I know what I'm doing Saturday night
Collapsing in a little heap and quivering.
Which is to say: here is my Lunacon schedule for this weekend, which will test my limits. (I deliberately offered to do more than usual because I wouldn't be there Friday and I'd been invited. I think this may be one more than I asked but I can't decide what to drop, so . . . )
ETA: updated as of Thursday night; possibly still not final?
There & There & There & Back Again
Westchester Ballroom A2
Sat 10:00 AM
Can it work to split The Hobbit into three parts? Does it matter whether this changes the balance vis a vis the LOTR movies, or should each be judged separately? Is the additional material a dream of fannish completeness or just padding? What does part 1 make us predict for the next 2?
Lawrence Kramer (m), Kate Nepveu, Sue Toker, Louis Epstein, Charlie Spickler
When the Magic Comes Back
Birch
Sat 2:00 PM
From Queen City Jazz to Bordertown to Tinker to The City, Not Long After, magic coming back to our mundane world is one of the few ways we see fantasy set in the future. Why is it so often associated with apocalyspe? Do authors just not want to have to write about science and technology trying to come to grips with magic and vice versa, or is something more fundamental going on?
Carole Ann Moleti (m), Myke Cole, Kate Nepveu, Laura Anne Gilman, Michael A. Ventrella
(My signup comment for this said, "I'm a weak atheist, I hate diminishing-magic worlds, I like Sean Stewart, all of which apparently gives me many thoughts and feelings on this topic." I'd love your input on this one.)
Online Fandom Migration
Birch
Sat 4:00 PM
As the center of fanfiction and other online creative fannish activity moved from individual websites to LiveJournal to AO3 to Tumblr, what changed about fannish culture? What if you don't like the new platform? Who is still hanging out on the old ones and why? And where is it going next?
Kate Nepveu (mod), Arthur D. Hlavaty, Joshua Kronengold, Ben Yalow
Does the Medium Change the Message?
Elijah Budd
Sat 6:00 PM
Do you read ebooks differently than you do print books? Do you remember them differently? How is the evolving technology of reading changing the experience, or isn’t it? Do you prefer to read different genres in different formats and if so, why?
Kate Nepveu (m), Dennis McCunney, Ian Randal Strock, Will Frank, Neil Clarke
(I volunteered to mod this one on the grounds that it seemed very audience-participatory and I would try to get everyone heard, so I shall really have to work hard to keep a few brain cells alive for it.)
Safe Spaces, Standards, 2nd Chances
Westchester Ballroom A2
Sat 7:00 PM
The controversy over sexual harassment at Readercon raises the question, how do we make our cons as safe spaces as we can? What policies should we set & how should we communicate them? What standard of proof can we legally & should we ethically require, & what do we do about cases that don't reach it? What can & should we do about participation from people who have allegedly committed harassment at other cons? Is it ever appropriate to let someone try again? If so, when, & who decides?
Michelle Wexelblat (m), Hugh Casey, Kate Nepveu, Katrina Maeder, JeffWarner
(Oh look! This is now the one at the end of my Saturday. Whee.)
A Memory of WOT
Westchester Ballroom A3
Sun 10:00 AM
With A Memory of Light, the truly epic, epic fantasy series the Wheel of Time has finally come to an end. Was it the right end? Was it worth it? What will be next for WOT fans? And what is it about this work that it kept so many hooked through long delays and even the death of the author? Warning: spoilers.
Douglas Cohen (m), Kate Nepveu, Meredith Schwartz, Will Frank
(Ugh, I am on chapter 2 of my AMoL re-read. But at least TGS & ToM are fresh in my mind!)
EReading Device Petting Zoo
Maple
Sun 1:00 PM
Check out a Nook, Kindle, iPad, Android Tablet, etc. Panelists will bring theirs to let others try and explain the pros and cons of their own experience. Accessiblity for the blind, format lock in, price, eyestrain, battery life, and other practical issues will be addressed.
Kate Nepveu, Carl Fink, Lee Gilliland, Joshua Kronengold, Robert A. Rosenberg (HAL9001)
(I am actually looking forward to this as much as anything, which is quite a lot.)
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