Can't argue with that. I went to my first SF con looking for SF - found what appeared to be plenty of it, but was left underwhelmed with the distinct impression that the panellists didn't really want to be there and were mostly more interested in just having a captive audience. Probably wouldn't have gone back if left to my own devices.
So I don't think it's enough to just be generally about SF, it needs to well presented. Not to malign panels entirely, there are good ones, but as newcomer especially it's very off-putting when faced with;
"Flying Cars!" "Won't work." *stomp* "But what if we did it anyway!" We discussed that in the bar 3 cons ago. Bored now. Let's tell amusing driving anecdotes instead.
It would probably be fair to say that as an experienced fan, I've retreated to the non-SF fringe largely because that's where the quality is most reliably found. It's only there because someone with a passion volunteered, they know their stuff, have opinions and generally seem delighted to be able to share something with you.
No idea what the solution is without lots more keen volunteers, particularly since I have no idea how programmes are put together. A few panels at Orbital last weekend benefited from having started life as an online argument, and then the participants were told by the con committee that this was now a programme item and they were on it.
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Date: 2008-03-27 12:09 pm (UTC)So I don't think it's enough to just be generally about SF, it needs to well presented. Not to malign panels entirely, there are good ones, but as newcomer especially it's very off-putting when faced with;
"Flying Cars!"
"Won't work." *stomp*
"But what if we did it anyway!"
We discussed that in the bar 3 cons ago. Bored now. Let's tell amusing driving anecdotes instead.
It would probably be fair to say that as an experienced fan, I've retreated to the non-SF fringe largely because that's where the quality is most reliably found. It's only there because someone with a passion volunteered, they know their stuff, have opinions and generally seem delighted to be able to share something with you.
No idea what the solution is without lots more keen volunteers, particularly since I have no idea how programmes are put together.
A few panels at Orbital last weekend benefited from having started life as an online argument, and then the participants were told by the con committee that this was now a programme item and they were on it.