FanWorks Convention

Hello, world! We're running a bit behind here at virtual FanWorks HQ, because 2020 won't stop happening to us. Apologies for communications delays! 

FanWorks is less than a week away, and we're hard at work finalizing the last details to make the con as packed with good stuff as we can make it.

Some housekeeping, updates, and general information: 

Important: 

- Everyone who uploaded a vid for this year's con should have received an email about vid content notes. In case you did not, or in case you forgot: we had an unfortunate website bug that prevented content notes from saving upon submission - this has since been fixed, but we need everyone who can to check their vid submissions (https://fanworkscon.com/works/manage/) and re-submit their content notes if needed. Any submissions left without content notes when we finalize our playlist docs will be marked "no content notes provided," with our sincere apologies for the problem.

- If you emailed jen@fanworkscon.com in the last week and did not get a response, please email again! There's been a ton of spam coming in and some real messages were lost in the deluge.

Platforms: 

- The bulk of the con activity will be happening on Discord.

- Panels (with the exception of one chat-based panel) will take place on Zoom, with Rev captioning. (We're currently working out some bugs in the Rev captioning set up, but we're doing our best to get live captions enabled for all Zoom activities.) 

- Streaming vidshows will run through the con website.

- An invite to the con Discord, links to Zoom panel rooms, and access to the con vidshows will all be given out through the FanWorks dashboard.

- Links to panel rooms and vidshow streams will also be available on the Discord itself, and attendees will have the option of turning on Discord notifications that panels and vidshows are about to begin.

Schedule notes: 

- The con schedule will be posted later tonight! We'll announce it here and on twitter when the schedule goes live on the con website.

- Panelists and VJs should have received an email with their programming timeslots; if you didn't, you can email us at fanworksprogramming@gmail.com or check the schedule when it goes live.

- The start of the con weekend technically begins on Thursday night, when the con Discord will open for attendees.

- Friday will be a low key day of socializing, with some light activities; we know many people will be working, so there is no scheduled key programming on Friday until Sparkle Motion (which will run twice on Friday night, at 8:30PM and 1:00AM Eastern). Panels & vidshows will be on Saturday and Sunday, kicking off each day at 12:00PM Eastern.

- More information on panels, including the con's version of Zoom panel etiquette, will follow in a separate post.

Vidshow notes: 

- Before a vidshow starts, you will have the option to click to autoplay the show, so that it will automatically begin at its scheduled time.

- After a vidshow starts, you can either join it live or start from the beginning. Refreshing the live view will always take you to the current place in the vidshow, so that everyone watching live is viewing the vidshow as in sync as possible.

- There will be separate chat rooms for each vidshow, so that we can watch the vidshows together via chat. VJs will be announcing each vid in the chat room as it starts, to keep everyone on the same page and make it easier to follow along when reading up in chat rooms later on.

- Vidshows can be viewed in their entirety at any point after the live show ends, and will remain accessible through the con dashboard for at least three months.

- We had 36 Premieres submissions this year, so the Premieres show will run a bit long - each half is an hour and five minutes long, with a break between. Bring snacks! Bring a pillow! Bring your cat! There's a lot of great stuff in there and the show will be well worth your two hours.


FanWorks 2020 virtual con staff: 

Jen: con chair, Discord mod, scheduling
sweetestdrain: safety & policy chair, vidshows co-captain
AbsoluteDestiny: technology, website, platforms
Beth: social coordinator
elipie: panels captain, Zoom mod
Milly: vidshow tech, Zoom mod
SDWolfpup: vidshows co-captain
verity: access chair, Discord mod

Themed shows have been selected for the FanWorks 2020 virtual con! Thank you to everyone who submitted a themed show.

This year’s full slate of vidshows:

( Vidder Submitted Shows )

( Themed Shows )

( Vidshows After Dark )

( Submission Deadlines )

We're pushing registration back a week so that we can spend more time working on a new code of conduct for the 2020 con and updates to our access policies that will address our new digital spaces.

Registration for FanWorks 2020, October 23 - 25th, will now open on Sunday, September 6th.

Programming submissions will open later today, and con planning surveys will be rolling out later in the week.

FanWorks is moving back one week to October 23 - 25th, to avoid conflicting with FIYAHCON 2020 for our attendees who want to do both.

(Our deadline schedule is now set and we won't be adjusting our dates again, so if other conflicts arise, we apologize! There's a lot going on virtually right now.)

The con will run on Eastern time, with a daily welcome video at 11:30AM and programming / social activities beginning each day at noon.

Here is what you can expect from virtual con programming:

Friday: A mostly informal day of online hangouts, icebreakers, viewing parties, and a groupwatch of last year's Premieres show, culminating in both Eastern and Pacific nighttime runs of Sparkle Motion, the FanWorks dance party (now in your living room!).

Saturday: Five hours of panel programming and an evening Premieres vid showcase, plus themed daytime vidshows, ongoing activities, and late night Halloween-themed programming.

Sunday: Five hours of panel programming, a cosplay showcase, and closing events, plus themed daytime vidshows, ongoing activities, and evening socials.

We know that many people will have to work on Friday, and that's okay! There are no panels or debuting vidshows during daytime programming on Friday. If you live in earlier time zones, don't work that day, or otherwise have flexibility to socialize, there will be things to do; if you can't make Friday daytime activities, there will be lots to do at other times throughout the weekend.

Registration for the 2020 FanWorks virtual con will be $20. Registration for this and future virtual cons is separate from the 2022 con in Chicago, so even if you are registered for that event, you will need to separately register if you want to attend the virtual con. The registration fee will cover our video hosting costs and go toward off-setting annual overheads that would normally be covered by con registration.

Registration for the 2020 FanWorks virtual con will open on Sunday, August 30th. We'll be working on updating our website and materials for the virtual con in the meantime, but if you have any questions, you can always shoot an email to jen@fanworkscon.com.

Deadlines for vidshows, the zine, and panel & vidshow submissions are coming up next! 

FanWorks will no longer be taking place in August 2020.

We're currently looking into rescheduling options; there are a lot of factors to consider including hotel availability, staff availability, academic calendars, scheduling conflicts with other events, and Chicago weather. We will be making a decision in the next few days and will update as soon as we have new dates.

( Why we've chosen to reschedule )

( What will happen next )

( If you've already registered to attend FanWorks )

We're looking into the possibility of doing a virtual con in the original con weekend, August 8 – 9th.

This would be in addition to the rescheduled con, not replacing it. The virtual con would probably look a bit like last year's digital con – streaming vidshows, a zine – plus online panels, chat rooms, and other social components. Whether or not we're able to do a virtual con will depend on a variety of factors including our new con dates, so we won't have any updates on that until after new dates are announced.


If you have questions, feedback, anything you want to communicate to us at this time, you can leave screened comments here or email jen@fanworkscon.com.

Reminder: FanWorks registration opens for attending members this Sunday, January 12th at 2:00PM Eastern!

The con website is now in FanWorks 2020 mode, with more updates to come! As you read through the website, you'll notice that some things have changed from last year's con. We've highlighted a few of those changes below:

( The con space, featuring a new activities track and con suite )

( Friday dinner banquet & other catering )

( Night Market vendor fee waived for 2020 )

( Call it a night a little earlier )

A sample schedule for 2020 is available here. This is a sample only, meant to give an idea of what con programming will be like. It may not reflect actual schedule times and events.

If you have any questions, you can email jen@fanworkscon.com or leave a screened comment here.

Variations is an annual themed challenge for creators at FanWorks, with a new theme each year. Anyone who makes vids, art, fic, podfic, or any other kind of fanwork is welcome to make something as an interpretation of the theme and submit it to the con to be showcased in the con zine, the Variations vidshow, or the con art gallery.

The theme for 2020 is Hindsight.



You can interpret "hindsight" however you want! Part of the fun of this kind of fanwork challenge is how many different interpretations can come from one theme. Your interpretation does not have to be literal (the word "hindsight" doesn't have to show up in your vid songs or fic - but it can if you want it to!), and you can apply the theme to any fandom or fanwork type.

Fan creations of all kinds made as a response to the theme can be submitted as FanWorks premieres to various venues at the con:

Variations vidshow: Any vids made for the theme will be shown at the con in the Variations vidshow and online via con streaming. The deadline for premiering vid submissions is June 28th.

Con zine: Any fanart, fanfic, or podfic made for Variations will be published in our digital zine, available to all attending and supporting members. The deadline for submissions to the con zine is June 21st.

Art gallery: Any textile or other 3D artworks made for Variations must be completed by August 2nd and brought to the con by attendees for display in the con's art gallery.

If you have any questions about Variations, the theme, or how to submit a work for the theme challenge, please email jen@fanworkscon.com.

Next year's FanWorks convention will be the weekend of August 7th – 9th, 2020 in Chicago, IL at the SpringHill Suites at O'Hare Airport.

Registration for FanWorks 2020 will open on Sunday, January 12th at 2:00pm Eastern.

Attending membership will again be $135. We are currently working out costs of bar wristbands and other possible registration add-ons, and will update with those when prices are set.

The con block room rate at the SpringHill will be $119/night for a double or king. All guest rooms at the SpringHill include a living area with a pull-out couch and a kitchenette with a fridge, microwave, cabinets, and sink.



We'll be posting an interim guide to the SpringHill soon, with a more complete photo tour coming after we do a site visit for photography in early 2020. Our website will be updated in the coming week to reflect our new dates and location.

( More information on the move from Detroit to Chicago )

Some notes about the new hotel and what it means for the con:

• We were already planning on reducing the number of simultaneous panel tracks from 5 to 3-4 based on attendee feedback. This will not change at the new hotel. We have at minimum 5 rooms available for panels and vidshows, plus the con suite.
• The con suite will be in the event space this year. We couldn't have done this at the Sheraton, so this is a big plus for us. We should be able to at least serve soft drinks in the con suite, with coffee available in the hotel lobby that can be brought into any con spaces.
• Our space will still be spread out over two floors, with rooms on the first and second floors of the hotel, but in the SpringHill the first floor con rooms are much less isolated, which we hope will help.
• The overall schedule format is likely to remain roughly the same, including length and quantity of breaks, as feedback was overwhelmingly positive on those.
• There will still be evening events on all nights of the con. Events won't run quite as late this year (Sparkle Motion is currently planned to end at 11:00 pm), but we feel this will be an overall benefit to both people hosting room parties and the sleep levels of con staff.
• Speaking of room parties: The SpringHill guest rooms are going to be a significant upgrade for anyone who likes having people hang out in their room. If you tried to have a room party in 2019 and couldn't quite make it work, the sofas at the SpringHill are here for you.
• We expect to have a larger dance floor this year. The lower cost of the event space means we'll have the ability to upgrade the con experience in a variety of ways, and one key way is a more elbow room for dancing.
• It should (fingers crossed) be easier to isolate the sound from the vidshow room this year, which was a big point on last year's feedback.

Any questions can be left here as screened comments or sent to jen@fanworkscon.com.