John Carr sed:
> This seems to be a bit of a logistical hassle that the organizers may
> not want to deal with. If you're going to officially do panels, you'd
> probably want to get some sort of idea how many people would be
> attending them so you get large enough room(s). This would require
> pre-registration and a bunch of other stuff that may just complicate
> things.
Excellent points. When I got called onto the C11 committee 3 weeks
prior to the event, there were no panels/workshops set up. I added
them because I thought it would be neat to have workshops on various
crafty/dancy things (how to make dreadfalls, gothic/tribal bellydance,
rope bondage, how to dance goth, etc), since we had plenty of
available meeting room space and willing instructors. I never thought
to do a "discussion panel" - all my workshops were hands-on "how-to"
style, and only because it seemed like a fun option for anyone if they
were interested. They were just filler.
It wasn't that much work to put them together, but it was up to me to
manage them during the day to make sure each instructor had what they
needed. I got a fair amount of positive feedback on most of the
workshops, so in the end I felt my time was worth it. I just liked
giving people the option to check out something fun if they wanted
to. Were the workshops necessary? Definitely not.
Setting up and managing workshops and panels can definitely be a
timesink and logistical nightmare. I suppose it just depends on what
you offer, and who you have coordinating it. If you have the time and
management resources available to set them up, awesome! If not, then
I don't think they'd be missed at all. I just happened to have a
background in setting such things up, so it wasn't that big a deal at
the time.
> I guess I fear that by over-organizing, we may run the risk of getting a
> completely different type of Gothapalooza, but one nonetheless.
Totally agreed here as well. It's pretty clear that most guests don't
want Gothapalooza. And setting up a complicated event schedule risks
just that. If things are over-organized, guests end up feeling like
they have to race from one thing to the next and make choices on what
to attend (and what are my friends doing, and when do I get to explore
the city, and... et al), well... you see the problem.
All you really need for a great event are:
* a venue
* booze
* low lighting
* music
* booze
* people
* booze
(and maybe a few really drunk chicks running around being tarts.)
The rest will take care of itself, and things like workshops and teas
and fa****on shows are just icing. As long as you aren't putting *all*
your resources on the icing, good times will be had.
-----,---'-{@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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