Attending OzCon

Where do I stay during OzCon?

Usually, OzCon International’s venue is a hotel or other resort that will offer discounted hotel rooms to attendees during OzCon dates, and usually on days before and after as well! No driving around during the convention, you can walk from your hotel room to the dining areas and convention areas. Information about our current venue and how to book a room are available on the registration page. There are usually other hotels nearby as well, but we can only guarantee services available at our venue.

Unless it is explicity mentioned on the registration page, booking a hotel room and registering for the convention are two different costs and processes. You cannot book a hotel room and expect to attend the convention without registering for the convention as well.

If you are a local to the area, you are welcome to go home and come back during the convention times or just before. Just be sure to retain your OzCon registration badge.

Can I share a hotel room?

It’s basically an OzCon tradition to share a hotel room, which many attendees do to save on costs as well as to become better acquainted with each other. However, while OzCon encourages the practice of sharing rooms, we do not facilitate matching roommates with each other or working out how you will split the costs. You are welcome to make posts on the OzCon Facebook page and event pages to contact other fans.


What travel options are available for arriving at OzCon?

This varies greatly depending on our venue and on your location. Attendees have driven in from out of state, flown in, taken Greyhound buses or Amtrak trains, in addition to using public transportation, rental cars, shuttles, cab services and getting rides from fellow attendees to complete their trip. Note that OzCon organizers will not be held responsible for your travel issues should you arrive late and miss a panel you wanted to attend.


Is there a dress code?

The short answer is no. The longer answer is that we are an all-ages convention. Adult attendees come to these in addition to teenagers, young adults, and even children usually with their parents or guardians. As such, while we don’t have a specific dress code, we do ask that attendees arrive at the convention in appropriate attire. It is tradition to dress up for the Saturday night banquet, but not a requirement.

What kind of people are welcome at OzCon?

OzCon strives to be as welcoming as the people of the Land of Oz itself, welcoming attendees of any age, gender, sexuality, ethnic background, etc. However, we are an English-speaking convention and it is not currently feasible for us to provide interpreters.


Registration

How do I register?

Online registration is available through the registration page on the website. In addition, there is also a PDF that you may print out and fill in and mail to the registrar with a check or money order. The registrar’s address is listed on the PDF. You may supplement your registration at any time before the convention with any of the options listed. Finally, walk in registrations are welcome, but the options available may be limited.

Are walk in registrations welcome?

Yes, however, it is best to register in advance. It has generally been the custom the past several years to include a tote bag and program book with full weekend registrations. The production numbers on these are closely based on how many advance attendees we have at about a month out. Thus, supplies will be limited and may not be available to walk in attendees without a separate purchase. In addition, the venue may require us to ticket meals separately (if they are available) and based on their needs, they may have a cutoff date for when we need to get a number of how many people have purchased meals to them.


I lost my printed ticket! Can I still get in?

Yes! Brown Paper Tickets will mail a ticket to you, however these are not required to be turned in or shown to attend OzCon. We keep a record of who has registered and what they have registered for, so all you have to do is turn up and tell your name to the registrar. Consider those mailed tickets to be like a receipt.

I am only attending for part of a day. Do I need to register?

Yes. Your registration is your contribution to the programming fund, and depending on the venue, may also include a per-person fee our venue will require for our convention. Regardless of how long you will be staying, we will still owe the same amount to the venue.


I am assisting someone else at OzCon. Do I need to register?

Yes. If you are going to be physically present at OzCon, you must register.


Why is Sunday so short?

Sunday is often designed as a wrap up to the convention, beginning later in the morning to give attendees time to pack up and check out of their hotel rooms, leaving only a couple hours in the morning and running only a few hours in the afternoon so attendees have time to head out to begin their journey home.

In time, we might expand Sunday to a full day, though it doesn’t seem likely to be in the near future. Walk-in registrations are still available on Sunday.


What is a non-attending or supporting membership?

It’s a contribution to the OzCon programming fund. As a thank you, we mail out a program book and tote bag to these contributors.


I registered but won’t be able to make it to OzCon! What do I do?

Go ahead and inform the registrar. It is general policy that as we have to use the funds from sales to run the convention, we can’t promise refunds, but we may switch you to a non-attending membership and credit you for next year’s convention registration. If funds allow, we may give you a refund. Again, please contact the registrar.

OzCon is not in control of hotel bookings, travel arrangements or other such items. You will have to cancel these on your own.


There was an item on the registration page I was interested in, but now it says it’s sold out?

We may have cut off dates for certain items you can add to your registration. This is because we have a deadline to get projected numbers in for what these were for, for example, hardcover program books. We need to get these printed some time before the convention so we will stop sales for deluxe upgrades ahead of the convention so we can give a number of copies needed to the printer. The same may apply to catered meals, based on the venue.


Privacy

Will I be able to talk to a guest of honor at OzCon?

We encourage socializing with all of our attendees, including guests of honor. While they are welcome to come and go as they please aside from when they are scheduled for a program, generally they will be around if you’d like to talk to them. Be respectful, of course.


What is your policy on photography?

It is highly encouraged. However, you may want to alert your subjects that your are about to take a photograph so they can put on their best face. Do this especially if you are using a flash. Be aware that some attendees might prefer not to be tagged on social media and might even request you remove a photo of them that they don’t find flattering. It is highly recommended that you comply with their requests. OzCon cannot enforce this, but it is recommended.

Please be aware that photographs of OzCon events may be used in future promotional materials without notice to the subjects in the photographs.


OzCon programming

Why are there two programs going at once?

As of 2014, OzCon has adopted a multi-track approach to the programming. Multiple options are available to attendees during the morning and afternoon programs. The costume contest, opening and closing ceremonies and evening programs run with no other programs opposite them. This way, attendees can choose programs that best suit their interests.

Are all programs family-friendly?

Generally, yes. However, some panels might not be to all interests. We usually have detailed descriptions of the programs available in the program book and in printed schedules, and if you still aren’t sure, feel free to ask.

I can’t make it to OzCon, can I get a recording of a panel I’m interested in?

OzCon International does not facilitate recordings of panels. If attendees or presenters record a panel, it is assumed they are doing so for their own private purposes. In the past, some episodes of The Royal Podcast of Oz have been recorded at the convention, but for privacy reasons, these are announced ahead of time.

If you are interested in the content of a panel, it’s best to contact the person leading that panel.


I am interested in hosting a panel or being on a panel.

Please contact our chairman and they can connect you with who you’d need to talk to. Note that the earlier you can contact us about this, the better. The closer we get to OzCon, the more set of a schedule we have, and the harder it will be to find a place to put someone in.


Are there competitions?

Depending on what is being run that year, yes. The Quizzes and the Costume Contest are OzCon staples. There may also be the OzCon Treasure Hunt and other competitions. Please refer to the schedules.


What are the rules for the costume contest?

We have three groups for prizes at the costume contest: child costume, adult costume and group costume. There may also be other awards. The main three are voted on by our attendees and will usually be announced during the Saturday evening banquet or at the start of the Saturday evening program.

To register for the costume contest, ensure the costume contest coordinator has your name and the character you’re depicting. It is also helpful, if you are not staying for the entire day, if the registrar has your mailing address so if you won an award and weren’t present for the announcement, we can mail your award to you after the convention.

Aside from that, turn up when the contest begins as listed on the schedule in costume. Usually the contestants will be brought up onstage and be identified, and it’s extra fun if you’re in character. You can even have a short act pre-planned.

We generally do not have a rule on costumes as long as they depict characters with a clear connection to Oz. (Even original Oz characters are welcome.) Attendees have worn homemade costumes, professional custom-made costumes, ready-made film costume replicas, Halloween costumes, and full-on elaborate creature costumes. We do ask that attendees remember that this is an all-ages event and to dress appropriately.


How hard are the quizzes? What are the rules?

We have four levels of the quizzes, trying to be as open to as many attendees as possible:

The Movie Quiz: If you’re not quite so familiar with the Oz books, there’s a quiz about the classic MGM movie The Wizard of Oz.

The Novice Quiz: This quiz focuses on the book being celebrated at the convention that year.

The Standard Quiz: This quiz draws questions from L. Frank Baum’s fourteen novels about Oz.

The Master’s Quiz: This quiz draws questions from the entire series of forty Oz books by L. Frank Baum, Ruth Plumly Thompson, John R. Neill, Jack Snow, Rachel Cosgrove and Eloise Jarvis McGraw and Lauren McGraw.

You may select one quiz to take. If you have won the Novice quiz in the past, you must take the standard quiz. If you have won the Standard Quiz three times, you must move on to the Master’s Quiz in the future. You must quietly write your answers as other contestants fill out their quiz sheets. Near the end of the quiz session, answers will be revealed, scores counted and winners selected. Winners of the past year’s quiz write the new quizzes and are encouraged to provide prizes. If this is not possible, winners should contact “Quizzard” Eric Gjovaag.


Program book

What types of submissions are eligible for the program book?

At the time of this writing, the creation of the program book is handled by a separate editor who is not part of OzCon staff, although they do work together. What will ultimately end up in the book is up to the editor.

The program book accepts original content—content that the person submitting it has created—in the forms of fiction and nonfiction as well as artwork. This may include poetry, short stories and essays. You may even reprint work that has already been published, given that you have full rights to do so. In order to keep the program book a special item, it is requested that you not reprint work that appears in the program book for two years.

Reprints of relevant material may appear in the program book at the editor’s discretion.

How do I submit to the program book?

You will need to e-mail it to the editor during the submission window, which will be announced on OzCon social media. Be sure to have your text ready in a digital file such as a Word document. Do not submit PDF files for your text.

Images need to be scanned at a resolution of 600dpi.

The deadline for program book submissions is usually May 1.