pantryslut

i think that there probably are panels where i'd really rather hear the panelists talk. i think that most of them wouldn't be science fiction panels and few of the science fiction panels would be wiscon panels. i've been on a panel where everyone in the audience was likely to have had a pertinent experience but the moderator didn't want the panel to be a sharing of personal experiences panel, she wanted it to be about how our personal experiences interact with the topic at hand. she announced that up front--that it would be mostly panelists talking until the last fifteen minutes or so. one person left--sounds like a good outcome to me--the person who didn't want the panel she was proposing to run didn't stay. conversely, i moderated a panel where the audience was likely to have pertinent experiences and i wanted those to be part of the discussion--glad scalzi didn't show up for that one. i've never met the man and i guess i'm a bit surprised to read in his entry that debbie linked to that he was at wiscon because it strikes me as the sort of environment that would constantly be at odds with what he says he prefers. meanwhile, if i heard that that was how a con was being run, i'd avoid it like the plague--as it is, i avoid cons that seem like they're going to be all about how the stars sit and talk while the worshipful masses adore them.