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WisCon Needs Help
WisCon is a feminist science fiction convention dating to 1977, held every year in Madison, Wisconsin (excepting an online event in 2020). It is the latest convention to appeal to the fannish public to help it continue past 2021.
Treasurer Kit Stubbs lays out the problems in a blog post here. First, SF3, the organization behind WisCon, faces a shortfall of at least $76,000, more if the 2022 convention doesn’t fill its room block. Second, it has an even more drastic shortfall of volunteers to help run the convention. Third, it is attempting to do more work lately:
WisCon’s roots are grounded in white feminism, and WisCon continues to struggle with racism and with finding ways to center attendees of color who have been harmed. The Town Hall marks a key point in our antiracist work to bring WisCon, particularly as experienced by our attendees and volunteers of color, into better alignment with our values—even if this means that white attendees will have to sit with discomfort.
Working towards a more antiracist con is just one of the major challenges that we face. Unless we, the WisCon community, also take significant action this year in terms of finances and our volunteer pool, within the next few years we will no longer be able to run WisCon.
SF3 is accepting donations via PayPal, but would also be just as happy if people could register for WisCon and buy tickets to its bonus fundraising event.
Details on some volunteer positions, including expected time commitment, are in a previous blog post. Stubbs also encourages interested parties to attend WisCon’s upcoming online volunteer info session.
Tone Madison has more background and further information, along with a sampling of reaction from the WisCon community. The initial response has been encouraging, ut there is a long way to go:
Some larger donors have stepped up to offer $15,000 in matching funds, Stubbs says. As of Monday night, about $3,500 in other donations had come in toward the match, and 21 new volunteers had signed up.
In Brief
The Ditmar Awards (fan-voted for Australian sf and related work) are normally presented at the Australian national sf convention, but the convention was cancelled for 2021. Instead, they were instead presented in an online ceremony November 20th. Results here.
The San Diego Times-Union has a look at opening day of the Comic-Con Museum, revealing that it is not a museum of Comic-Con, just of pop culture.
Event Calendar
Weekend of December 3-5
Smofcon Europe (con-running), Lisboa, Portugal
Weymouth Steampunk Christmas, Weymouth, UK
Midwest Furfest (anthropomorphic), Rosemont, Illinois, USA
Dragonmeet (gaming), London, UK
Shorehammer (miniatures gaming), Ocean City, Maryland, USA
Anime Frontier, Fort Worth, Texas, USA
Nashville Anime Day, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, USA
For the Love of Sci-Fi 2021 (media), Manchester, UK
Geek Days Lille (media), Lille, France
Emerald City Comic Con, Seattle, Washington, USA
L.A. Comic Con 2021, Los Angeles, California, USA
Naiccon 2021 (media), Nairobi, Kenya
Mini-Mini Con (media), San Antonio, Texas, USA
Abilene Comic Con, Abilene, Texas, USA
Weekend of December 10-12
RADP 26 (Disney theme parks), Walt Disney World, Florida, USA
PAX Unplugged (tabletop gaming), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Anime Pasadena, Pasadena, California, USA
Tekko 2021 (anime), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Yama-Con 2021 (anime), Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, USA
Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Ocean City Comic Con, Ocean City, Maryland, USA
TFCon Toronto (Transformers), Missisauga, Ontario, Canada
Weekend of December 17-19
DisCon III, the 79th World Science Fiction Convention, Washington, DC, USA
TwinConRPG (gaming), London, UK
Sac Gamers Expo (video games), Sacramento, California, USA
Power Up South Bend (video games), South Bend, Indiana, USA
Holiday Matsuri (anime), Orlando, Florida, USA
Con+Alt+Delete (anime), Rosemont, Illinois, USA
AnimeFest 2021, Dallas, Texas, USA
Comic Con Revolution, Ontario, California, USA
Fan Party vol. 5 (media), Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico
Weekend of December 24-26
Nothing yet
Weekend of December 31-January 2
Comic Market 99 (amateur comics), Tokyo, Japan
Painted Desert Fur Con: Neo Tokyo (anthropomorphic), Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Ikkicon (anime), Austin, Texas, USA
OKiCon (anime), Norman, Oklahoma, USA
Coda
The Ones Who Take the Train to Omelas (hat tip: File 770)