On Swancon panels and panellists

[stephbg]

I've been observing the various programming discussions going on in LJ land with great interest. I came late to panel life, and AFAICR I've only done these five:

Alien Landscapes (bizarro plants and planting schemes)

101 Uses For A Dead (Or Possibly Live) Squid (in which drhoz did the science and I did the puppetry and fictional squid-based tech)

Murder By Death (murder fiction/genre crossovers)

Feminist Military SF (with Elizabeth Moon - swoon!)

Can You Reprogram Your Body Image? (neuropsychology)

I thought there were more, but I love doing panels and look forward to providing some statistical gender balance if that's what is desired in the future. However, I acknowledge that I am not exactly universally popular *waves* and have some bad habits such as talking over fellow panellists. The latter is primarily because I can't see them and thus miss body language cues, so given the opportunity I shall seat myself with more care in the future.

I also like thinking up panel titles, some of which have actual ideas behind them, but others are just a craving for biology or physics and things that would attract me into a darkened room full of nervously giggling fen. Some of them (and I may add explanatory notes later) are the kind of literary/plot device analysis panels I enjoy sinking my overly analytical brain into.

What Do Your Pets Say About You?

Culture Versus Culture: What A Good Plague Can Do For Your Overcrowding Problem

Is That A Sentient Cluster Of Puppies In Your Pocket Or Are You Just Pleased To See Me?

Zero-Gee Tolerance: What Happens To The Human Body In Space

Boy meets Girl.
Girl dies in a hail of bullets.
Girl resleeved in cheap male body.
Girl hooks up with Boy's sister.
Boy becomes carrot farmer.

A Physicist's Guide To The Afterlife: What Does Science Have To Say About Heaven And Hell?

DNA And Back: Mutant Genes With Solar Flares

Hive Mind Aliens Attack: We Are All Individuals!

Co-Authorship: Oh Really?

Three Dimensional Road Rage: Traffic Control With Flying Cars

Buy My Stuff: Niche Marketing To The Geek Demographic

So Where'd You Get Yours?: Tattoo And Body Mod Anecdote Swap

Say What? How Do You Pronounce That?
Genre fic is full of wacky names and pseudo language fragments. Do the writers ever say them aloud? Probably not. Join the group to reach a consensus on d'Xough*lahaq (bless you) and friends.

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Any kneejerk reactions to these?

Comments

[stephbg.livejournal.com]

Sounds like panel volunteerism to me :-)

[agoodliedown.livejournal.com]

Stupid Lengths That Genre Writers Go To For Research, a panel exploring realism in speculative fiction, zero G nausea and the dreadful truth about living solely on protein bars.

I've seen Sean McMullan's version of this panel, where he talks about hiking across the desert in full armour, living on carrots. Makes my piercing look insignificant.