Master Schedule

Seattle 2025 Division Head Meeting. (Not an open meeting.)

Most cons are used to thinking about the physical accessibility of the hotels and convention centers they inhabit, but how many are really thinking about digital accessibility? Can your members who use assistive technology read your website, newsletters, and other digital materials? Learn the basics of digital accessibility and what your Publications department should be keeping in mind as they produce your digital material.

Bruce Farr presents a primer on how a Worldcon (or other convention) budget is put together, what information is needed from committee, vendors, and other stakeholders, how the information is reported (and to whom). This is a must for all high-level Worldcon concom.

How to get out from under the mob when the internet blows up, and some examples of what to do and what to avoid.

Find people who match the questions on the sheet. Whoever is the first to fill the card wins. If no one fills the card, then whoever gets the most signatures wins. Each person can only sign up to two spaces on each card.

Convention comms, both pre-con and at-con, are changing rapidly. While radios are still used at con, this tends to be for more specific teams. More and more people are turning to text messaging (WhatsApp, Discord, Slack etc.), direct phonecalls and the newest thing that someone found last week. What considerations should be put into choosing tools for your staff to communicate, and for your members to communicate with your staff? How do you regulate information overload and is it a problem if teams just start doing their own thing?

Who are we marketing to? What are we offering? Why do people show up? The realities of fractional demand (hotels, travel, registration). Planning around revenue changes.

More than just a spreadsheet! How to proactively and effectively make use of people who sign up.

Is a convention an organization? Do leaders have any accountability to "members?" Models of responsive governance.

How much does it cost, in money and people, to have program items accessible to remote members and participants? How many people are served by this? What obligation exists to people who aren't attending?

Online conventions mean keeping panelists up to date with the latest software features. Presentations need the presenter's laptop, the projector, and the sound system to all work together. And some people still haven't learned to use the microphone when talking. How do you make space to make sure the tech all works and people know how to use it?

The Hugo issues from the Chengdu Worldcon made worldwide news, and not in a good way. The Hugos' reputation is not good right now. Beyond various fixes in the WSFS Constitution, what can be done to reassure Hugo nominators, potential nominees, the press, and the public that the process is robust and fair.

What matters and what doesn't when bidding for a Worldcon or other con in a contested vote. Examples from past bids.

How are facilities costs affecting convention budgets now? Are room blocks still good for function room discounts? Let us know how your contracts have changed and what solutions you've found.

Smofcon's main event: Seated Worldcons and bids, NASFiC bids (if any), and future Smofcon bids make presentations and answer questions about their events and plans.

How literary fandom can market to and help SF&F adjacent events and organizations, and how they might help us.

Creating a positive experience for volunteers. Resolving personality conflicts that drive people away.

The importance of institutional memory. Tools and best practices for apprenticeship, post-con reports, internal websites, etc.

Conventions have sometimes assigned a function room to an interest group that runs programming for that room for the whole con -- does this save time and labor, or cause confustion? Creation Station is a local example. For a large-scale example, all of DragonCon in Atlanta seems to run this way.

Jim Wright Q&A about a decade of the culture wars, and how he became a leading voice for truth and against misinformation online.

Let's get together the folks who have written some of the program planning software like Zambia and Planorama and discuss what features are wanted but missing, which features are not as expected, and which are not needed at all.

Jim Wright talks about his involvement in the 2015 Worldcon in Spokane. Note: This item starts at 9:00 AM in the con suite (Presidential Suite).

The importance of responding to controversies quickly and intelligently. Keeping accountable leaders in the loop in time to make a difference.

Project plans and Gantt charts vs timelines. Planning for this year's needs, not last year's con.

Seattle 2025 Worldcon meeting. All are welcome; some may be recruited.

Single-area software solutions are proliferating-- for maps, building programs, displaying schedules, and more. What does it take to get everything on the same page? Is a comprehensive convention platform possible? Is it even desirable?

List the tasks and equpment, figure out what needs to be borrowed or bought, plan move in and move out for all the things.

Building a whole-of-committee communication culture. Including different levels of experience in decisions. Avoiding silos and fiefs in concoms.

Con-runners whose programs offer critique sessions and workshops present the range of options they've found successful, and why.

How to set up bylaws to avoid and resolve organizational issues. How to keep people on track and replace people who cause problems.

Discuss how to set up and populate an Exhibit Hall, with Art Show, Dealers, and fixed exhibits.

There are multiple conventions in your area. How do you avoid conflicting/overlapping dates/events. Should the groups running these events have a summit? Has anyone ever tried.

Annual General meeting of SWOC, the sponsoring organization of Smofcon 41. Election of officers and discussion of future plans of SWOC. To be followed by a convention feedback session.