melannen: Commander Valentine of Alpha Squad Seven, a red-haired female Nick Fury in space, smoking contemplatively (Default)
melannen ([personal profile] melannen) wrote2012-03-26 09:32 pm

Paaaaanels!

It's early spring in an even-numbered year! You know what that means - Con.txt is looking for panel ideas!

I gave myself the length of the walk to the library where I was TAing a computer class tonight - that's 1.8 miles or about 40 minutes, if I don't dawdle - to come up with panel ideas, and decided that would be it, no more.

I have 22 listed.

I have come up with a couple more since then but they don't get to go on the list! 22 is enough dammit!

*cough*

Some of them are resubmits that didn't get in two years ago, some of them are similar to panels that have been at Con.txt before but I think would make a good repeat, some of them maybe shouldn't even get in but I at least want to see them on the list for people to think about, some of them are similar to suggestions already up, some of them are things I'd like to see more discussion about, some of them are things where I think existing discourse could be expanded with some non-computer-mediated interaction, some of them are just fun... but I thought I'd post them here, because I'm currently kicking myself over the fact that I didn't save a copy of my panel suggestions from last time.

(also I may not actually be able to submit them yet because I only just got around to registering for con.txt and now I have to remember to mail them a check tomorrow because PayPal, there goes my election judge pay!)

Anyway. Panel ideas! Under cut! (Also if anybody at all is looking around for meta prompts lalala feel free to yoink any of these.)


1.Alpha to Omega of Shared AUs: Shared fannish AUS go back to before Wold Newton, but it seems like lately we've had a bumper crop. From D/s-verse to Sentinel-Guide, let's talk about the open AUs, what they are, where they come from, how they work and why we love them. working on with partner

I would be willing to mod or co-mod this, but it probably ought to have somebody who *gets* Omegaverse involved...

2. Anonymity, Pseudonymity, Honesty, Publicity, and the Rule of Names: Even as the web as a whole has been moving away from psuedonyms, fandom has been flocking to anon memes. How does our control of our identities fit into the culture of fandom, and how do fandom naming practices interact with the outside world's expectations?

I would be willing to mod or co-mod, but I'm quite sure other people are better qualified (and less likely to try to turn it into a discussion of Earthsea)

3. Betas Revealed! For something as important to fandom as beta-reading, so much of the beta process is kept behind closed doors, and this can be intimidating for people new to the process. We'll walk through what might be involved in a beta process, talk about beta do's and don'ts and expectations, beta reading resources, etc. Already a beta panel submitted, will try to hijack that one instead.

Can't mod this, I need to learn this stuff! Also needs a better description: talk about betas seems to often focus on the actual criticism and revisions, what I want to know about is things like what software gets used to record/transmit beta comments, what is it normal to discuss in the process of negotiating a new beta relationship, what sort of timelines might be expected, basically the nuts and bolts of the process. Maybe someone actually walking through what they do with their beta, start-to-finish, with the caveat that of course every beta/author pair is different.

(Also I srsly want Author/Beta/Omegaverse AUs now.)

4. Cosplay for All: Dressing up in fandom costumes is fun! The basics of cosplay, discussion of cosplay and body image, cosplay for people who don't look much like their favorite characters, and a box of dress-up clothes. Submitted!

Could mod this, not particularly qualified, could definitely contribute dress-up clothes though.

5. Cycles in Fannish Life: How fandoms are born, grown and age; the life cycle of a fan, moving from platform to platform, the wheel of the fandom year: it all keeps cranking along.

Could mod this! Don't care either way. It's kind of froofy and vague but whatever, I calculate time by Yuletide/Purim Gifts/Kink Bingo/Yuletide...

6. Fanworks 3D: Fiber arts, toy modding, sculpture, bookbinding, cake decorating, and all the other forms of fanwork that don't fit neatly behind a computer screen. Bring a project to show off & things to discuss. (Or we could just talk about yarn.) submitted!

Could mod this too! Might be able to keep it from being just about knitting. :P

7. Fandom, IRL: Cons are great, but sometimes that's just not enough face-to-face fangirl time. Small, informal, local fandom get-togethers can be great, too. Learn how to find local fans, and how to organize and run a local fannish meet-up, open house, dinner party, etc.

I would want someone to mod who has actually run a successful RL get-together...

8. Sit Down And Write: Get a random prompt. Write fic for forty-five minutes straight. Have your work posted as-is on the internet for all to admire! Gain fame and fortune. (Artists, meta writers, and spectators also welcome). Submitted!

Would love to run this one! :D For great evil!!!!

9. Fannish Technology Round Table: What software is currently making your fannish life easier? What new hardware have you acquired lately? Addicted to your Ebook reader? In love with a social network or archive or programming language? Share, teach, and learn.

Could mod, probably not best qualified though, as my laptop is going on ten years old and I fear ebooks and tumblr.

10. Gender and Sexuality Across Cultures and Histories: Concepts of gender and sexuality have changed and varied in complex ways across the scope of human cultures, and for people writing about other places and times, it's a good idea to step outside what you're used to in defining queerness. Learn some of the basics of gender and sexuality across cultures, and where to find out more, and discuss how to use that knowledge in fiction without erasing the lived experience of your readers. submitted!

Could mod or co-mod, would bow out in a hot second for someone with real academic credentials.

11. Going Pro. Or Pro-ish: So You Want To Make Money From Writing. Genres, markets, professionalism, self-publishing, crowdfunding, serial numbers, etc. submitted!

Could not mod, want to get more up-to-date on this stuff!

12. Homestuck: The multmedia hypertext narrative written about trolls, by a troll! Nooks and bulges for all. submitted!

Could mod, don't care! (told you homestuck fandom was dangerous.)

13. Hot Girl-On Girl Action: In stories, we mean. Not live. Probably. Where to find the good F/F porn, how to write it, where to promote it, and hopefully, how to make more magically appear.

Could mod this! Rather have someone with better femslash cred though.

14. Legal Issues in Fandom: Intellectual property, pornography, privacy, censorship, and other things to keep abreast of in the law. submitted!

...I am willing to give whoever mods this an updated and revised version of my copyright handout from last time! I'll even make the copies.

15. Let's Talk About the Good Old Days: Discuss the history of fandom, and how to learn more about it, from people who were there! And from people who just wish they were.

This needs someone older than me in charge. And probably a better description.

16. On Beyond Pairings: OT3. OT4. Polyamory, sedoretu, threesomes, troll romance, teamfic, orgies, and so on, hooray!

...yeah I could mod this one.

17. OTW & AO3: Four years since the last OTW panel at Con.txt, what's happening? What's working, and what's not? What do we want to say if we get a chance to say it in person?

I could mod this one, but it would probaby be best co-run by one non-OTW-affiated person and one staffer. Also this could very easily be a disaster ending in tears, but it could also be really awesome...

18. Get Outside the Panel Rooms: There is stuff to do at cons other than sitting in panels! Why, you can even talk to people, and make new friends, and go to parties, and things. Let us talk to you about how to do the 'freeform socializing' part of a con experience, and maybe get a start on the new friends part (we know it's scary.) submitted!

...This would be one where I need to learn, not teach.

19. Racebending, whitewashing, and chromatic casting and re-casting

If it was me or no-one, I suppose I could, but, uh, only then, as you can tell from the fact I don't even have description that says what I want it to. (Inspired by the absolutely horrific collections of Hunger Games-related tweets that people have been linking to.)

20. Size Doesn't Matter (except when it does): How to write long fic. How to *stop* writing long fic. What counts as "long", anyway? Why do we like long fic? Why don't we? Submitted!

I could mod or co-mod, but somebody who has actually written longfic would be much better.

21. The Other Sherlock Holmeses: Sherlock Holmes fandom is going on 125 years, and it's got depth. Let's talk about everything Holmesian - as long as it involves neither Benedict Cumberbatch nor Robert Downey Jr. offered to mod the similar one.

This one I would do, but presence of co-mod might keep it from being All Madelyn Mack, All The Time. On the other hand, there's already a panholmes panel suggested, but I feel like if one doesn't specifically exclude the Cumberdragon than anything Sherlockian will immediately become All About Him. And that would be a shame, because unlike Madelyn, he actually believes that.

22: We Write The Stories That Nobody Reads: This fic you're writing has an expected audience of one (assuming you can stand to re-read it when it's done), and yet you're writing it anyway. All 300,000 words of it. We feel your pain. Submitted!

Oh this one I could absolutely do. But I'm sure there are also other people who could too.


I haven't actually submitted any of them yet. Anybody have any suggestions/critiques/comments/wording tweaks about any of them, while there's still time?

Also I considered listing "No-name newb to panel moderator in just one convention!" but really I should just write that one up as a journal post already.