Tag: POC events at WisCon

wiscon

Find A Tempest @ WisCon 40!

By:  TempestAppearances

The WisCon Feminist Science Fiction Convention is coming up this week and I am all up in it. I’m on a ton of amazing panels, I’m organizing a bunch of things, and I aim ready to have a good time.

However, I do want to direct people to this blog post from a year ago about microaggressions and WisCon I feel like it’s important to bring up again ahead of the con.

I also want to send a signal flare up to the POC and Native folk coming to the con: Are you aware we have activites at WisCon just for us? If you aren’t, ping me. I’ll give you all the deets1.

Okay so…. this year I’m one of the Program department deputies and so I put myself on too many panels. As always… Here’s my schedule:

AMA with GOHs (aka Ask Me Anything Live with the Guests of Honor) | moderator

Sat 10:00 – 11:15AM | Capitol A

Have a question for Guests of Honor Sofia Samatar, Justine Larbalestier, or Nalo Hopkinson about writing craft, writing life, or their fiction? Come to this Ask Me Anything session with your questions!

#KeepYAKind and Other Nice Tools of the Oppressor | moderator

Sat 1:00 – 2:15PM | Assembly

There is always a point in the midst of heated Internet discussions where someone lifts their voice to make a call for Kindness, Niceness, Civility, or any other adjacent concept. These calls often go up when the issue at hand concerns an individual with privilege being called out by folks with significantly less privilege or cultural power. And Kind, Nice, and Civil become synonyms for Keep Your Mouth Shut. When this happens again, what tools can we use to dismantle this toxic dynamic and get back to the core matter? Are there secret code words we can deploy to neutralize the terms?

Panelists: Becky Allen, Betsy Haibel, Justine Larbalestier, Mark Oshiro2

Podcasts for Beginners | moderator

Sat 4:00 – 5:15PM | Conference 1

So you want to start a podcast. You have a computer, a mic, and Skype. What else do you need? What does good editing software cost? Where’s the best place to host? How do you get your podcast listed in all the right places? A panel of seasoned podcasters is ready to answer your questions, give great advice, and probably pop their Ps.

Panelists: Tanya D., Keffy R. M. Kehrli, JP Fairfield

Analog and Digital Writing Tools3 | moderator

Sun 8:30 – 9:45AM | Conference 1

Writers, bring your favorite writing tools—laptop, tablet, quill, or steam-fueled ideatron—and share the pros and cons of your favored method of writing with others! We’ll talk software, hardware, analogware, old-fashioned methods as well as new. If you’re willing to share your beloved your writing gear, others may be eager to give them a try.

Panelists: Dylan Moonfire, Kristine Smith

Afrofuturist Narratives Outside Of Literature | moderator

Sun 10:00 – 11:15AM | Capitol A

Janelle Monae’s albums tell the story of the android Cindi Mayweather, fugitive and freedom fighter. Sun-Ra explored the past and future of Africans and people of the diaspora through music, poetry, and film. Nick Cave’s Soundsuits evoke the strangeness of aliens while drawing on multiple cultural traditions around sound, dance, and design. Let’s explore the different mediums in which afrofuturist artists are expressing and engaging with the future, blackness, and art.

Panelists: Bill Campbell, Nalo Hopkinson4

SIX SEASON SERIES BASED ON THE THREE-PART TRILOGY BASED ON THE SINGLE BOOK OF THE NOT ANOTHER F*CKING RACE PANEL | Vanna White

Sun 4:00 – 5:15PM | Wisconsin

The eighth installment of this popular and amazing panel! Writers of color working in F/SF face unique challenges, it’s true. But, at the end of the day, being a “person of color” is only one aspect of what makes up our identities as writers. While it’s very flattering to be asked to be on panels, most of these panels never crack the ceiling of Race 101. With that in mind, wouldn’t it be nice for multiple writers and fans of color to sit on a panel that isn’t about race at all? Here’s our chance to do just that. So, what are we gonna talk about, instead? Practically anything! Presented in game show format, SIX SEASON SERIES BASED ON THE THREE-PART TRILOGY BASED ON THE SINGLE BOOK OF THE NOT ANOTHER F*CKING RACE PANEL brings together writers and fans of color to get their geek on about any number of pop culture topics—none of them race related.

Panelists: Jackie Gross (ladyjax), Sumana (brainwane) Harihareswara, Nalo Hopkinson, Emily Jiang, Michi Trota

I didn’t start out moderating all of these panels, then somehow I was moderating them all….

Come to my panels, go to the many other amazing panels on the schedule, go to the readings, come to the speeches. I’m telling you, it’s going to be fabulous this year.

 

Footnotes

  1. Not giving all the deets here because racist trolls sometimes comes by and have feelings about the stuff we do. [⇧]
  2. Can we talk for a second about how stoked I am to be on a panel with these people? Because I so am. [⇧]
  3. Or, as I like to call it: The Write Gear live [⇧]
  4. Yaaaaaaaaaaaallllll these panelists [⇧]

The POC Dinner @ WisCon – It’s A Tradition!

By:  TempestGeekitude

A few days ago Jaymee Goh asked me for some historical info on the POC Safer Space at WisCon, which got me wondering if there were any public posts chronicling the POC Dinner as well. Not exactly. The first formal dinner we did was in 2009, and with that we just met in the lobby and went out to a restaurant. However, that grew out of similar POC lunches and get-togethers that were mainly the result of coordinating the Safer Space.

Very quickly this event became an important part of WisCon for me and other folks of color. Meeting other people from the community in a welcoming and supportive environment is so important. As is meeting people you can go to if the con gets rough in a specific way. And, if you’re new to WisCon, the dinner serves to ease you into the con experience.

We eat, we talk, we joke, we introduce, we create community. It’s one of my favorite parts of WisCon. I want it to be yours as well.

This year’s POC Dinner will take place Friday May 22 at 5:30pm local time (the dinner break) in room 629. Who can come? People who identify as people of color, which is a pretty broad umbrella. We’re not about checking your POC cred at the door. We’re about creating community. Consider yourself welcome1.

Important Details

If you plan to attend, please, please, PLEASE buy a ticket ahead of time. This allows us to not only know how many people are coming but how much (and what kind of) food to order. I’d love it if everyone bought a ticket today, but you can buy one up until 12pm local on Friday. That’s when we’re putting in the final order for food.

If you cannot afford the dinner price you can still come. Generous folks have already donated extra money to cover the costs for people with limited budgets. Your name will only be known to the dinner coordinators and will be kept confidential. Just nab a free ticket at this link.

The menu for dinner is at the link. If you don’t see any food you’re willing to eat, you can still join us. Just bring your own food. Also, nab a BYOF ticket at this link (it helps us to know how many people are attending even if you’re not eating so we get enough tables and chairs).

If you don’t buy a ticket ahead of time you can still come! Just bring cash to pay for dinner.

And if you know a person of color attending WisCon who might not know about this dinner, please pass this post along.

I’m so looking forward to breaking bread with y’all this year and many years to come.

Footnotes

  1. This is usually the point where obnoxious people will say “I have a color: white! So I should get to come!” If you’re that dedicated to being obnoxious, good on you. See how well that works out at the con. [⇧]

WisCon 36 POC Dinner – Friday

By:  TempestConventions
WisCon 36 POC Dinner - Friday

Just an FYI: there will be a POC dinner at WisCon again this year. The reason I haven’t announced it officially yet is that we’re still nailing down a venue. We’re trying to find a place that can accept 50+ people, is close enough to the hotel that people will walk to it, and is inexpensive. Triangulating this has proved very complex :)

However, the general plan is for the event to happen during the sinner space in programming and before the opening ceremonies. We hope to get GOH Andrea Hairston and Mary Anne Mohanraj to attend, even if just for the beginning since they’ll need to leave early.

After the dinner, those of you who do not want to go to the opening ceremonies can join me in the POC Safer Space to talk about how folks can and should use the room during the con.

[WisCon 35] POC Dinner

By:  TempestConventions
[WisCon 35] POC Dinner

It’s that time of year again. You know, when a young girl’s thoughts turn to wild unicorns and orcs frolicking together and eating things? That’s right, the WisCon POC dinner is on, baby.

Here are the deets:

  • When: Friday, May 27th, 5:30 – 7:30PM
  • Where: Private Dining Room of the Dayton Street Grille (the restaurant inside the Madison Concourse Hotel). If you haven’t been there before, just ask the helpful folks at the front desk or the host station.
  • Who: If you are a person of color attending WisCon, you’re welcome to join.
  • Important Things:
    • If you’re on Facebook, please click here to RSVP. We want to get a mostly accurate count of how many people are coming so the restaurant can plan accordingly. If you’re not on Facebook, RSVP in the comments.
    • Tell other POC and ask them to RSVP as well.
    • Please come as close to 5:30 as you can. We want to be done by 7:10 so that Nisi and anyone else can get to the Opening Ceremonies.
    • Bring cash! This is important (see update below).

Update: We’ve now set the menu for the dinner. This year we’re doing a buffet instead of a traditional sit-down to facilitate mingling and to accommodate those who might be late. Buffet items include:

  • Fresh seasonal fruit
  • Mixed greens with shredded carrots, cherry tomatoes and cucumbers with our housemade balsamic vinaigrette and ranch dressings
  • Asparagus, shrimp and orzo salad [might end up being vegetarian – i.e. no shrimp]
  • Grilled breast of chicken with Portobello mushrooms and caramelized shallots
  • Sliced sirloin of beef with brandy green peppercorn sauce
  • Rosemary-roasted red bliss potatoes [vegan]
  • Sautéed zucchini and tomatoes [vegan]
  • Fresh breads from our bakery
  • Assorted petit fours and finger tarts

Since this is now a catered event/buffet, there’s a set price for dinner. The minimum required to eat is $20. However, if you can pay up to $30 we’d appreciate it. We’re doing a bit of funky math here to keep costs down for everyone and because I don’t know exactly how many people are coming.

If you absolutely cannot afford this, drop me a note, please.