Pins

Hello all! We have a few more items to announce.

Pins

First, we’re opening pin submissions for Mysterium 2024. For more information see the Submissions page. Pins are not required to follow the Mysterium theme, but if you’d like to incorporate it, remember this year’s is Serenia.

August Creativity Prompt

We are continuing to showcase two winners. This month the visual art winner was laughingpineapple with “Blazing Mentor”.
Blazing Mentor

The written winner was Salvo Ludus with the story “The Bad Ending”.

September’s prompt has now closed, but there’s a whole month to submit entries for October’s topic of “Noir”!

COVID Vaccines

We wanted to give a quick notice for anyone who hasn’t seen: there is a new COVID vaccine available as of last month for the latest variants of the virus. We’d recommend everyone obtain it when you can!
Additionally, we have received reports of pharmacies no longer updating or providing vaccine cards. If you are looking for an updated proof of vaccine, then it is advisable to specifically request a card if possible, or look into electronic vaccine records if available for your location.

We’ll have more to share in the coming months. In the meantime, happy spooky month!

Annacat and Dan
Mysterium 2024 co-chairs

T-Shirts and Passports

Shorah! We’re getting underway with planning for Mysterium 2024 and have a few updates to provide.

Traveling to Canada

Since Mysterium will be in Canada next year, it’s important to pay attention to any immigration requirements. There are a few links on the Location page to help direct you. Most importantly: if you don’t have a passport, don’t procrastinate, since it can take a few months for the application to be processed.
Also, and this cannot be overstressed: rely on official sources for immigration information. We are simply providing these links for convenience. Do not rely on advice from our Discord server or any other unofficial source.

2024 Theme and T-Shirt Designs

We have chosen a theme for Mysterium! Since this will be the 20th anniversary of Revelation, we’re going with Serenia (think of Montreal’s waterways).
On that note, we’re also opening t-shirt design submissions. Submissions will be accepted until February 25. Details are available on the T-shirt design page but in general we will look favorably upon designs that incorporate this year’s theme and the host city.

July Creativity Prompt

In recognition of the variety of creative submissions we receive, we decided to choose two winners for July’s topic of Sun: one for visual, and one for written.
The written winner is Salvo Ludus with the story “Gehn’s Sun”.

The visual winner is Grayson aka redwoodrroad for this image of Gehn’s lab with the sunlight streaming in through the windows:

There are still a few days left for August’s topic of Blazing.
That’s it for now! We’ll have more soon on additional submissions and 2024 logistics.

Annacat and Dan
Mysterium 2024 co-chairs

2024 Kick-off

Shorah!
It’s summertime and we’re already in full swing for planning 2024 Mysterium! Before we dive into that, however, we wanted to share some of the highlights from the 2023 survey that we sent out as well as some other goodies.

Survey Highlights

We work hard to improve Mysterium every year and appreciate the feedback you have been sending in. Some of our experiments work, and sometimes they don’t and need some tweaks, but we always strive to make the experience better. We had a lot of fantastic suggestions and we will definitely consider them for future years!

Some of the highlights of the results:

  • Swag: Pre-ordering the swag was a huge hit! This was a bit of an experiment this year. We were using a new system for registration that allowed us to print badge numbers, pre-order swag, print labels for the swag bags, and pack them in a super-efficient manner, and an all-around amazing system! We will definitely be using this again.
  • Paypal: We had quite a few people ask for Paypal support. Unfortunately, they are, how shall we put this politely, very unkind to organizations like Mysterium. We need to stick to using Square and Stripe for our credit card processing portals.
  • The noise level in the con room: Yep, we hear you. It was frustrating for us too and we’re looking into options on how to improve that.
  • Accessibility: We try to make Mysterium accessible and there were some great suggestions on some things we can tweak! Thank you so much for sending those in!
  • Covid policy: We strive to make Mysterium a safe environment for everyone and appreciate the feedback on our policy. It’s too early to anticipate what 2024’s policy will involve, but our hope is that we can find some solutions that will be more inclusive.
  • Newsletter: The newsletter got a surprising amount of support! Alright, we’ll take a look at doing that this year! We want you to get the information we send out. 🙂

June’s Prompt Winner

June’s creative prompt was “Scream!” as Mysterium drew closer. The winner was redwoodrroad, who submitted this little beauty:

Youtube videos

All of the videos from Mysterium 2023 are now available on our Youtube channel! Check it out here.

Downloadables

We promised, so here they are! The 3D model files for the maze boxes and cryptexes, puzzle packets, and other downloadable files are now available on the website. More items will be added in the future! Please feel free to check them out here: Downloadables

Planning for 2024

If you missed the announcement, Mysterium will be in Canada next year. As exciting as that is, it also means that you will need to plan ahead for international travel. If you do not have a passport, we recommend that you get an early jump on it, as the turnaround time is taking longer than ideal.

More information may be found on the Department of State website: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/how-apply.html

2024 Kick-off

And without further ado, we’d like to introduce you to your con-chairs for 2024.

Dan Binder (Fused Shadow) –

Dan first attended Mysterium in Orlando in 2017, then after a night at a tiki bar apparently agreed to join staff the following year (details are still a little hazy).

You’ll most likely encounter him working on the Mysterium website and/or posting on the Discord server, the latter especially if someone happens to mention Twilight Princess.

If you’re seeking him out in person, you can find him on a hiking trail or ski slope, or petting the nearest dog.

Hannah Catherine Mills-Woolsey (Annacat) –

Annacat attended her first Mysterium in Philadelphia in 2002, has been part of the Mysterium Committee since 2019, and has become the con’s self-appointed expert on all things Narayan-related. For her day job, she is a supervisor and instructor at a Vocational Education program for people with disabilities.

Her hobbies include participating in community theater, coaching a Special Olympics dance team, hiking, camping, kayaking, and loving every single animal in the world.