Arisia 2026 Progress Report #1

November 6^th, 2025

Remember, remember, the 6^th of November,
And Arisia’s first Progress Report.
We know that it’s late but it’s all on the plate.
We’ll try to keep it short!

Thank you all for your patience as we’ve spun up our convention planning much later than usual. We are full steam ahead now and everything is coming together for a fun con!

In this progress report, we’ll focus on the basics – Guest of Honor, Registration, Hotel, Volunteering, the Convention Chair Team, and our respiratory illness policies. Next time, we’ll share highlights from various divisions and a few exciting new things coming this year!

Arisia 2026 at a Glance

Dates: January 16 - 19, 2026
Hotel: Hyatt Regency Boston/Cambridge, affectionately known as The Ziggurat
Guest of Honor: John Wiswell, Nebula- and Locus-award winning author of Someone You Can Build a Nest In (2024) and Wearing the Lion (2025)
Convention Chair: Joel Herda

Guest of Honor

John Wiswell is a disabled writer who lives where New York keeps its trees. His works have won two Nebula Awards and two Locus Awards, as well as being a finalist for the Hugo, British Fantasy, and World Fantasy Awards. His works have been translated into fifteen languages. He adores the boundaries between Fantasy, humor, and horror, and dreams of one day hugging a kaiju. He has published dozens of short stories as well as two novels: Someone You can Build a Nest In (2024) and Wearing the Lion (2025). His third novel The Dragon Has Some Complaints, will be released in Summer 2026.

Convention Registration is Open!

If you haven’t already, visit reg.arisia.org/ to purchase your weekend memberships. As always, single-day memberships will be available at the convention only.

Membership Rates

Adults
- $65 - 10/1 through 12/31
- $75 - After 12/31 and at-door
Babysitting - $75 for professional childcare for ages 18 months to 5 years
"Kid-in-Tow" (KIT) – Free for ages up to 8 years; child must accompany an adult with a membership at all times **
Students - $35 for students age 9-25 with a valid student ID for 2026
Card To Culture – Free memberships for EBT, WIC, and ConnectorCare cardholders and their families. Must show card at badge pick up.

** Yes, we will have Fast Track programming for ages 6 – 12, but we’re still working on what it will include. Until then, please register kids up to age 8 as KIT.

Hotel Information

In 2026 we return to the Hyatt Regency Boston/Cambridge.

We have not yet opened reservations to the public because the hotel is struggling with getting reservations to work correctly. Only one issue remains to be solved, and we will broadcast the link as soon as everything is set.

A two-night stay is required for anyone reserving a room on Saturday night: Friday/Saturday or Saturday/Sunday.

If you want a one-night stay on Friday or Sunday night, please make a reservation for two nights and then submit a Special Request form with more information. This is required due to the limitations in the hotel reservation system, and we apologize for any inconvenience.

Hotel Room Rates

Standard Queen/King: $174/night
Larger Queen/King: $184/night
All Doubles: $194/night
Suites: $365/night - please make a King-room reservation and then request a suite through the Special Request Form
Applicable state and local taxes for all room types, currently 15.95%

Fast Track is Back!

Many thanks to volunteer Ben Kallos, who has stepped forward to coordinate Fast Track programming this year. We’re still finalizing details, but Fast Track should include morning programming (8a – 9a) and then a dedicated space for other activities. Look for more information in our next Progress Report.

Call for Volunteers!

Would you like to volunteer for Arisia 2026?

Right now, there are a few leadership roles still open for volunteers. If you have skills as a Theater Technical Director (for performance events), AV Technical Coordinator, or that might make you a great Convention Treasurer, please let us know!

We also have a number of roles that will earn volunteer hours before the con. This means that you can help us out, get rewards for your volunteer hours, and spend the entire con just having fun!

Finally, if you’d like to volunteer only during the convention, letting us know early is great! It helps our staff to plan ahead, and we can make sure we have your size of volunteer t-shirt.

Choose your volunteer adventure by visiting https://www.arisia.org/Volunteer!

Meet our Convention Chair Team!

Speaking of volunteers, let’s introduce this year’s convention leadership team:

Con Chair, Hotel Division Head, and Arisia Elder Statesman: Joel Herda (he/him)

Joel has been helping run Arisia for most of its 35-year history, including as Convention Chair in 2007 for Arisia’s first year at the Cambridge Hyatt. Over the years, his volunteering for Arisia and other conventions has included working in operations, events, and as a hotel liaison. In “real life”, Joel works as a systems administrator, and is the husband to a very understanding spouse and dad to a high-energy 8-year-old.

Assistant Con Chair, Programming Division Head, and Font of Knowledge: Tanya Washburn (she/her)

Tanya – also known as Selkiechick - loves hats, both actual and metaphorical. This year, she has added Assistant Con Chair to her stack of hats, on top of programming and access. If she ever stops volunteering for conventions, she may sail off into the sunset.

Assistant Con Chair, Dealers/Creators/Fan Tables Liaison, and Spark of Whimsy: Jenn Koerber (she/her)

Jenn Koerber has been many things to Arisia over the decades: attendee, security babe, dealer, artist, program participant, Press Liaison, assistant to the Con Chair, volunteer, and LobbyCon attraction. In the outside world, she’s a full-time artist and the Odd-Monster to an amazing 8-year-old, living life to the fullest every day.

COVID Policy for Arisia 2026

As in recent years, Arisia 2026 will require masks in all convention spaces unless they are otherwise marked as mask-optional. The hotel does not have a mask mandate, which means there are likely to be unmasked individuals in public areas of the hotel.

Masks in Arisia spaces must be a minimum of a medical mask with a filter. We encourage use of higher filtration masks such as N/KN 95 or KF94.

If there are any changes to this policy, we’ll update the policy web page and announce them in an upcoming Progress Report.

Next Progress Report

We intend to send out the second Progress report at the end of November or beginning of December. We hope to have more information about Fast Track, updates on Dealers and Creators, preliminary registration numbers, and other reports from Divisions and Departments.

Thanks again for sticking with us, and we’re looking forward to seeing you in January!

January 16 - 19, 2026 at the Hyatt Regency Boston/Cambridge

Arisia 2026 Progress Report #1

Featured

Safety

Volunteer