Cons and Programming

[sartorias]

The call for programming, and promise of a scholarship for programmers for Sirens 2011 makes me think about the whole programming thing. Well, 'think' is probably too strong a word for two hours of sleep

Comments

[swan_tower]

It's hard for me to come up with rules of thumb for how to make a good panel topic or description thereof, but there's at least one I can say for sure: if you're posing a question, it should never be a yes/no matter. "What are some of the challenges of X?" is pretty much always going to be a better and more discussion-provoking question than "Can we do X?"

I also think that specifics are better than generalities, but you have to be careful not to get too specific, or the topic becomes so narrow that there's very little to say about it. But pinpointing where that line is may not be so easy.

[sartorias]

Yes, a good point about the yes no. And a corollary, delivering opinions in the form of manifestos or judgments is a great way to choke off discussion by folks who don't like to seem like disagreeing is going to spark an argument.

[swan_tower]

On the other hand, good panels can often result from arguments, if they're politely conducted. Listening to four people agree with each other can get very boring; I've found myself wishing from time to time that somebody would say, "no, you're wrong, because you're not considering Z."

[sartorias]

That's my definition of argument "No, you're wrong. I'm right." A discussion begins with "You're not considering Z" or engaging with reasons and even (gasp!) reconsidering one's stance in light of new data.

Listening to four people agree with one another . . . hmmm. I guess I don't mind that if they are offering new information that I hadn't seen, known, considered. If they are all agreeing that yes, Tolkien did write about elves, and he showed evidence of having read the Northern epics, then, yep, snore . . . .

[burger_eater]

As one of the 80 rosefox mentioned above (apparently), I may be doing a panel or two at the next Readercon. So next weekend I'm going to attend my first convention ever, Norwescon, to sorta see how it works. I'm told they're different types of conventions, but I expect to learn something. (I hope)

[sartorias]

Hope you have fun!

[burger_eater]

Oh, dear god so do I.

[klwilliams]

One of the best cons I've been to in a long time was FogCon, the new San Francisco convention. I'm not sure why I enjoyed the panels so much, but I think it was a combination of prepared moderators and enthusiastic panelists, who for the most part I had never seen before even if I had heard of/read them before. The audience participated in a good way (not in the "let me ask a question but really make a long, detailed statement" way). WFC programming has seemed to me to often be about personalities and being seen, so at this point I tend to just hang out in the bar with everyone else.

[sartorias]

Oh that does sound good.

[negothick]

I could go on and on endlessly about my personal opinions about con programming--oh, no wait, that's the problem right there! But after many years of appearing at both academic and fannish cons, I can say that fans are much more polite. Some academics simply get up and walk out, either (semi-) politely after the paper they wanted to hear or (less politely) right in the middle of something they didn't want to hear.
If fans acted that way, there would be mass movements toward the doors during MOST convention programming--but something keeps them in their seats, even if they're just reading or sleeping.

[sartorias]

I have seen fans get up and walk out, but most of the time they just slip out, they don't Exit With Prejudice. (Though I have seen that once or twice, as well.)