Call for Donations and Nominations to WisCon Member Assistance Fund!

The fund formerly known as the Scholarship Fund is now the WisCon Member Assistance Fund. With us so far? We changed the name to make it clearer that the fund is there to help you, yes you, come to WisCon. You do not have to be an academic--just a person who is enthusiastic about coming to WisCon but needs a little help to do so. Every year, we try to help as many people as we can come to WisCon. It's the time of year when we ask you to please consider contributing to the member assistance fund this year. All contributions should be made to SF3 and sent to SF3 Attn: WisCon Member Assistance Fund P.O. Box 1624 Madison, WI 53701 SF3 is a 501.3 organization, so your donations are tax deductible. Every penny will be used to help potential WisCon members attend in May. You can also use Paypal and send the money to treasurer@sf3.org. We are also accepting nominations for potential recipients of assistance. Nominate someone else or nominate yourself. Tell us why the potential recipient would be a good person to attend WisCon and give us an idea of what funds would make the difference between being able to attend and missing the convention. Typically, we give amounts between $200 and $500. We have been asked whether a previous recipient of a assistance can receive help again. The answer to that is that yes, that is a possibility, but if we do not have enough money to help everyone who applies, we will give priority to people who have not previously received assistance. Depending on the number of nominations and the amount of donations, the WMAF committee will try to help out as many people as possible who would like to come to WisCon but need some support to do so. All nominations need to be made by midnight, PST, February 15, 2014. Assistance recipients will be notified by March 15, 2014. These deadlines are timed to allow people who receive assistance time to sign up to be on programming. Nominations for the WisCon Member Assistance Fund should be sent to fund@wiscon.info. Nominate away! And please, if you have a little money to help other people come to WisCon, donate!

Genderfloomp Seeks Feedback from GQ/GNC/Trans* Community

This entry is cross-posted at the request of the Genderfloomp organizers, and comment streams are available on Dreamwidth and Livejournal.

Hi there. As the organizers of the annual Genderfloomp party at WisCon, we learned of a recent wave of concern that Genderfloomp is uncomfortable/appropriative for gender non-conforming or non-binary people. We'd like to open a discussion about this issue.

To start off, we want to determine if the problems primarily reside in the party's messaging online, its actual setup/conduct at the con, or simply its existence. We've spoken to some GNC/GQ people who really enjoy the party and find it to be an important space, and we would find it helpful to hear what aspects of the party do work as well. Ideally, we can find a way to rework Genderfloomp so that it can serve the entire community, but we also are open to much bigger changes.

We are both queer people who are gender non-conforming in some ways that are important to our identity, but do not pretend that this gives us access to the wide spectrum of GNC, GQ, and trans* experiences. Our intentions with Genderfloomp are to embrace the liberatory aspects of "party," rather than the trivializing connotations, in order to foster a space of gender play and binary destabilization, much in the same way that the Tiptree award celebrates work that "explores and expands" ideas of gender. If our party is hurting GNC/GQ folks, it is failing at its mission, and we apologize for any hurt we have caused.

We know a wide spectrum of Wiscon has insight to share on Genderfloomp, but we ask that this thread be restricted to folks who identify as GNC/GQ/Trans* in order to give people room and safety to speak. If commenting here feels uncomfortable or unsafe, we
can also be reached at genderfloomp@gmail.com.

We are here primarily to listen with humility and openness, though we are also happy to answer any questions.

Sincerely,
Meghan McCarron and Liz Gorinsky

We're changing the name of the WisCon Scholarships Fund

Please help us decide what to rename it to! Please vote in our polls either on Dreamwidth or on LiveJournal.

Food Poisoning

Reports have been trickling in of some potential food poisoning cases, if you think you got a foodborne illness over the weekend please call the Madison Health Department at 608-266-4821. More details on reporting here: http://www.publichealthmdc.com/environmental/food/foodborneIllness/facts.cfm

Feedback Surveys & Programming is open for WisCon 381

If you have thoughts about things that went well at WisCon 37 or things that went not-so-well, we'd love to hear from you. We have a general survey as well as a survey about programming.
Lastly, if you have programming ideas for WisCon 38/SFRA, you can submit them now.

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ETA: If you're coming here in May 2014, this is an outdated post! The post with links to surveys after WisCon 38 are here.

A Momentary Taste of WisCon: Issues #3 & 4

Issue #3 includes info about the Tiptree Auction. Issue #4 includes pictures and quotes from Sunday evening's Guests of Honor Speeches and Award Ceremony. We also announce WisCon 38's Guests of Honor: Hiromi Goto and N.K. Jemisin.

A Momentary Taste of WisCon: Issue #2

Check out Issue #2 of A Momentary Taste of WisCon here. Inside: Tiptree Auction preview, changes to Saturday programming, more information about WisCon 38 coinciding with the Science Ficton Research Assocation's annual meeting, how to register & reserve hotel rooms for WisCon 38, the location of our Lost & Found room, and more!

Check out Issue #1 of our at-con newsletter, A Momentary Taste of WisCon, here. (That link opens up as a PDF.) Inside: Changes to programming items, information about our SmartPhone apps, changing your preferences on our website, volunteering, how to still sign up for Sign Out, and more!

Volunteer Needs at WisCon 37!

As WisCon approaches, we still have some open volunteer shifts that we are hoping to fill before the convention starts. These opportunities will allow you to meet new people, explore interests, possibly add new skills, and help make the convention the best it can be!

A/V could use three people to help with set-up and during special events: the Tiptree Auction on Saturday and GoH speeches on Sunday, plus one other person to help when needed.

On Friday night, we need one or more people to head the First WisCon Dinner, an informal meet and greet for people attending the convention for the first time and anyone else interested. The group meets outside the Wisconsin ballroom after the first panels end 5:15-5:30 and heads to a local restaurant for dinner together.

Access could use some help with blue-taping in the mornings during the convention and before special events.

The Tiptree Auction still needs runners for during the bidding.

The Tiptree Bake Sale could use help on Saturday after the sale with breakdown from 3-4 pm and some extra hands during their busy time from 11:30 am-2 pm.

Sign-out on is looking for a couple more volunteers on Monday from 10-30 until the end.

Registration has shifts open on Saturday and Sunday.

The ConSuite has openings throughout the convention, please check in at the ConSuite to sign up for open shifts.

Childcare also often needs help, you can stop by during open hours to see if and when they need help.

We will have additional and emergency needs posted on the volunteer board near registration beginning Friday morning, If you are arriving on Thursday or early Friday and want to help with set-up, you can stop by registration or the volunteer board to see how you can help.

All volunteers receive a special commemorative thank you gift. If you volunteer six or more hours during the convention, you are eligible for a $20 refund on your membership fee as funds allow.

If you can help us out, or for more information, please contact us at volunteers37@wiscon.info.

Thank you!

eCubes #8 & #9! Also the full schedule.

Hello! eCube 8 went out about a month ago. More recently, eCube 9 was just published. You can peruse WisCon 37's schedule here in grid format, or here as a PDF.

eCube #7 Online

eCube #7 is now online, with updates on available ad space in our souvenir book, hotel information, and a programming update. There's also information about author John Scalzi doing a reading at Room of One's Own on the Thursday of WisCon, before the GoH readings.