Our Story
The premise
That was the in-universe story, and every MISTI-Con had one. The theme was the backdrop for the whole weekend: the decorations, the programming, the program booklet, and the storyline our emcees carried from the opening feast to the closing ceremonies. You were never required to play along (plenty of people came for the panels and the wrock and never once pretended to be a Ministry trainee), but you were always invited to.
How it started
MISTI-Con was hatched in a kitchen in 2012. Aeternitas had just announced that it would not continue, and a handful of us from The Group That Shall Not Be Named, the New York City Harry Potter meetup, decided that if the convention we wanted didn’t exist, we would make it ourselves. We wanted something smaller and more immersive than the big cons, and we found the perfect place for it: the Margate Resort on Lake Winnipesaukee in Laconia, New Hampshire. It was small enough to take over completely, and it came with a bartender who was happy to answer to “the Dark Lord” and put fan-named drinks on the menu. A Kickstarter helped pay for the first con. In May 2013 we took over the entire resort. Every guest in the hotel was an attendee, and no muggles were allowed for the weekend.
“In the end it was a blur of Twizzlers, the smell of pool chlorine, the sound of laughter in the hallways, the look of joy and happiness on the other attendees’ faces, and I wouldn’t trade that for anything.”A staff member, remembering the first MISTI-Con
What MISTI-Con was like
“Immersive” meant we had the run of every conference room and facility, so we could transform the hotel, floor to ceiling, into the wizarding world: full-scale vignettes, Ministry signage, house banners, and props that we asked you (nicely) not to touch. There was a 24-hour common room. There were special drinks at the bar. There was an Owl Post for sending notes and gifts to other attendees. And at the Margate there was the tent by the lake, where we held the ball.
“As this is a wizarding convention, wands are permitted, of course. But we ask that you be careful and abstain from any foolish wand-waving or silly incantations.”Costume weapon policy
Programming ran in three streams. Special events were the big productions: the opening ceremonies and feast, the wizard rock shows, the keynote luncheon, the ball, late-night music and karaoke. Academic and literary programming brought professors, authors, editors and students to present papers and panels on the books, from character analysis to the politics of the wizarding world to what the stories do inside a reader’s head. Fandom programming was basically everything else fans could think of and submit: craft workshops on wands and scrapbooks and bowtruckles, dance classes, improv, fanfiction readings, trivia, meet-ups, and the kind of reflective programming about the fandom itself that can only come from fans who have been immersed in the wizarding world for a good long while. Add it up across five conventions and you get hundreds of hours of programming, nearly all of it proposed and presented by the people attending. There was enough knowledge on offer to satiate even the most eager Ravenclaw.
Some things became traditions. The Merlie Awards, our costume showcase, where anyone could strut the stage in character and walk off with a superlative certificate instead of a trophy (no judging, ever). The Hogwarts Lip Sync Battle. The craft fair and author’s alley. A fanfiction collection on the Archive of Our Own for the 2017, 2019 and 2023 cons, with live readings, one for all ages and one decidedly not. The keynote luncheon, which over the years took up what the books do to their readers, women’s journeys through fandom, and race and representation in the wizarding world and in our own community. And the ball, under whatever name the theme gave it that year: the Ministry Masquerade, the Founders’ Ball, Decadedance.
By fans, for fans
MISTI-Con was intentionally designed as a more intimate fan convention, and a few principles followed from that. We were dedicated first and foremost to our attendees. Fan-created content was the focal point of the whole experience: podcasts, fan videos, fanfiction, fan art, music, costumes, and every other form of fan expression we could make room for. Special guests were few, and some years we had none at all. When we did bring in actors, authors or artists from the wider wizarding world, they came to add to the programming, not to replace it. Programming was the heart of the con. We took submissions from anyone who wanted to present and vetted every proposal, with a standing commitment to serious scholarship on the books. And we kept registration small on purpose. A smaller con meant that each fan felt like an integral part of it, and that artists and their fans had real access to each other.
Since most of the programming came from the attendees, the call for proposals mattered. Ours specifically encouraged sessions on race and ethnicity, ability and disability, LGBTQIA+ identity, intersectionality, class, and representation, alongside the academic papers, the craft workshops and the meet-ups.
The same care went into how people treated each other. We declared the con a safe space, free from bullying and intolerance, and backed that up with two documents. Our code of conduct leaned in favor of the injured party when facts were scarce. Our community guidelines on consent gave everyone our loving permission to take a moment before saying yes. All of those policies are preserved on this site as written. We worked hard on them. Borrow freely.
And for anyone walking into their first con, our advice never changed: the 5-2-1 rule. In every 24-hour period, get five hours of sleep, eat two substantial meals, and take one shower.
“MISTI-Con is for everyone from the neurotic over-achiever to the complete introvert looking to be in the company of people who feel the same.”Staff Flashback Friday, 2018
The con moved once. After three conventions at the Margate, we took MISTI-Con 2019 to the DoubleTree in Tarrytown, New York, which had enough rooms for everyone to stay on site, better accessibility, and four airports within an hour. We also moved the dates from May to July so the professors and students who had been stuck in finals could finally come. Then the pandemic happened, and MISTI-Con went on hiatus.
The reunion
By the fall of 2022 it had been three years, and after everything, it felt like we could all use some family, fellowship, and the joy of each other’s company. We announced a reunion for our tenth anniversary: smaller and more informal than a full con, one or two tracks of programming instead of eight, capped at 350 guests, back at the Margate where it all began. We required vaccination and masking so that the immunocompromised members of our community could come too.
We also took a position. In response to J.K. Rowling’s statements about transgender people, we said that every fan has to take their own approach to processing the situation, and that everyone works through their feelings at their own pace. With that said, MISTI-Con categorically stood with our trans, intersex and non-binary wizarding folk, and we would not hold activities or programs that personally supported Rowling or her views. From the announcement through the close of the con we ran a fundraising campaign for the Transgender Law Center, asking for ten dollars in honor of ten years, with every dollar going directly to TLC. By the end of the reunion we had raised over $3,800.
Our call for programming asked how we, as a fan community, could heal and grow after the creator of the source material had wounded so many of us, and how we might reimagine and re-examine the wizarding world in ways that reflect all of us. The community answered with a session celebrating queer joy in the fandom, a discussion of fanfiction in the wake of a wounded fandom, a reconsideration of Snape after 2016, and a collage workshop for taking your fandom materials apart and putting them back together again. And with To Absent Friends, where we gathered to celebrate the lives, love and legacies of the people our community lost between the last MISTI-Con and this one.
“We categorically stand with our trans, intersex, and non-binary wizarding folk.”The reunion announcement, September 2022
Mischief managed
The 10-Year Reunion was our fifth MISTI-Con. During the reunion we held a silent auction of ten years’ worth of props and decorations, and the pieces that had turned two hotels into the wizarding world went home with the people who loved them best, right down to the glass blocks with our logo that stood on the stage. What we kept is here: the photographs, the policies we wrote and rewrote over five conventions, and the story of how it all happened. Start in the gallery, wander through the timeline, and read the note from the head organizers on the home page.