If you are new to MuseCon and would like a bit more information on anything from "What is a Muse?" to our general programming operations, we hope you'll find the following helpful.
Most conventions have "panelists" and "participants" who help out, but the atmosphere at MuseCon tends to invite more involvement. Due to the inspiring nature of our people, you'll most often hear the term "Muse" instead. Like the originals from Greek mythology, our Muses provide knowledge, help, lessons, and inspiration to many.
We're most interested in courses and discussions which promote, encourage, and enhance creativity in all forms. Many sessions include "make & take" projects and hands-on learning, but these are not required elements. If you have an idea that you think might fit our goals and mission, please contact us at
programming@musecon.org and we'll be happy to discuss it with you!
MuseCon is a three-day convention with programming running from 1:30 pm Friday until 3:00 pm Sunday. Sessions start every 90 minutes; this allows for 75 minutes of room time and a 15-minute "passing period" for cleanup/prep, getting to the next session, and so on. Some people treat this as 60 minutes of course time + 15 minutes of Q&A, while others mix the two components throughout their session. We have scheduled dinner breaks on Friday and Saturday evening, as well as a lunch break mid-day Saturday. Morning sessions begin at 9:00 am, and the last "prime time" block starts at 9:00 pm. You can volunteer for as many or few sessions as you feel comfortable with, though our programming staff may enforce caps to encourage diversity (and help you leave some time to be inspired yourself!).
If you are offering something that involves supplies and materials, our membership system has the ability (and flexibility) to help out. In addition to simple registration (allowing you to limit attendees and/or know how many kits are needed), we can accommodate options if you want to offer varied colors/styles, levels of kits, and so on. If you'd like to provide the supplies for free, you are welcome to do so; the system can also assist if there will be a charge. Payments are collected by MuseCon as people register. The funds are then consolidated and disbursed to our Muses (generally distributed at-con).
Note: Any session fees are determined by you, the Muse, not set by the convention. MuseCon does not enhance or add to your kit-costs; there is no "service charge" involved.
We do ask that if your session requires a fee, you carefully consider the rate set to ensure it will provide obvious value to our attendees (i.e.: Physical items, private lessons, etc.; simple speaking fees are not part of our mission). Additionally, you can include a list of supplies in your program description and request that attendees bring their own, though we do ask that you have some spares on hand if possible. There are always people who don't know about your very interesting thing until they are at the convention, and so can't gather the necessary pieces.
Periodically in the month before the convention, our programming team will send out head counts so you can prepare properly. Session registration can be closed at a specific time pre-con, or left open until the course fills/begins, whichever meets your needs best. Printouts listing attendees and options will be supplied at Registration when you pick up your badge, though supplements may be needed if your session is still open after that time.
Our registration system can also be used to simply cap the number of participants for an otherwise-free course. As with fee-based sessions, the counts will be sent out pre-con, registration can be closed as needed, and listings will be available at the beginning of the convention. If you have other needs or concerns, just let us know--we'll be happy to discuss the available options with you.
While MuseCon strives to be a family-friendly convention, we do realize that not every activity will be safe or suitable for every person. If you feel that age recommendations would be appropriate, please don't hesitate to include them.
A final note (for the moment), regarding badges and convention registration: Because MuseCon is still a new-ish, fairly small convention hosted by an entirely volunteer-run organization, we are unable to offer free attendance to our Muses at this time. However, those attending the convention will receive a small discount on their individual registrations. We very much appreciate the willingness of so many amazing people to share their talents and time and become a part of our project!
