I programmed a convention!

[lizbee]

I mean, not by myself. And I'm not convinced I've done a great job, although I'm also telling myself that it's not my fault people forget they have work commitments until after the schedule has been finalised and the panel can't be moved again.

Anyway, I made a program. Me. Not just me. But it's the only fanwork I've produced all year, barring a couple of sketches, so I'm proud.

Things I've learned:

- a 50/50 gender split is a lot easier to achieve in theory. Especially if you're dealing with a small con with a tiny pool of potential participants, and you can't actually force people to be on panels. So there are quite a few all-male panels (also a lot of all-female panels), but there are, at least, very few with only one woman;
- related: men are a lot more upfront and enthusiastic about volunteering than women;
- if you have a panel on religion in genre and the SF community, and the only people who volunteer for it are atheists, it's okay to put that off until next year;
- for some reason no one wanted to be on a panel called Time, Space and the Feminine Mystique (about women in Doctor Who and its fandom), and nor did they jump at a panel on space fashion. THOSE WERE MY FAVOURITES, GUYS.

The convention is a week away, and we seem to have hit an odd point in the process where people say, "This needs to be done!" and I think, "Gosh, I'd better get onto that," and then I find out that someone else thinks it's their job. But I'm pretty sure my part's not over? I don't know.

I should probably go off and find something intelligent to say about Racebending and [race]face in the 21st Century, since I'm on that with yiduiqie and N. K. Jemisin, and they're both really smart and stuff.

Comments

[copracat]

Were I the kind of person who does cons, I would have been so there for a panel on space fashion. Though, left up to me, it would have been all Servalan with a side of Dayna.

[lizbee]

Hey, I wanted to talk about Lwaxana Troi, and the Great Waistcoats of Babylon 5 and DS9!

[geek_anachronism]

I'm rapidly feeling like five panels is probably going to a bit of an overwhelming introduction to being on panels.

And that finding out my supervisors think I can do my first milestone in two months, not six, is also making it a bit brutal (six months worth of reading in two months! HALP!).

Looking forward to it though! I cannot work out what to try and pull together for the Maskobalo though.

[kerravonsen]

And I could have commented about the hairstyles in Ocean Girl!

[yiduiqie]

uh you are a smartie too you know!

[ljwrites]

I've been doing programming, too, for a seminar, and I hear ya on the gender composition. The dearth of women feels slightly embarrassing because we're a women's university, bastion of feminism and all that. The nationality breakdown isn't as good as I'd like it to be, either, skewed to richer countries whose universities can give financial support for traveling to overseas conferences, though I guess we have a reasonable level of diversity. Organizing things and people is a bitch and a half, isn't it?

[rhivolution]

Awesomeness! Hope it's fab.

I would have been on the DW panel.

[neadods]

Well done! I've done programming and loathed it. Juggling it all successfully takes drive.

[lizbee]

I think I'm on five or six too. IT'S OKAY, I DON'T NEED FREE TIME. *smacks self*

Also, wow, it's nice that your supervisors have faith in you, but WOW.

(My costume wasn't going to be ready in time, so I bought some galaxy leggings to wear with my little black dress, and one of those pairs of boots you gave me.)

[lizbee]

I'm quite terrified I'll somehow turn into W**l S*******y in the presence of Jemisin or something!

[lizbee]

It's quite distressing to realise that, with all my planning and everything, people might say offensive and stupid things on panels, and I WON'T BE ABLE TO STOP THEM. And WHAT IF PEOPLE HOLD ME RESPONSIBLE?

Etc. At least it's not related to my paid job, I guess!

[lizbee]

I liked the bit where I came up with panels. That seems to be my strength. Everything else is frustrating.