Program Tips, Tricks, and Exclusives

We hope that all of you have been having fun exploring the LAcon V Program and trying to decide what sessions to attend! We would apologize for making so many awesome things to choose from, but to be honest, we aren’t really sorry!

The Program is the heart and soul of a Worldcon… hundreds of program participants, and over a thousand items for you to attend. Here is where you will be entertained, taught, and accompanied by other attendees on this adventure we call LAcon V!

There is so much on offer for you, whether you are attending in person or virtually. Our program includes panels and presentations on a wide range of topics, plus workshops, readings, and the chance to chat with authors, creators, and like-minded fans in discussion circles, meetups and table talks. Today we’re sharing more detailed information to help you as you explore the convention. 

Accessing the Schedule

The LAcon V schedule is available on Program Guide, which you can also access through the Member Portal. Once in the Program Guide, you can view items in chronological order, or search for various content areas or public tags. You can also use the Star icon next to each item to favorite it and add it to your schedule. If you do this on your laptop and then login into the Portal on your smartphone, you will be able to see your schedule there as well.

Printable versions of the schedule are also available. 

It’s important to keep in mind that there will be changes to the schedule up to and during the convention. It’s important to keep an eye on the Program Guide. It will always have the most updated information. 

What Not To Miss

We believe that there is something for everyone at LAcon V. There’s probably multiple somethings, in fact. We have a series of blog posts going up on the website from our amazing Program team. They spent thousands of hours crafting the program for you and have a few gems they cannot resist mentioning. 

What should I pack?

The days are long and busy so make sure you bring what will make you comfortable on the day but to help here are some tips and reminders:

• In large public spaces, the temperature may vary quite a bit; consider a sweater or light jacket if you tend to get cold. The air conditioning in LA is fierce.
• A refillable water bottle is an absolute must.  The ACC has water filler stations on every floor, and the Hilton has ice/water machines on many of the floors. Please stay hydrated!
• Snacks. Snacks are good. Make sure you’ve something delicious to keep your energy up.
• You’re going to want a reusable bag to put everything you buy at the Dealers Room into. Maybe two bags.
• Got something a little bit special or just really fan fun that you want to give away, then our Fan Fun Auction is a perfect way to share the love of fandom. Drop off items for the at Program Ops (Hilton fourth floor La Jolla) 
• If you wish to reward our dedicated volunteers, drop off a donation at our Volunteer Desk; a fan-cravable item for the Volunteer Raffle is always appreciated!
• Everyone has a geeky t-shirt (or ten) that they no longer wear. Bring a gently loved (no stains, rips or tears) t-shirt, drop it off in Pacific Ballroom C at 9am on Saturday morning, then come back at 10:30 to find a new-to-you love! 
• Check out our meetups for other ideas. Bring your fox ears for our Skulk of Foxes, or shiny objects to meet with Corvid Fans. 
• Last, but by no means least, don’t forget to bring your sense of adventure and appetite for fun. 

Tours and Meetups and boardgames oh my!

Your first Worldcon? We got you!

Your first LA Worldcon? We got you!

Returning to Worldcons after time away? We got you!

Want a structured way to meet people and orient to the convention? We’ve got all y’all!

We know conventions can be a lot and Worldcon even more so. So these items are great ways to orient yourself, find your feet – and your people!

Tours

Convention Tours are a guided tour of the convention. They will start in the Hilton lobby (by the main entrance near the bar) and from there you tour the facilities – the Hilton, Arena, and ACC North. You’ll be told about all the fun things happening, and you’ll get to meet some other attendees.  

Docent Tours are guided tours of the art show or specific areas of the art show. They give you a more indepth experience of the art – sometimes even from the artist themselves. 

Meetups

There are specific themed slots in the program where you and like minded fans come together to collectively squee, chat, and generally connect over the things we love, be it a show, book, movie. Some are also designed to focus on things we do / are. So neurodiverse creatives getting to network with others who identify this way, podcasters getting to hangout with other podcasters, fan fund delegates past and present. There is an amazing list of them and if it’s something you like and you want to go there isn’t a limit to the number of people who can. Just go drop by and say hi. There will be a host whose role is to be the point of contact/ friendly face so don’t feel daunted and go find your folk!

Boardgames, Card Games, All games.

What is more fun than random fun?  That’s right… structured fun!!

As well as the boardgame library and the video game room where you can grab a game and either bring or find someone to play with,  and the sign up TTRPGs, we are also running a series of “Learn to Plays”  so if you’ve ever wanted to play a new (old) card game, mahjong in its variations, cribbage and so many others we’ve staff and fans willing to teach you and share their love of the game. You get to learn and meet folk!

Signup Process for Limited Capacity Items

Some items, such as Table Talks, Workshops, and some Games, have limited capacity and will require signups. The process will be the same for in-person and virtual items. 

• Signups will be available from 8 a.m. – 7 p.m. PDT the day before the session. 
• To accommodate travel schedules, signups for Thursday sessions will be available starting Monday, August 24, and close at 7 p.m. PDT on Wednesday. 

To access the Signups page, click here, or click the Signups button on the Member Portal. From Monday, August 24th the signups page will contain links to individual sign up forms for each item. On the form you’ll be asked to provide your name and contact email, and an optional field is available to add any other information such as accessibility requirements.

• Eight spaces are available for each in-person table talk. 
• The capacity for workshops and games varies. 
• If there are more sign-ups for a particular item than there are spaces, successful applicants will be chosen by a random lottery so there is no advantage to signing up early. As long as you fill in the form before sign-ups close, you will have an equal chance of getting a spot. 

If you do not have access to your email, you will be able to sign up and check if you were successful at getting a spot at the Information Desk (apart from the 9am items for which you will be able to check at the Table Talk sign in desk in the Monterey room in the Hilton). 

If you have been waitlisted, you can turn up for the item to find out whether any spaces have become available due to cancellations or no-shows.

You can also sign up to attend any table talk with space available being held during a specific time slot. Just fill out the form labelled Table Talk Open Sign Ups on the portal. You never know who you might get to chat to! This feature is only available for table talks, not workshops and games.

Tips for Autographing 

Check the Program Guide for all the scheduled autographing sessions (use the filter format = Autographing). All autograph sessions are on the Pedestrian Skybridge in the ACC North.

Guidelines to help autographing run smoothly:

• To keep the lines running smoothly, authors will not be selling books at their autograph table. You are encouraged to see our booksellers in the Dealers Room to make purchases. You may also bring items purchased elsewhere, or ask authors to sign other items, such as your souvenir book.
• You are limited to three items per author for each pass you make through the queue. The Autographing staff may lower this number at the author’s request or if the queue is particularly long.
• Authors have a maximum of one hour for their autographing sessions. If there are too many people for the author to sign for within this time, Autographing staff may need to close the queue for that author before the session is over.
• To avoid misspellings and misheard dedications, Post-it notes will be supplied to spell your name in advance and ask for any desired dedications.
• Seating is available if you are unable to stand in line for any length of time. Your place in the queue will be marked, and you can go straight to the front once your place is reached.
• You will not be able to queue early. So don’t turn up hours in advance. It is a thoroughfare and we want to make sure everyone is kept safe. Queuing opens 30min before the next item when the previous signer finishes.

Demonstrations – Arts, Crafts, Combat 

We wanted to put ACC into the ACC. In this case Arts, Crafts, and Combat demonstrations. There will be so many art and maker demonstrations in our Makerspace (264) and Art Demo (263C) rooms in the ACC, as well as some in the Hilton. We gave combat demos from the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) and other creative movement forms including dance classes, full body improv, t’ai chi, and a Muay Thai class.

Costumed Models Wanted

We have three art demos taking place that are looking for live models in interesting costumes. On Friday there is a Figure Drawing Demo (10:30-11:30) and a Professional Artists Painting Session Demo (12pm-1pm). On Saturday there is a Life Drawing Workshop where attendees will learn to draw a costumed figure (3pm-4pm).

For all of these items, the model must be able to maintain a seated or standing pose for the hour. If you are interested in having artists draw or paint you while in your favorite costume, please contact artmakers@lacon.org for more information.

Using Discord

Discord is a chat platform which will be our primary online social platform. It is available through mobile phone and desktop applications, as well as via a browser. It will be accessible to both online and in-person participants. 

Every online and streamed panel will have a forum thread to enable chatting about the item and so our virtual participants can put questions to the in person panellists via the Voice of Virtual. 

It’s a great place to carry on the conversations and catch up on all the recommendations that will be made.

To access Discord, click on the button labelled Chat on the Member Portal and follow the instructions. It’s optional – we know that not everyone is comfortable or interested with this type of interaction. But it can add an extra dimension of interaction during your program sessions, and we hope you’ll give it a try! 

If you plan to use Discord, we strongly encourage you to log in and get familiar with the tool before the convention starts. 

Parties

We know Worldcon is just one long party but for those of you who like your parties in accessible chunks please do check out all the room parties on offer. You can find all the public parties listed in the guide under the area Social. The room number is in the parentheses at the end of the Party name; for example on Friday, 28 August 2026, 9pm, Dublin 2029 bid party (5-124). So that is in the Hilton Floor 5, room 124.

There are also 2 online bid parties so we have you covered there too.

There is more….but it isn’t long until you can discover it for yourself! We cannot wait to see you at the convention and please do share your Worldcon highlights on social media and the Discord.

Until then, Allons-y!!

Your very tired but wired and endlessly inspired LAcon V Program Team