Join us for an afternoon filled with panels and discussions with authors, artists, musicians, and fans who are part of our vibrant community that shares your passion for science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Whether you’re a longtime attendee or new to the convention scene, Free Friday is the perfect way to checkout the Boskone 62 experience.

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Special Free Friday Sessions!

Cory Doctorow Reads from Picks and Shovels
Friday, February 14 at 4:00 pm
Cory Doctorow will be presenting his new novel, Picks and Shovels, the next Martin Hench novel, with a lecture, a reading and a Q&A.

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Special Dragonslair Note for Parents!
Dragonslair, Boskone’s children’s program space, will open at 3:30 pm for Free Friday activites for parents who would like to try out this special programming for their kids.

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To stay after the 6:30 pm cutoff time for Free Friday, simply register for a Friday-only membership at Boskone Registration or come back and stay the whole weekend with 1,000 of your new favorite friends!

Don’t miss out on this fun opportunity to come explore the convention! Mark your calendars, invite your friends, and get ready for an unforgettable afternoon!

For more details about the event, guests, and programming, visit the Boskone 62 website. We look forward to seeing you there!

IN-PERSON MEMBERSHIPS!

Full Weekend Rates through January 21, 2025 [REGISTER TODAY!]:

Adult: $60
Young Adult (18-25): $35

Full Weekend Rates January 22, 2025 through February 16, 2025:

Adult: $70
Young Adult (18-25): $40

The following rates will not change:

Teen (13-17): $25
Child (5-12): $25
Active Military: $50
Dealer: $50
Staff: $50

Kid-in-Tow (must to be with paid parent or guardian at all times): $0
Adult Aide (must be with other member at all times): $0
Card-to-Culture*: $0

One Day Rates Now through February 16, 2025 [REGISTER TODAY]:

Unable to join us in-person? Join us online for Online Only program for events taking place in our main ballroom, in Harbor 1: $12.62

Get Ready for Boskone 62: A Sneak Peek at What’s Coming!

The countdown to Boskone 62 is officially on, and the program is shaping up to be a fun experience for science fiction, fantasy, horror, and fandom lovers! While we’re still fine-tuning the schedule with our incredible lineup of guests and program participants, we couldn’t wait to share a few exciting highlights with you

We expect to unveil a mostly complete schedule in about a month, so mark your calendars and keep an eye on our updates. Remember, the program is still evolving, and some details might shift as we finalize availability.

Boskone 62 Program Highlights:

Friday, February 14, 2025

• 1:00 pm – Registration opens in the Harbor Foyer
• 2:30 pm – Friday Program begins
• 4:00 pm – Dealers Room Opens
• 4:00 pm – We expect to have a talk by … let’s just say an anonymous but well-respected author who isn’t yet announced
• 6:00 pm – Art Show Opens
• 7:30 pm – Meet the Guests. We’ll introduce our guests and tell you more about Boskone
• 8:30 pm – Madison Metricula Roberts, Musical Guest, Friday night concert
• Throughout the evening – Programming will continue until late night

Saturday, February 15, 2025

• 10:00 am – Saturday Program begins.
• 7:30 pm – Boskone Annual Awards Ceremony
• Throughout the evening – Programming will continue until late night

Sunday, February 16, 2025

• 10:00 am – Sunday Program begins
• 1:00 pm – Jasper Fforde, Guest of Honor, reading
• 3:30 pm – Program ends, convention closes

Stay tuned for more special programing updates including schedules for Boskone 62’s guests:

• Jasper Fforde, Guest of Honor
• Theresa Mather, Official Artist
• Kelley Armstrong, Special Guest
• Madison Metricula Roberts, Musical Guest
• Heather Preston, Hal Clement Science Speaker

Stay tuned for more—this year’s Boskone promises engaging panels, thought-provoking discussions, and some truly stellar surprises.

Video Credit: Produced and hosted on YouTube by @ErinUnderwood

Be sure to check back soon for more program updates and the full reveal—and don’t forget to buy your Boskone 62 membership now and to reserve your hotel room at theWestin Boston Seaport District hotel so you don’t miss out!

We have sessions for in-person members as well as online members. So, find the date and time that works for you, and we’ll see you here!

 IN-PERSON SESSIONS

Fri 5:30 PM
Galleria – MeetUp 2
Welcome to Boskone: Touring Boskone
New to Boskone? Or returning after a long absence? Join us for a tour of the Galleria and the programming floors so you can learn what Boskone has to offer, learn some of the convention lingo, and meet other people. We’ll meet down in the Galleria, at Meetup Table 2, to the left of the Art Show and up the short flight of stairs (take the nearby ramp if needed).

Sat 10:00 AM
Galleria – MeetUp 2
Welcome to Boskone: Touring Boskone
New to Boskone? Or returning after a long absence? Join us for a tour of the Galleria and the programming floors so you can learn what Boskone has to offer, learn some of the convention lingo, and meet other people.  We’ll meet down in the Galleria, at Meetup Table 2, to the left of the Art Show and up the short flight of stairs (take the nearby ramp if needed).

VIRTUAL SESSION

Fri 2:30 PM
Virtual 1
VIRTUAL: Welcome to Boskone
Virtual attendees! New to Boskone? Or returning after a long absence? Join us for a short discussion about what Boskone has to offer, learn some of the convention lingo, and meet new people. While we can’t stroll through the physical convention space, we’ll take some time talking about the schedule and how to connect with friends and fans in the virtual environment.

Boskone 60’s Program Schedule

We have two versions of the Boskone 60 program schedule available. Instructions for accessing the virtual con, which includes zoom links, discord, and virtual kaffeeklatsch signups, will be published soon and emailed to all members.

View the list of program participants to see who is coming to Boskone 60.

Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with Boskone’s Policies page to ensure that you are familiar with convention expectations, such as the Covid Vaccination & Mask Policy.

Note that we are working with NASA to finalize Science Guest Jeanette Epps’ schedule at Boskone. We hope to have it posted before the end of January.

Interactive Schedule (click to view)

• Add sessions to your con schedule: Click on the check box next to a session title. The box will turn blue.
• View your con schedule: Click the menu button at the top that says “My Con.”

Register to Attend!

Buy your Boskone 60 membership today and don’t miss a moment of fun at this year’s convention.

Kaffeeklatsches

All kaffeeklatsches require sign up in advance. You must be present to sign up and you may only sign up for yourself. In person signups will be at the program ops desk in the Harbor foyer.

Sign-up at Program Ops (Upper Level)

• Friday Sessions – no kaffeeklatsches are scheduled on Friday
• Saturday Sessions – signups start Friday 3:00 pm
• Sunday Sessions – signups start Saturday 12:00 noon

If you have any questions about programming, please contact our Program Committee at program@boskone.org.

We look forward to seeing you at Boskone for another great convention!

Please help us in welcoming a fantastic group of program participants to Boskone 60 this year. Buy your membership today and let us know that you are coming.

View the full list here.

We also wanted to share that we received over 230 requests from potential program participants for 150 slots. We wish that we could have included everyone.

We have stretched things as much as possible and increased that number to fit as many people as possible. As a result we currently have over 185 people on the Boskone 60 program, and we will likely be adding a few final people.

We can’t wait to see you at Boskone 60 along with this wonderful group of program participants. Be sure to purchase your membership soon!

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Note: Letters have not yet gone out to the people who asked to be on program and who haven’t yet been accepted or declined.  We anticipate that all queries will be answered within the week.

While getting used to and learning how to use a new programming system has been (and continues to be) a bit of a challenge, it has forced us to change our normal program process in a way that has also created an opportunity for new people to express interest in being a part of the program. As a result, we have received over 230 requests for approximately 150 spaces. However, we are going to try to increase the number of spaces available.

Due to the number of surveys received by our published deadline of November 15, we are unable to accept new requests from potential program participants since that wouldn’t be fair to those who have submitted their surveys by the deadline. There may be an exception or two if a particular skill or experience is needed for an under-populated session, but programming requests are officially closed. Thank you to everyone who expressed interest in being a part of the Boskone 60 program.

Now, it’s time for the bulk of the programming work to be done as we sort through 230+ surveys, juggle hundreds of sessions within the schedule, and try to fill random holes in the program. For those of you who are interested in the next steps, here’s a quick list of some of the high level deadlines that are coming up for the program team.

Timeline Update:

• The survey cutoff date, as noted in the published timeline, was November 15. Survey requests are now closed.
• Potential program participants are now in the process of volunteering for sessions. The deadline for sharing their interests with us is November 30.
• On December 1, we will review the responses received and begin figuring out the schedule.
• Draft schedules will be sent between December 15-30.
• Final schedule will be send in early January for final review before publication.
• Participant invitations and regrets will be sent on a rolling basis in December. We had hoped to send invites and regrets earlier in the process, but it was too difficult to make such decisions before giving people a chance to volunteer for sessions and to share their interests with us.
• We plan to have the Boskone 60 program published by mid January.

If you have any questions about the program or the process for pulling together the program this year, please reach out to us at program@boskone.org.

Also, if you would like to buy a membership for you, a family member, or a friend, here’s the link to the Registration Page. We would love to see you at Boskone 60, February 17-19, 2023!

I am Erin Underwood, and many of you may be familiar with me as I have worked on programming for Boskone for nearly 15 years. So, when I tell you that we are doing things differently this year, I really mean that we are doing things differently, but we are also making our changes with the same community minded sensibility that we have always used when building our program. I recognize that with change comes uncertainty, and since we are a community, or really a SF/F/H family, it is important to communicate the changes as clearly and transparently as possible. That is why I am writing this letter and posting it publicly for all to see.

Should there be anything in this post that doesn’t come out quite right or any issues that come up during the next few months, I want you to know that I take full responsibility. I’m in charge this year, and I am sure we will make some errors along the way since we don’t know what we don’t know. However, I promise that we will do our best to fix issues and answer questions as soon as they come up. This letter is a first step in that process.

Thank you for listening and thank you for your understanding. So, here’s what we’re thinking:

What’s the Change?

We are unable to continue using Grenadine (our previous program database) and have switched to using Zambia. We are aware that Planorama is also available now, but it wasn’t ready when we began our work.

What Does this Change Mean for Boskone?

Changing program systems means that we no longer have access to all of our past data, but we were able to retain some of it. Changing program systems also means that our work processes do not match with the new system we are using. While Zambia could adapt in some ways, it simply can’t do everything Grenadine did and in the same way that Grenadine did it. So, we have made some updates to Zambia that will allow us to retain some of our work processes, but we are also having to change some of our processes to adapt to Zambia.

So, here’s what’s changing with our work processes:

Survey Email vs Program Invitation

Receiving an email with a link to fill in the Boskone 60 Program Survey is not an invitation to be on the program. The survey email will be sent first, and it will be sent to all potential program participants. This includes people Boskone would like to have on the program as well as to people who have asked to be considered for programming, but again, the survey email does not constitute an invitation to be on program. Potential program participants who receive the survey email can then 1) let us know if you are interested in being considered for programming and 2) share your program interests and experience with us.

This is a compromise that feels kind of uncomfortable to us, but we need to give it a try. We used to send out invitations to people we knew we wanted and survey emails to people who asked to be on the program, but who we weren’t sure would fit into the program. For a variety of reasons, we need to send the survey to everyone now and send invitations later

When Will Official Invitations be Sent?

Official invitations will be sent on a rolling basis over the next 2+ months, after we have had a chance to begin going through surveys to see who would be a good fit and how they may fit into the program. This part isn’t really that different from our past process. The only thing that is different is that surveys get sent first and then invitations get sent later.

What About People Who Don’t Get Invited?

There are always people who don’t fit into the program, but that’s a capacity problem. We only have so many rooms and so many hours in the day, and that puts a finite cap on the number of program participants who we can invite to be on the program. The decline letters will go out, as usual, toward the tail end of the program process.

Who is Receiving a Survey?

We were able to retain contact information from most of last year’s program participants and we have a Program Interest Form that we have been sharing publicly to collect contact information from people who want to be considered for programming. I am certain that some people who used to receive an invitation to participate in Boskone’s program will not receive a survey email. If you don’t receive an email it is not because we decided to remove you from programming. It is simply that we don’t have our old list and we don’t have your name in our new system. Please do not be upset that you didn’t receive a survey. Instead, please go to our  Program Interest Form and share your contact information with us.

The cut off date for submitting your survey is November 15, 2022. So, please request your survey in time to submit it by November 15. If you wait until November 15 to ask for a survey, I can’t promise that we will be able to send you a survey, but we will try.

Who Will be Invited to be on Programming?

As usual, the answer is: As many people as possible. In a normal year, we would have a total of 225-250 people who have accepted our program invitation or asked to be considered for programming. This year, we are already close to hitting that number and surveys haven’t yet been sent at the time that I am writing this post. We have room for about 150-175 program participants and we will strive to accept as many people as possible.

Maybe we can accept more people if we reduce the number of items that each person has this year, but I don’t know that we have the resources to absorb a significant increase in program participants. That is something we will keep an eye on as we work this year.

Boskone has a long-long history of retaining past program participants year after year while also bringing in 50+/- new participants each year. We do this by being open about the fact that we ask some of our regulars to sit out some years, knowing that they will be invited back in the next year or two.

I want to be clear that people who don’t receive a program invitation are considered members of our community no matter what. We need and want you in our community, and we look forward to seeing you at Boskone this year and in the years to come whether you are on the program, watching from the audience, or helping with a volunteer role.

If you aren’t on the program this year, please consider volunteering to help out in other at-con volunteer roles. We always need more help! It’s a great way to meet new people and to feel intrinsically part of the convention and the community. In addition, you are also welcome to stop by Program Ops to see if any cancellations have come up. Sometimes we are able to accommodate last minute changes, and this is one way that we work to include as many people as possible in the program … even during the convention.

What to Put in Your Survey?

We have a number of new people on staff and (again) we do not have access to your past information. Please be sure to add your public bio to the profile page, and on the survey page, please add your professional experience, hobbies, areas of interest, etc so that we have everything we need to see how to fit you into the program.

Please remember that your professional experience, hobbies, and personal interest are what sets people apart. We get a lot of people who look the same on paper. For example I have seens hundreds of surveys in the past that say something along the lines of: SF author with 2-5 books published, stories printed in XYZ Magazine, lives in X city, and 3 cats.

While you need a bio that shares all of the basic required info for an author bio, you are so much more than just an author/artist/musician/scientist/publisher. So, be sure to mention in the other areas of the survey that you are also a firefighter, a trauma nurse, biologist, a party planner, a robotics enthusiast, an ex-green beret, a survivalist, a pastry baker, a mechanic, etc. You never know what ideas are being considered, and we may need an aviation expert on the same panel as a cartoonist and a medical doctor.

You Can Now Volunteer for Specific Program Sessions

With the switch to Zambia, we now have the ability to share a bunch of our own program ideas with you in advance, enabling you to volunteer sessions that interest you. We currently have nearly 100 items in the program system, and that number is going to continue to grow until November 15. So, potential program participants can volunteer for sessions the same day they fill in their survey, and they can return to Zambia anytime until November 15 to volunteer for new items that we have added.

In addition, we are asking our program participants to share their own session ideas via their survey. Therefore, as new surveys are received, we will also be adding new sessions to Zambia.

Adding You to Sessions

As usual, the Program Team may also add you to sessions that we think would be a great fit for you, based upon your survey data.

An Aside: Things Not to do When Filling Out Your Survey

Over the years, I’ve seen some strange things come through in surveys for Boskone as well as other conventions. While I try not to tell people how to fill out their survey, I think this might be a special moment in which I will offer a little advice.

• Please don’t just fill in your availability and the types of formats you want to do. If we don’t see your bio and other information about who you are as a person so that we can match you up with program sessions, it’s not likely we will be able to fit you into the program.
• Please don’t sign up for every session just because you can. Scorched earth session volunteering might make it “seem” like you have a better shot of getting on a program item, but it really sends the signal that you will say anything to be on programming, even if it’s not an area of expertise or interest for you. I am mentioning this because I have seen it happen many times in the past with other convention surveys. If you volunteer for a session, it should be a session you really like or a session that you can contribute to in substantial ways.
• Don’t be mean. Don’t be a smartass. It’s okay to be funny. We like funny, but mean and unkind comments shrouded in “funny” are not useful. We use your answers to get to know you, and if you come off as a smart ass who will talk over other people or diminish other people, I am going to have a hard time seeing how you can best fit into a program session. If you are willing to say something mean in a survey, you are likely willing to act that way during a program session. We are a community, a SF/F/H family of friends and colleagues. While Boskone has a really wide tent, we want everyone to be respectful to our family. Here is a link to Boskone’s policies, if you are curious. But really, it boils down to treating people how you want to be treated, even in a survey.

Online vs In-person Participation

Yes! We will have online, in-person, and hybrid sessions. So, whether you are in Tokyo or Boston, there is non reason not to ask to be considered for programming…and no reason not to buy a membership and join us in whatever venue works best for you.

Timelines and Deadlines for Boskone 60’s Program Process

• Oct 3-Nov 15: Surveys sent to potential program participants.
  • Note: We’re late! The first batch of survey emails will be going out asap this week.
• Oct 3-Nov 15: Potential participants fill in surveys, suggest program ideas, and volunteer for sessions.
• Oct 15-Dec 15: Official Program Participant invitations sent, confirming program participation, on a rolling basis.
• Nov 15: Survey Due Date.
• Dec 15: Draft schedules sent to confirmed program participants.
• Dec 15-Jan 6: Confirmed participants approve schedules and have a chance to request additional sessions, if openings are available.
• Jan 8: Final program schedules sent to confirmed participants.
• Jan 13: Publication of Boskone 60 Program Schedule

Thank you!

Thank you for reading to the end. This is a long blog post, and I am sure that I still managed to miss some important items. I also worry that I have made some faux pas in my post that will upset someone. Still, I need to post this now with the information that I have available for you today. I will make updates as needed and I will answer questions as they come up. I hope that you have found some useful information here and that you have a better sense of what we are doing, why surveys are going out later than usual, and what you can expect over the next few months.

If you have any questions, please contact us at Program@boskone.org.

P.S. As feedback comes in about this post, I will update it to answer questions, address open issues, or adjust my choice of words to help better convey the spirit of the Boskone community and the intent of the program team as a whole.