We’re looking forward to seeing you all there, whether you’re new to WisCon entirely or just new to WisCONline (as we all are).

The ‘How To’s of WisCONline

We’ve gotten some questions about how you’ll access virtual WisCon 44 programming.

Invitations to the WisCon Discord server will be sent out to the email you gave when you registered, on the evening of Wednesday May 20 (after registration closes at 7PM). If you don’t receive an invitation that evening, please check your spam filter, and then contact registration@wiscon.net and we can send you a new link!

Most of WisCon’s programming will be streamed to YouTube, but available only via direct link (it will not show up on the WisCon channel or via searches). The links to specific program items will be sent out by email each morning, and also posted in the Discord server. (If you do not plan to join the Discord server, it is therefore particularly important that you make sure that you are able to receive emails we send out!)

Some of the WisCon special events—the Otherwise auction, the Vid Party, and the Floomp—may use other platforms. Information on joining these events will be sent out in the same emails as the links for watching streams on YouTube, and will also be posted to Discord.

More information on how the platforms and specific program items will work for WisCon 44 are available on our website; we’ll continue to update and expand what’s posted there between now and the convention.

WisCONline is looking for volunteers!

To make the convention happen every year, WisCon depends on its many volunteers. The virtual convention is no exception, even though the volunteer roles we’re looking to fill are different than they would be in person.

Technical Producers will coordinate the backend of program items, whether for live Panels or for pre-recorded Readings or Academic Programming items. If you’re comfortable with technical tools, and especially if you have experience with YouTube Studio, this is a great way to get involved!

Online Chat Moderators will monitor the conversation for live panels on Discord, and pass comments and questions onto the panelists via the Technical Producer.

Social Media Monitors will keep an eye on other web platforms for any issues arising in the current panel’s hashtag, and will escalate them to Safety if necessary.

And as at in-person conventions, Safety Volunteers will be available during programming hours, as a first point of contact for concerns or issues as they arise.

There’s no volunteer rebate or gift this year, but anyone who signs up for a volunteer shift by 5PM Central on Tuesday will receive an early invitation to the Discord server!

Full descriptions of all these roles can be found on our At-Con Volunteers page, or you can head directly to SignUp.com to sign up for specific shifts. If you have questions, or have any issues using the SignUp interface, you can also email volunteers@wiscon.net.

WisCONline: Programming & Events

Just as with in-person WisCon conventions, WisCon 44 will feature a variety of different programming types and events. This page gives information on how to access and participate in our various event types.

For the full schedule of programming during WisCon 44, see the full schedule grid or the list of program items with full descriptions.

Most video content for WisCONline will be available via YouTube. Links to YouTube streams and videos will be sent by email to all registered members, as well as posted to the WisCon Discord server. If you are registered and don’t receive the links, check your spam folder! If you still can’t find them, contact onlinecon@wiscon.net.

Panels

Live Panels will be streamed to the WisCon YouTube channel, but the panel itself will take place via private videoconference using the platform Jitsi; this video conference. (Each Jitsi room will also include a technical producer and someone providing captions, in case you’re wondering why there seem to be two silent participants on each panel!)

For each panel there will also be a dedicated channel on the WisCon Discord server (identified by the official panel hashtag). Discord will be the only forum in which you can ask questions during live panels; both comments and live chat on the YouTube streams have been disabled.

The Discord channel for each panel will be a space for parallel audience discussion, as well as a space to ask questions and submit comments. There will be an Online Chat Moderator who will relay questions from the Discord channel to the panel’s technical producer. The panel-specific channels will open for discussion shortly before the panel begins; the Online Chat Moderator will announce when questions and comments for the panel are open. If a stream fails or is unavailable, the panelists will congregate in the Discord channel for a live discussion in the chat.

After the panel livestream ends, we hope conversations will continue in text on the Discord server! Panelist are likely to join this discussion as well (assuming they weren’t already on Discord during the scheduled panel).

If you aren’t able to attend the panel at the scheduled time (or if you want to re-watch any of a panel that you did view live), it will be available to view on the WisCon YouTube channel until the end of the convention weekend (11:59 PM Central Time, Monday May 25).

For more information on audience participation in live panels, see our WisCon Guide to Discord.

Academic and Readings

Academic Programming and Readings at WisCon 44 will also be streamed on YouTube, but instead of streaming live they have all been pre-recorded. As with live panels, there will be dedicated discussion channels on Discord; presenters and authors will be available during the scheduled time for their presentation for live discussion and questions.

As with panels, these items will remain available to view until the end of the convention weekend (11:59 PM Central Time, Monday May 25).

Gaming

A number of Games have been scheduled for WisCONline. Details of the games available can be found in the convention program grid; signups will take place via the #sign-ups-and-troubleshooting channel on the WisCon Discord.

Virtual Reception (Thursday)
Opening Ceremonies (Friday)
& GOH Speech (Sunday)

Like Panels, Academic programming, and Readings, these events will all be available to watch via the WisCon YouTube channel. Links will be sent out by email to all registered members, as well as posted to Discord.

Gathering (Friday)

The Gathering at an in-person WisCon is an event at the beginning of the convention, where WisCon members come together in the hotel ballroom for a number of in-person activities.

For the online convention, a virtual Gathering will take place on Discord immediately after the Opening Ceremonies, across a number of activity-themed channels. Stop by to explore the Discord server and check in with both new and old WisCon friends!

If this is your first WisCon, check out the #first-time-at-wiscon channel on Discord during the Gathering to help get you oriented!

Otherwise Auction (Saturday)

The Otherwise Auction will take place online this year, hosted by auctioneer Sumana Harihareswara and live-captioned via CART. The auction will be streamed via YouTube, and you’ll be able to bid and converse using the live Discord chat.  Donations to WisCon can be made here. Content warning: a few jokes about the pandemic (facemasks & distancing).

The format of the auction will be slightly different this year. The Otherwise Motherboard has decided to use pass-the-hat challenges this year to raise money for the Carl Brandon Society and for WisCon, instead of raising money for Otherwise. For more information on the items available for auction, and the auction format, visit the Otherwise Award website.

Vid Party (Friday)

Details to be announced Friday!

Floomp Dance Party (Saturday)

The theme for this year’s Floomp dance party is ROBOTS, and it’s taking place this year in an all-new virtual format! It will take place across two virtual rooms: the Dance Floor and the Chill Space. Room links will be posted to the #floomp channel on the WisCon Discord server. There will be DJ sets streamed to YouTube during the party (links posted to #floomp), as well as a VJ set streamed for the duration of the party. For more information, see the public information sheet on Google Docs.

Spontaneous Programming + Meetups

What makes WisCon is its members. We hope that you will all find other ways to create spaces for discussion and community during the convention. The #meetups channel on the WisCon Discord is available to post invitations and notices for discussions on other platforms, whether these are purely social or are for spontaneous panels or roundtables. If you would like to set up a video call you are welcome to use any platform, but we have instructions on setting up a private room on Jitsi (the open-source and secure video conferencing system we are using for live panels at WisCONline).

There will be a Spontaneous Programming schedule posted as a Google Spreadsheet, linked on Discord, where you’re invited to share your plans for spontaneous panels, roundtables, or other events. You can use the channel #spontaneity to announce Spontaneous Programming items.

Safer Spaces

When we meet in person, WisCon maintains a designated space at the convention for people of color to dialogue freely and openly, known as the Safer Space for People of Color. In recent years it has been joined by two more safer spaces, one for people with disabilities, and one for trans and genderqueer members.

During the virtual WisCONline convention, we can’t replicate these physically closed spaces, but each Safer Space is developing plans for virtual alternatives and the Safer Spaces may run programming accessible only to their members.

For more information you can contact the Safer Spaces coordinators directly:

For more information about any of our programming items or events, you can contact the relevant WisCon department. For general inquiries about the online platforms and infrastructure, contact onlinecon@wiscon.net