Hi everone!
We’re very pleased to announce the dates for Can*Con 2018! We’ll be back at the Sheraton in downtown Ottawa on October 12-14. Mark your calendars!
We’re very happy with last year! We grew 40%, reaching 350 attendees (!), more than 10% of whom were students. We’re staying downtown partly to not only entice tourists to our beautiful city, but also to remain accessible to our local community. Most buses lead downtown, after all!
We did notice last year that some panels were rather full and that some of our special guests (we love you, Tanya!), were sitting on the floor. In an effort to curb that particular trend, we’ve rented more space in the Sheraton, so we have a spiffy room upstairs. This may mean an extra track of programming, or a torn down wall! (Programming and Corporate are in tough negotiations on that end.)
The new room is on the top floor, and we’ve updated our accessibility policy to reflect the new space. We ask that everyone familiarize themselves with this policy and our conduct policy. These policies are part of what help us maintain a safe, inclusive and welcoming environment at our conference.
We’ve also secured a private space for agent and publisher pitches and the blue pencil café, instead of sticking people in the back of the vendors’ room behind (authentic!) vintage Chinese dividers. This also means that we have a few more space in the vendors room, so hopefully this year we’ll be able to accommodate everyone who wants to buy a table!
The con suite will be bigger, too, with both attached bedrooms opened up for milling and chatting. We do need volunteers there and at other on-site locations, so please let us know if you’d be willing to lend a hand at the convention. Even a couple of hours can really help us out!
You’ll note that registration prices went up a bit this year, for the first time in several years. We didn’t increase student pricing, but we did increase our adult weekend prices, since costs in downtown Ottawa have been on the rise.
This year, we’re also implementing a “pay it forward” model for those who are interested in helping out others. We strongly believe in hosting a very accessible con, which means welcoming people from all backgrounds and financial situations. We’ve never wanted money to stop any new or aspiring writer from joining us, so we’ve traditionally comped attendees who needed that consideration. If you’d like to help us support writers or readers who need that extra help, you can now donate when you buy your own pass. That money will only be used to support those who need it.
Registration is already open, so go today to take advantage of our early bird rates! The Sheraton hotel block is also open, so you can also book your hotel room. For those of you eager to get on programming, we’ll open up panelist applications soon.
We’ll provide more updates soon! Keep an eye out on this space and our social media, and help us spread the word like fine unchunky jelly.
See you in October!
Marie Bilodeau, Co-Chair, Corporate Derek Künsken, Co-Chair, Programming