hi! after a couple days of difficulty in logging in, here i am!
my apologies; i thought this had been verified in our yahoo group.
to the best of my understanding, yes, you are officially one of our panelists.
filkaeris (aj) is another of our official panelists.
wankybloke was also offered an official spot, representing younger authors. she suggested that her friend grace might also be considered--grace, who is throwing the mini otaku-con at willamette high in eugene, this saturday from 1pm to 4pm, and who had an exquisite, anime-inspired piece in my art show this past february.
i am not familiar with grace as an author, only an artist, however; and amy and i had not heard, yet, anything from katie, who spoke last year, regarding whether or not she would like to resume a spot on the panel.
within the kumoricon_fanfiction yahoo group, we had just started contemplating how many speakers we would like to have, total. amy was interested in potentially having sort of a moderator role. i wouldn't mind assisting in a moderating capacity, and/or speaking specifically regarding beta reading, as i did last year (but having a lot more beta'ing under my belt since then). but i'm not attached to having that role. amy and i are the programming co-coordinators for fanfic, and we'll have several other roles beyond the panel.
in terms of what you would bring for the panel: the sky's the limit. my dream would be for the workshop to open with folks cosplaying from their own fanfics
![Smiley :)](https://www.kumoricon.org/forums/Smileys/default/smiley.gif)
either here, and/or in the yahoo group, we should have those who are confirmed speakers, and those wishing to join the panel, those who attended last year's workshop, and anyone else with input, brainstorm what we'd want the workshop to look like. i imagine that at some point, we need to let other con organizers know approximately what size of room we would like. my goal would be to have a room that was not immediately adjacent to something noisy (remember times i could not hear folks in the back of the room, over the gaming competitions next door).
we should also think about how we want the room to be configured. lecture format? or all sitting in a circle, kind of all sharing equally?
i'm totally open-minded, in terms of the range of content for the workshop. themes, games, etc.
i would like there to be specific times/places that folks could bring their pieces for on-site beta'ing. i would love to encourage congoers of all ages and levels of experience, to bring their work for enthusiastic, albeit constructive, feedback, and to also encourage congoers of all ages and levels of experience, to share in providing that feedback. i would love to have displays up all around the con, highlighting excerpts from last year's fanfic contest entries, all of which, imho, were superlatively enjoyable reads.
we also need to start thinking about parameters of the contest(s). for example, whether to continue to delineate one winner for best serious piece and one for best humorous piece, and/or to create other categories. we need to think about what we would like to offer as grand prizes, and what as participation prizes for everyone. we need to think about the grounds on which pieces are judged, and to select the judging panel. i am definitely intent to be a judge. we also need to set specific boundaries: for example, if i have beta'd a piece, i would see it as conflict of interest for me to then be one of the judges on that piece. but i do not want to rule out potential contestants simply for my having beta'd them; so i would want to have a system whereby, for example, perhaps there would be a panel of 5 judges, and at least 4 judges have to critique each piece...that way, whomever might have beta'd (or even authored?) the piece, could recuse themselves from judging that one piece, but the piece itself would not need to be disqualified?
well, i'm hoping to hear from everyone interested!
thanks, blackjack, for getting the dialogue rolling!
love,
rem.
p.s. anyone who wishes may join our kumoricon_fanfiction yahoo group, as well! post here, or pm me, or email me at rem_saverem_was_right@yahoo.com, for more information/to enroll!
love,
rem.
p.p.s.
is anyone going to the otakucon besides me? we should definitely shmooze fanfic there! the school would even allow folks to prereg for kumoricon there, if anyone able to do so can attend!