confabcon | Entries tagged with 2023

Hello everyone! CONfab 2023 is just one week away!! Today we're bringing you some information about this year's Charity Raffle. Each con, we raffle donated prizes like books, clothing, art, jewelry, fandom items, and more! All donated items come from our generous con attendees and friends who support the charity.

This year, 100% of the proceeds from our annual charity raffle will go to Brave Space Alliance. Brave Space Alliance is a Black-led, trans-led LGBTQ+ center on the South side of Chicago, and it provides resources such as a pantry, housing assistance, and health and wellness services.

On Saturday evening during the Dance, we will give away donated prizes, which can be a variety of things (homemade crafts, fandom goodies, gift cards, books, etc.) and are all provided through the generosity of fandom.

Your registration comes with one raffle ticket! More tickets are available at registration and throughout the Con from our Raffle Coordinator, She!Sam. Each ticket is $1.00 USD. Simply write your username on the back of your ticket(s) and place in the cup located by the prize(s) of your choice. You can also earn ten free tickets for referring new CONfabulation attendee. Winners will be announced during the Dance Party on Saturday evening. You do not have to be present to win, but if you are not, your name must be on your ticket.

To donate a prize, simply bring it with you to the con; we'd love to have it! If you have any raffle related questions, contact info@confabcon.com with "RAFFLE" in the subject line of your email.

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For our Thursday Outing this year, on October 19th, we will be going to The Catcade.

The Catcade is a non-profit, arcade-themed cat rescue, lounge, and cat café in Chicago. Visits last one hour, and appointments are required. We will not have enough people to book a private hour, up to six people in a group able to secure a one-hour time slot for $17 each. All attendees would be required to make their own separate reservations. We are making reservations for noon (12 p.m.) on Thursday, October 19. Sign-ups are first come, first serve.

~~Two spots are currently available!~~ All spots for 12pm are taken, but if you are still interested, please reach out. We can set up a second group for 1pm if there is enough interest.

Reservations are non-refundable and all guests will need to sign a waiver from the Catcade. Please do NOT make a reservation on your own without letting us know you are coming on the outing. Email programming@confabcon.com, with "Catcade" in the subject line if you wish to take one of these two open slots.

We will leave the hotel at about 10 a.m. Thursday, October 19 in order to get there at noon. Anyone wishing to go into Chicago, but not go to the Catcade, is welcome to join us in traveling, and can also join us for lunch after the Catcade. Lunch will be at a location, to be determined, that is accessible via the Blue Line.

Any questions, leave a comment on this post or email us at the address above! Let's pet some cats and play some arcade games together. :D

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You've been waiting for it, and it's finally here! The schedule for CONfab 2023 in Chicago is up on our website! More activities may be added to the schedule as we get closer to the convention, but all of the panels, workshops, and group discussions are up there for your perusing pleasure.

The con itself is just four weeks away, and we're so looking forward to seeing all of your beautiful faces. Registration is open until the convention itself, but you only have until October 4th (two more weeks) to guarantee our hotel room rate at the Springhill Suites Chicago O'Hare, so don't delay! More information about the hotel and the room cost is available here. If you're looking for someone to room with (or just want some folks to chat about the con and other fannish things with), head over to our discord!

More announcements will be happening in the upcoming weeks, including our Thursday Outing and info about the Charity Raffle, so stay tuned!

Current Mood: excited

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Thank you so much to everyone who submitted programming for our in-person CONfab 2023! Voting is over, and while the schedule won't be released until next month, here's a sneak peek of what we have coming up for this year's con. Below the cut you will find a list of everything that was voted on by attendees to be included in the schedule this year. Please note that this is subject to change, but this is the list of what you most wanted to see.

( Your 2023 Programming! )

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Hello, CONfab 2023 attendees! We're looking to gauge interest on a potential Thursday Outing for October 19th. However, as it requires a specific amount of people in order to make it feasible, we'd like to see how many people are willing to commit to attending the outing before making any firm decisions.

We're proposing a visit to The Catcade, a cat café, rescue, and arcade. Due to limited space, reservations are highly recommended. Up to six people can attend individually for $17 a person, with each person needing to make their own reservation. The Catcade offers hour-long blocks and is open from noon to 8 p.m. on Thursdays. Reservations include free arcade games and one soft drink. We would likely have a noon reservation.

For more than six people (up to 15 total), a group reservation is required. This costs $250 for one hour. In order for this to be cost effective, we would need a minimum of 12 people (so between 12 to 15 total). This $250 reservation is non-refundable.

Other costs for this outing would be about $5 for transportation. We will take the free hotel shuttle to the closest L Blue Line station, then take the L into Chicago and transfer to a bus that runs from the L station to a bus stop about a minute walk from The Catcade. The address of The Catcade is available on its website if you want to look at the area on Google Maps. We would leave the hotel about 10:30 a.m. to arrive on time.

We're asking attendees to fill out this Google Form if you would attend this outing and if you can commit to paying for part of a group reservation if we have enough people. If you're not interested in this particular outing but would be interested in a different outing, please respond as well, so we can gauge overall interest.

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Programming submissions have been extended for one week, until Saturday, July 15th at midnight CDT! Got an idea you weren't quite ready to submit? We need you! CONfab programming is driven by fandom! In other words, it's driven by you. If you have an idea that you'd like to see but don't want to run, you can also submit that and if we can find a moderator for it, it might make the schedule. So, head on over to our programming page and get those ideas in!

confab_mod

Hello everyone, your Programming Team here with some announcements!

Programming submission time is almost here! We will be running submissions starting on Saturday, June 17, 2023 and closing on Saturday, July 8, 2023. We will be accepting submissions for any of our three types of programming: panels, group discussions, and workshops, all of which will be hosted in two tracks on the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of the convention, in 50-minute blocks with a 10-minute break in between. After the submission period ends, programming will be voted on and chosen by you, the attendees.

Here's a handy guide to the types of programming we have to get you started (note: both panels and group discussions can include single fandom topics or more general/multi-fandom topics):

Panels: Presentation by 1-4 panelists, including a moderator to guide the panelists, ensure the panel runs on time, and lead the audience Q&A (this can be the same as the presenter if only one person wants to run the panel). Choose this format if you'd like to have a more structured presentation with specific times for taking audience questions. Previous panels have included fandom history, boy bands, diversity in genre TV, ways to participate in fandom, and vidding.

Group Discussions:Roundtable conversation led by 1-2 facilitators. More loosely formatted than a panel. Choose this format if you don't want to do a formal presentation, and instead want the entire program to be a conversation between the facilitator(s) and attendees. Previous group discussions have included soulmate AUs, OT3s, found families, femslash, and incest.

Workshops: A hands-on experience! If you want to teach attendees a skill or game, this is the format you want! If you think you'll need more than fifty minutes for your workshop, you may request a second time slot, either as one double-sized workshop or two separate sessions. Previous workshops have included live beta reading, art tips and tricks, making fannish plushies, and tabletop RPGs 101.

We look forward to hearing your amazing ideas for programming! Help make CONfab an awesome experience! We will be accepting submissions for all types of programming from everyone, whether you have registered for the con yet or not. This is your chance to get the programming you want by submitting your ideas. What are you excited about? Share it with the group!

Comment on this post with your programming ideas and questions. Find friends and strangers to help you flesh out your ideas, or offer assistance in planning your presentation, and get ready to submit your proposals starting on June 17th! A new post will go up with submission instructions and a link to the submission form on Saturday, June 17th.

The comments on this post will be open throughout the submission period, so feel free to use it as a resource and a sounding board for new ideas that you want a second opinion on before submitting. We can't wait to see what you come up with.

We also have a dedicated channel on our Discord discord.gg/Jzs4sqZ to talk about programming ideas, so come join us there if you'd like!

If you have any questions, please leave a comment on this post, or email the Programming team at programming@confabcon.com. We're happy to be a sounding board!

confab_mod

Hello everyone! Get excited because CONfab is coming back to Chicago this fall! We will be hosting our first in-person convention since 2019 from October 19-22, 2023 at the Springhill Suites Chicago O'Hare. Registration is open now! Head over to our website for more details, including pricing and a link to register.

http://confabcon.com/registration/

Our COVID-19 policy for the convention is available on the website, and we will be updating the hotel page as soon as possible with information on the hotel rate and links to book your room. We are working with the hotel to provide you as much information as possible about their added safety measures since the start of the pandemic, and that information will also be available on our website soon.

Finally, here are some important dates for this year's in-person event:

June 17th–July 8th: Programming Submissions
July 15th–August 5th: Programming Voting
June 1st–September 4th: Vid Show Submissions
September 16th: Schedule Goes Live
October 19th–October 22nd: Con Weekend!

Stay tuned to our social media for updates in the coming weeks; we can't wait to see your faces in Chicago!

confab_mod

Submissions for programming for Virtual CONfabulation 2023 are officially open! They will stay open for two weeks (<strong>February 4th through February 18th</strong>). Submit your ideas for the programming you want to see at the con; we can't wait to hear them! If you need help fleshing out ideas or want to find other fans to be part of your panel or group discussion, or help run your workshop, head on over to <a href="https://confabcon.dreamwidth.org/16229.html">our brainstorming post</a>! You don't need a Dreamwidth account to comment.

Our submission form can be found <a href="http://confabcon.com/programming">here</a>. You can submit a maximum of four topics/activities in total (multi-session or multi-hour workshops on the same topic count as one submission)! You and up to 3 other fans can be on a panel together (this includes a moderator, as panels cap out at 4 panelists), and if you would like CONfab to help you find a moderator, let us know on the form! We'd be happy to help. Please keep in mind that activities must be run by the person submitting it.

If you're wondering if you have to be registered to submit programming, the answer is no. If you haven't had time to purchase your ticket, don't worry, you can still fill out the submission form.

You can find a list of all the programming that has been submitted <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LEIZGvoEF7ern71Qi7wOnPWSP29TLtyGOTAgqfmpbFI/edit?usp=sharing">here</a>. We will try to keep this list updated daily. If your submission has not appeared on this list and you haven't received a confirmation email within 48 hours of submitting, please contact us.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment on this post, or email the Programming team at programming@confabcon.com.

confab_mod

Hello fellow fanpersons, your Programming Team here with some announcements!

Programming submission time is almost here! We will be accepting submissions starting on Saturday, February 4th, 2023 and closing on Saturday, February, 25th, 2023. We will be doing things a little differently for Virtual CONfab this year, since it's one of two cons for 2023. Instead of two days of panels, we will have a full day of panels on Saturday (and the vid show), and then a day of activities on Sunday.

We will be accepting submissions for two tracks of panels on Saturday and two tracks of activities on Sunday. After the submission period ends, all of Saturday's programming will be voted on and chosen by you, the attendees, as usual. Activities will not be voted on unless we receive a very large volume of submissions and need help narrowing them down. You will basically be signing up for time slots to host your activities (read more about this below!).

All Saturday panels will run in 45 minute time slots with 15 minute breaks in between. All panels can have multiple presenters, and the con will provide a volunteer to assist with modding, monitoring the chat, etc. Here's a handy guide to the types of panels we have to get you started:

Multi-fandom Topics — Programming about a topic that applies to multiple fandoms (tropes, vintage fandoms, RPF, diversity in media, book recs/genre discussion, femslash, incest) or a more general fandom universe that has multiple smaller fandoms that fall under its umbrella (Star Wars, K-Dramas, Video Games, BL, the MCU/Marvel TV). Recent topics include aging characters, reading goals, monsterfucking, and finding community in modern fandom.

Single-fandom Topics — Programming about a single fandom (like Stranger Things, Our Flag Means Death, Good Omens, The Last of Us, The Sandman, Critical Role, or Andor), or a niche topic within fandom.
Workshops — Programming where attendees get a chance to learn something new or hone their skills. Past workshop topics have included things like live beta reading, cross-stitch, embroidery, fandom stitch 'n bitch, making fannish plushies, tabletop RPGs 101, and more, but they can be about anything you're interested in! If you submit a proposal for a workshop, you must be willing to run it. Workshop sessions also run for forty-five minutes, but if you feel like your workshop would benefit from more time, please let us know!

For Sunday activities, we will be providing a platform for you to organize and run group activities. Want to host a group watch of your favorite movie? Want to incept people into your TV fandom by showing the first couple episodes of the show? How about party games, like Gartic Phone, Codenames, Jackbox, Among Us, etc.? Or you could run a TTRPG one-shot! Or submit a themed vid show! The options are endless.

Activities will be allotted time slots based on the length of the activity, with breaks factored in. More details will be available when submissions open.

We look forward to hearing your amazing ideas for programming! Help make this year's Virtual CONfab an awesome experience! We will be accepting submissions for all types of panels from everyone, whether you have registered for the con yet or not. This is your chance to get the programming you want by submitting your ideas. What are you excited about? Share it with the group!

Comment on this post with your programming ideas and questions. Find friends and strangers to help you flesh out your ideas, or offer assistance in planning your presentation; just make sure you get your submissions in before February 25th!

The comments on this post will be open throughout the submission period, so feel free to use it as a resource and a sounding board for new ideas that you want a second opinion on before submitting. We can't wait to see what you come up with.

We also have a dedicated channel on our Discord to talk about programming ideas, so come join us there if you'd like!

If you have any questions, please leave a comment on this post, or email the Programming team at programming@confabcon.com. We're happy to be a sounding board!

The submission form and instructions on how to submit will be posted when programming submissions open on February 4th.

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CONfabulation

Entries tagged with 2023

2023 Charity Raffle

Thursday Outing - Catcade

CONfab 2023 Schedule is Live!

2023 Programming List

Potential Thursday Outing - The Catcade

Programming Submissions are are extended!

2023 Brainstorming Post

We're back, baby!

2023 Programming Submissions are Open!

Virtual CONfab 2023 Brainstorming Post

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March 2026

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