Topics

Our apologies that it is a bit late again this year. We were really hoping this time it would go up in October or November! There were a lot of changes this year though, so that added some delay.

For a brief overview:

• Panels is no longer giving discounts. We will now be doing refunds. (This makes it possible for you to pre-register without any issues, and alleviates problems with signing up for Artist Alley or Swap Meet.)
• Character count restrictions for the Program Guide Blurbs have been shortened.
• You'll now be submitting a second description for the website, with a longer character count.

There are some other more minor changes, but those are the really big ones! For details, check the Panelist Information Page: http://www.fanime.com/panels/panelist-information/
We look forward to seeing all of your submissions!

*Edited because I'm tired and put in the wrong date!

[Panels 1]

We've been telling everyone we'll have larger rooms this year. Here are some approximate numbers.

Panels 1 (Imperial Ballroom)- In excess of 1,000 seats. (Possibly as high as 1,500)
Panels 2 (Regency Ballroom 2)- 400-500 seats Friday through Saturday at 6pm.
Panels 2 (Regency Ballrooms 1 and 2)- 900 + seats from Saturday at 7pm onward.
Panels 3 (Gold Room)- 150+ (I think close to 200)
Panels 4 (California Room)- 100 or less. (Workshop room with tables for the audience.)
Fan Events Room (Valley Room)- Seating for roughly 50 people, lots of open floor space.
'Special' Fan Events Room (Regency Ballroom 1)- only Friday night/Sat. morning - Approximately 400.

Hey everyone, while Fan Events isn't technically part of the Panels department, Panels will probably be running them this year since there is no one else to do so and the Fan Events room will be in between two panel rooms.

I just wanted to let everyone who submitted Fan Events know... while I can't give you definite times yet, we did not receive so many Fan Events that we won't be able to fit them all into the schedule for the room.

So you should all be hearing from me sometime in the next week.

[At this time, the original schedule planned for panels for the 2013 con year is full.]

At this time, the original schedule planned for panels for the 2013 con year is full.
Panels which have not yet been scheduled, but have also not received a notice that we are declining their panel will be sent an invitation to the waiting list.

Panels placed onto the schedule from the waiting list within the next week will appear on the pocket schedule, and on the website, but will not appear in the program guide.

Due to the number of panels currently slated for the waiting list, we are considering increasing the number of hours on the panels schedule for this year. Our current plans are to expand hours by opening at 9am on Saturday and Sunday rather than 10am, and possibly open up at 2pm on Friday rather than 3pm. These additional time slots will be filled from the waiting list.

An E-mail with information about the waiting list, and an invitation to join the waiting list will go out within the next few days.
Invitations to the time slots open to the waiting list will begin going out later this week.

If you have questions about the waiting list, you can ask them here, or email us at panelsATfanimeDOTcom.

You can find the info page here: http://www.fanime.com/events-and-exhibits/panels/panelist-information/

Our panelist information page has a lot of updates this year, so please be sure to read it before submitting, even if you've been a panelist in previous years.

If there are clarifications or questions about what's in the 2013 Panelist Information page, please feel free to ask them here. For more specific questions about panels you are submitting, I recommend e-mailing us instead. You can reach us at panelsATfanimeDOTcom.

['How can improve my chances of getting my panel onto Fanime's schedule/getting a better time slot/ etc?']

Since this is a frequently asked question, especially due to the large number of panels invited to the waiting list this year (owing to the huge number of submissions this year), we've written up a list of ten things to answer this question.

'How can improve my chances of getting my panel onto Fanime's schedule/getting a better time slot/ etc?'

Ten things you can do to improve your chances:
1. Have a totally awesome panel title that makes us want to schedule your panel, and others want to attend it.
2. Have a fantastic panel description that tells both us and others why people should attend your panel.
3. Give us a detailed overview of how exactly you plan to run your panel and what type of information you're going to cover rather than one or two sentences which only gives a vague idea.
4. Give a panel on a topic that isn't already being discussed by other panels.
5. Give a panel in a category that not many people submit panels for.
6. Give a panel that relates to the current year's Convention Theme. (2012 theme was sports - there were very few submissions relating to the theme.)
7. Submit early, so that when we're looking for a panel to fill that time slot you really want, your panel will be in the database we're looking at.
8. Be flexible with when you're willing to give your panel so that when we're looking for a panel to fill that particular time slot, your panel won't be dismissed because you don't seem willing to go at that time, and someone else is.
9. Repeat panels which have also received high attendance in past years are typically given priority (assuming they submitted early enough, etc.)
10. Be polite. Be respectful. Don't harass us.

"I've read this, but why didn't MY panel get onto the schedule?!"
We suggest you re-read this list. If you are unsure about the popularity of particular topics or categories (ie: how many submissions we get on those topics, or in those categories), feel free to ask us via e-mail or twitter, and we'll give you an idea.

Please note that while all of these things should improve your chances, none of them are a guarantee that your panel will be placed on our schedule. The more of them you adhere to though, the higher your chances are likely to be.

[First, FanimeCon's theme this year is: Sports!]

I thought I'd give a brief list of panels we haven't yet received a plethora of submissions on which we'd love to have on our schedule this year.

First, FanimeCon's theme this year is: Sports! So panels about sports-based manga or anime, or any other twist on this theme would be grand.

My Little Pony - Panels received one submission for this late last year, which did not get approved. We'd like to make sure we get an MLP panel onto the schedule this year.

Dollfie Dolls - It's always nice to round out our schedule with at least one panel on Dollfies. (If anyone is willing to give one!)

That's it for now! We'll update this post as the year evolves. Please feel free to also post your requests in this thread. If enough people want a panel about it, and we don't already have submissions, it may get added.  ;) -Rena

[Most especially, I added a section today on how this year's approval process will work: http://www.fanime.com/programming/panels/panelist-information/#post-submission]

Hallooo to all!

Briefly, in case you're wondering what's up with panels this year and why has Rena been silent: my right arm/hand was cursed in 2011, and between August 11 and December 25, I managed to injure and re-injure it 3 or 4 times. This has led to a lot of limited computer usage for me over the last several months.

And now for the information you actually want!
The 2012 panel form is up (though most of you have probably already seen it). It is linked, as always, from the panelist information page which you can find here: http://www.fanime.com/programming/panels/panelist-information/

EVEN BETTER: Our panelist information page has had a bit of overhaul and updating this year which was badly needed (including some updates I just made today), so I highly recommend reading it over again even if you've been a panelist in previous years. (Updates were made to the section describing what we consider when approving panels/assigning room slots, too!)

Most especially, I added a section today on how this year's approval process will work: http://www.fanime.com/programming/panels/panelist-information/#post-submission

:oLast, but in no way least... If you hadn't heard yet, Fanime has a partner con this year that is ALL steampunk. Their panelist information page is here: http://www.fanime.com/programming/panels/clockwork-alchemy-panelist-information/ You can read more about Clockwork Alchemy here: http://www.fanime.com/2012/01/06/press-release-fanimecon-announces-a-brand-new-steampunk-addition/

If there is anything there that is unclear, feel free to drop us an e-mail or reply here. We'll do our best to answer here and to update the online information as we are able to do so. (I'm still injured, so you can expect to hear from my staff more than me this year.)

Thanks everyone!  :D -Rena

PS! You can sometimes get information sooner than on here by following the FanimeCon twitter feed: http://twitter.com/#!/FanimeCon

[All panelists should have received an e-mail from Panels last night, with the finalized schedule, and instructions for at-con Check-in.]

As a note to everyone - The schedule has been finalized and sent to publications. We are now firmly in waiting list mode.

All panelists should have received an e-mail from Panels last night, with the finalized schedule, and instructions for at-con Check-in.

If you did not receive this e-mail, please let us know, because it contained information you NEED to know to make sure your panel does not get canceled later on.

-Rena

[first round of approvals in the first or second week of February]

Hello everyone!

The panel form has been live for about 30 hours currently, and I have about 19 panel submissions, with at least that many more expected within the next few days. I also have at least 4 or 5 queries as to when/how soon people will hear back as to whether or not their panel was approved. I don't have an exact time frame or date for you, but I wanted to try and give you an idea of what to expect.

We are attempting to convert our panel approval process from one that originally depended mostly on WHEN a panel was submitted into one where the quality and popularity of the panels submitted play a larger part in the approval process. Your time of submission is still important, since we have deadlines to meet, and a panel submitted in January or February will have far more chances to get approved than a panel submitted in April.

The new approval process is still slightly in flux, as we are experimenting with how best to do this.

For this year, our plan, is to have several 'rounds' of approvals for panels. Only a certain number of panels will be approved at each round, to leave room for GOH panels, Industry panels, and perhaps higher quality or more popular Fan panels that have yet to be submitted.

For now, I'm planning to make the first round of approvals in the first or second week of February, depending on how fast the submissions come in. There will be another round in March, one after the Program guide deadline in April, and a final one (if there are any slots left), after the final submission deadline. Any panel that is not approved in one round will be reconsidered for the next round, unless the panelist is sent an e-mail letting them know that we are for some reason unable or unwilling to host their particular panel

As has been the practice for the last couple of years, any panels that do not make it into even the final approval round, will be put on a waiting list. There are nearly always at least a few cancellations the week before the con that leave empty time-slots needing to be filled at the last moment.

We're hoping this will help us continue to improve the quality of the panels held at Fanime. ^-^

-Rena

[You can find the current panelist information page and the link to the form here:]

(As of yesterday.)

You can find the current panelist information page and the link to the form here: http://www.fanime.com/panelsinfo/

I've removed all the threads from last year with outdated information.

http://www2.fanime.com/2010/panelform/

The information pages haven't quite made it up yet, but they have been submitted them to our web/content team, so they should be up shortly.

I recommend that first time panelists wait another week before submitting their request, so that they get the benefit of the information that will go up on the panels pages of the website once our webteam has a chance to get that info up.

Edit: Oh yes, btw... I forgot to mention....

PLEASE be creative! This year's FanimeCon theme is Fantasy RPG! So I'll definitely be looking for some panels that fit that theme! ^____^ Thanks everyone!

[(If you need to leave the con early each night, this is not the staff job for you.)]

Whoops! I saw some people at the meeting this last weekend, and promised to put this up here... I apologize that it's a day late!

The Panels Department IS looking to fill at least 5 more staff positions at the moment, possibly a couple more. Since the Staff Recruitment website isn't yet up, I'll post the job description here. Please read it fully before you e-mail us!

Thanks! -Rena

PANELS DEPARTMENT VOLUNTEER STAFF JOB DESCRIPTION
(disclaimer: This is an unpaid volunteer job.)
--------------------------------------------------------
Be a part of Fanime's gooey insides! Panel staff help control access to exclusive events, run the panelist lounge, and get to hang out with some very cool people. (That's us!)

It's a great way to participate in the convention AND attend your favorite  panels!

We currently have 5 open positions.

Things to know:
Panels run 4pm-1am on Friday, 10am-1am on Saturday and Sunday, and 11am-2pm on Monday. Panel staff can expect to be scheduled for at least 2 of the three late nights. (If you need to leave the con early each night, this is not the staff job for you.)

Panel staff are required to work a total of 20 hours during the 4 day convention. Exceptions are sometimes made on an individual basis if someone assists with pre-convention tasks. Although this theoretically averages out to 5 hours a day, in practice it works a bit differently. Panels run for limited hours on both Friday and Monday, so usually panel staff will work 3-4 hours on Friday, 2-4 hours on Monday, and the rest of their hours on Saturday and Sunday.

Panels prefers staff who are 18 and up, because we do run late, and some of the late night panels are not geared for younger audiences.

Panel staff perform varying duties:
~Badge-checking at panel room doors
~Monitoring panels for disruptions and notifying appropriate staff if they occur
~Handing out and collecting panel rate cards
~Taking head-counts during panels
~Greeting panelists at the panelist lounge and assisting to make sure they have all required equipment for their panels
~Giving breaks to other panel staff
~Running errands for dept. heads
~Ensuring notification goes out to attendees when a panel is cancelled at-con

Panel staff will be trained in:
~Line Control
~Radio Protocols
~General etiquette for panels, panelists and guests

If you're interested, drop an e-mail to [email protected] with your name and phone number, and put 'Panel Staff' into the subject line of the e-mail. Please include some information about your previous con experience, even if it's simply 'I've attended for years, but not staffed before' and if you can tell us why you chose panels, that's always an interesting thing to know!

So, for 2009, we have so many panel submissions, that there isn't enough room on the panels schedule to schedule them all.

I am, therefore, considering possibilities for ways that I could have more panels on the schedule next year. Please note, these probably won't go into effect this year. (For instance, I don't have enough staff to cover 4 rooms this year.)

Vote for your preferred extended panel hours option. If you want to choose more than one, or explain why you chose what you did, feel free to post here.

From my own perspective, I would rather move towards extending panel hours, with the goal of eventually having panels nearly 24 hours, than add another panel room. However, I'd like to hear from all of you about this. I know you all have perspectives I may not have considered.

I've included below the quote for how I'm intending to handle the overflow of panels for this year.

-Kava (Rena)

March 30th:
Due to the large number of submissions, panels submitted between now and the cut-off date in April may not make it into the Fanime 2009 panels schedule. However, I am starting a panels 'wait-list', for those who are willing to put their panel into any available time-slot, should one of the current panels get canceled. Please note that if a panel goes onto the waiting list, they will NOT have a choice in day or time. They'll be offered a specific time-slot that has opened up, when it opens up, and will be given perhaps 24 hours to respond to that offer after it is sent, before it is offered to the next panelist on the wait-list.

Thank you to everyone! This is really a great year for panels. I'm going to want feedback from all of you on the desirability of various things we might do next year to increase the number of panels we can host. There are many options. We could open up earlier on Friday, extend our hours on Monday, stay open later (past midnight), or we could try for a fourth panel room. Keep in mind though, a fourth room means more competition for your audiences.

This topic has been moved to Live Programming and Events. (edit: see below)

http://forums.fanime.com/index.php?topic=11189.0

The dance workshops are not actually panels and are coordinated by a different department and division. Moved this topic to the more appropriate place.

[While this isn't quite ready to go onto the website yet.... I'm hoping to get it up in the next week or so. For now, I thought I'd let y'all help me proof-read it and see if there is any additional information you need that I've currently left out.]

While this isn't quite ready to go onto the website yet.... I'm hoping to get it up in the next week or so. For now, I thought I'd let y'all help me proof-read it and see if there is any additional information you need that I've currently left out.

Deadline to submit a panel: Friday, April 10th, 2009
Deadline to submit a panel that will be listed in Fanime's Program Guide: Monday, March 23rd
Panelist Lounge Hours At-Con:
To Be Decided after the majority of panels have been scheduled. We'll post this a week or two prior to con.

Panel Rooms are equipped with:
•   Projectors  & Screens (can be hooked up to computers via VGA or DVI – can be hooked up to gaming consoles. Make sure you specify desired connections on your panel request form.)
•   Microphones (Usually 2 or 3, depending upon the size of the room. More can be requested, but we can't guarantee we'll be able to get them.)
•   A table at the front of the room for the panelists, as well as chairs.
•   Chairs for the attendees.
•   The workshop room also has tables for the attendees – the other rooms do not have these. **(Note: we may not have a workshop room this year.. this is still being discussed.)
•   Panel rooms are NOT equipped with internet access. Net access might be available via one or more of the free wifi systems offered through the hotels or the convention center, but we cannot guarantee internet access for any panel room. Panelists are advised to have prepared presentations and screenshots, because the internet will most likely not be available.

Discounted Badges for Fan Panelists:
Yes, you read that correctly! This year we want to be able to offer something to all of our dedicated fan panelists! As always, fan panels are one of the most important parts of our 'by fans for fans' convention. You help us put on a great show every year, and we want to offer something of value in return for your contribution to our show.

• 1 hour panel = $15 discount on any badge for you and a single assistant.
• 2 hours of panels = $30 discount on any badge for you and a single assistant.
• *3 hours of panels = A full weekend pass to the convention for you and a single assistant. (*See the Badge FAQ)
• Panelists who come to the convention for a single day –only- to give a panel may qualify for a free day-pass for that day.
• Industry Panels: If you're part of a company that is hoping to host an Industry Panel at Fanime, please visit our Professional Registration area! You may qualify for Industry Badges.

Please scroll down further for additional information on the Discounted Badges.

Program Guide Listing Character Limits:
While we are willing to be somewhat lenient on the website, because additional text costs us nothing here, character limits will be strictly enforced for the program guide.
The program guide also has a firm limit of 40 characters for a panel title. Both of these limits include spaces. Ie: Title needs to be 40 characters or less with spaces, Description needs to be 300 characters or less with spaces.
Submissions that do not adhere to these limits may be edited by FanimeCon staff.

Notes on Panel lengths:
When considering how long you want your panel to be, don't panic thinking that you must have a panel that is exactly 1 hour or 2 hours long! The Fanime schedule runs in hourly time blocks - so it isn't possible to reserve a panel room for a half an hour. However, an ideal time for a panel that has reserved an hour in the room is actually about 50 minutes. That leaves 5 minutes at the start and end for set-up, breakdown, audience to leave and arrive, etc. Also, it is acceptable for a panel to end early.
A panel should be a minimum of about 40 minutes in length, and we appreciate it if you notify us ahead of time that your panel will not last the full length of time in a panel room. Panels that are about 90 minutes in length can reserve a 2 hour time slot, and simply notify us in their submission that the actual presentation will only last about 90 minutes.

Notes on Panel content:
All panels are assumed to contain material that is suitable for all ages unless the panelist specifically states that their panel will contain mature content.

Notes on Panel Room assignment:
Panel rooms are assigned based on several factors:
•   When the panel was submitted. (This is a big determining factor, so sign up early!)
•   Who is giving the panel. (Guest panels are always given priority for prime time slots, for instance.)
•   Whether the panel has been given before, and how much of an audience it drew previously if it has.
•   What panel times the panelist specifically requested. (Regardless of your specific audience size, if you request a panel and list the only acceptable times as 2-4pm on Saturday or Sunday, you may be assigned a small room if the larger rooms have already filled for that time period.)
•   Our best guess on how popular we think the panel will be.

Stage Zero : Advertising your panel at-con!
You have two options here:

•   Your first option is to prepare a video/audio presentation to advertise your panel which can be played on the Stage Zero screen. It should be no longer than 2 minutes in length, and must be approved by Stage Zero staff before they are shown. Simply take your prepared presentation to stage zero staff after you arrive at the convention. They'll preview it when they are able.
•   Your second option is to choose a day that you want to appear on stage zero personally to give props to your panel. Your live promo time will be limited to 5 minutes or less. Please plan to finish your live promo within the allotted time so that Stage Zero can get back to their other programming.

Need to Know Info about Stage Zero Advertising:
Make sure you read this!
•   Video presentations for stage zero should be in the form of files (not .wmv, but most other things work) that SZ staff can put onto their computers, not DVD's that they'd be required to 'play'. A good idea is to put your panel title, day, time, and location into the file name. ie: DYI7pmSat24May2008VidMain.mpeg or VideoGripe4pmSun25May2008Panel3.avi  (those aren't real file names, just stuff I made up for examples)
•   Your in-person and live 'promo' time will not be scheduled. You'll want to visit the stage during or slightly before one of the 'open programming' hours when none of the scheduled events are going on to get your promo time. Show up, introduce yourself, and let them know which panel is yours. Be prepared to wait a bit, and they'll get you on when they're able to. Remember that you're allotted a set amount of time, regardless of whether anything is specifically scheduled to go after you or not, and you should be prepared to relinquish the stage once your time is up.

Tips for Advertising BEFORE the con to increase interest in your panel:
We recommend telling friends and family about your panel, posting about it on the Fanime forums or in any other forum where it would be appropriate. Additionally, some panelists have had good results from creating a short video clip to advertise their panel and uploading it on Youtube. (If you upload to Youtube, be sure to send us a link!)

Badges for Panelists: FAQ
If I already have a full weekend badge for the convention - do I need a 'panels' badge in order to give my panel?
Answer: No, you don't. There's nothing particularly special or different about the discounted or free badges that some panelists qualify for. Only the method of acquiring the badge is different.

I already bought a convention pass, but it turns out I could get a free pass through giving more panels - can I get re-imbursed for my bought badge?
Answer: No, I'm sorry. If you need your qualifying badge(s) for others helping you with the panel instead of yourself, that can be arranged, but at this time I can't offer refunds to those who have already pre-registered for convention badges.

So how does this work? When do we get the badges? How do we pick them up?
Answer: First, keep in mind the requirements. A single 1 hour panel = $15 discount on a badge for yourself and a single assistant. (2 hours = $30 discount) These are not general 'panelist' badges. They're convention badges like any other convention badge – they will have your name on them, and you must show a valid ID when you pick them up. Ie: Don't expect to be able to hand them off to someone else.
To qualify for free full weekend passes rather than a discounted badge, you must be hosting a minimum of 3 hours of panels, and at least 1 hour of those 3 must be in a non-prime time slot. (Prime hours are Noon to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday.) To qualify for a free day-pass, you must be attending at our request for the purpose of giving a panel.
To get the discounted or free badges - you'll need to send information to either [email protected] or [email protected] with the full real names of the individuals whose names will go on the passes. You can include a nick-name or con-name, but if you don't give us a real name either the badge will not be given or you won't be allowed to pick it up since your ID won't match the name the badge was processed for.
Also keep in mind that if you're getting a badge for more than just yourself - whoever is getting the badge needs to be helping in your panel, and not merely a friend you wanted to give a discounted or free pass to. Make them earn it!
Those who qualify will be given further details on how to obtain the discounted badges. At this time, they will not be offered through pre-registration, and those who qualify will need to pick them up at the convention.

So... what if I agreed to do three panels and they were approved, and then later one of them was canceled? Do I still get my weekend badges?
Answer: Yes, you do. If your panel or panels were approved and then the con needs to cancel one of them for any reason, you will still receive the badges or discounts for the panels that were previously approved. We feel that's only fair. However, that is only if the convention cancels a panel that was previously approved. If you cancel a panel, you will not receive the badges or discounts that you would have been eligible for had you given it.

So, it's getting to be that time where we get the ball more firmly rolling. Attempting to toss aside traditions from the last couple of years, I'm preparing and hoping to get the panel request forms up on the site sometime in the next month.

I thought perhaps I'd ask for input from the panelists who come to these forums. The information that's in the sticky in this forum, "Notes and Dates for panelists' is all information that I intend to revise and update and post on the website this year, rather than having it available only here in the forums.

However, I want to know if there is additional information I could give to y'all that isn't currently covered there. Is there anything else that would be good to list on the website for general information for panelists?

On the other end of the spectrum, with the panel request forms, are there any additional fields y'all wish were there so that you could give additional information? I'm asking previous panelists here... obviously new panelists won't have seen the forms yet, since this year's versions aren't up yet!

So, feel free to post your thoughts. I'll be able to keep making revisions to the webpage as we get closer to con. Once I set the forms for this year, they'll be done, but I can always take into account ideas for improving them next year. ^^

~Kava (Rena)

[Due to the large number of submissions, panels submitted between now and the cut-off date in April may not make it into the Fanime 2009 panels schedule. However, I am starting a panels 'wait-list', for those who are willing to put their panel into any available time-slot, should one of the current panels get canceled. Please note that if a panel goes onto the waiting list, they will NOT have a choice in day or time. They'll be offered a specific time-slot that has opened up, when it opens up, and will be given perhaps 24 hours to respond to that offer after it is sent, before it is offered to the next panelist on the wait-list.Thank you to everyone! This is really a great year for panels. I'm going to want feedback from all of you on the desirability of various things we might do next year to increase the number of panels we can host. There are many options. We could open up earlier on Friday, extend our hours on Monday, stay open later (past midnight), or we could try for a fourth panel room. Keep in mind though, a fourth room means more competition for your audiences.As a last note: There are still more guest panels that will be on the schedule. The ones listed here are just the ones that are ready for public disclosure at this time.]

March 30th:
Due to the large number of submissions, panels submitted between now and the cut-off date in April may not make it into the Fanime 2009 panels schedule. However, I am starting a panels 'wait-list', for those who are willing to put their panel into any available time-slot, should one of the current panels get canceled. Please note that if a panel goes onto the waiting list, they will NOT have a choice in day or time. They'll be offered a specific time-slot that has opened up, when it opens up, and will be given perhaps 24 hours to respond to that offer after it is sent, before it is offered to the next panelist on the wait-list.

Thank you to everyone! This is really a great year for panels. I'm going to want feedback from all of you on the desirability of various things we might do next year to increase the number of panels we can host. There are many options. We could open up earlier on Friday, extend our hours on Monday, stay open later (past midnight), or we could try for a fourth panel room. Keep in mind though, a fourth room means more competition for your audiences.

As a last note: There are still more guest panels that will be on the schedule. The ones listed here are just the ones that are ready for public disclosure at this time.

March 27th:
Panels not yet submitted may not be able to get into the schedule this year - See last post.

March 26th:
If you don't see your panel in this post, scroll down to the four posts below this which list the panels that have already been assigned to specific days! Thanks everyone! It's about 7:15pm. I'm in the process of responding to the panel requests that came within the last 24 hours. Hopefully by tomorrow night, I'll also have some Guest panels to list!

March 25th:
It's slightly after Noon in my time zone. There's two panel requests I've left to send an initial response to (this will be done before the day is out), and I still have some catching up with moving panels from pending to confirmed and replying to some of the responses panelists have sent. It's looking to be a great year for panels! For the Cosplayers, we have a FULL Sunday of cosplay panels lined up! I'll be roughing out a schedule mid-week next week, so those who are waiting on 'what day?' - I'll have most of you assigned to a preliminary day at least by next weekend. I know I'm behind this year, so my heartfelt thanks to all of you for bearing with me. <3

March 12th:
As of this moment: 10:59pm pacific time on March 12th, all panel requests sent in prior to March 10th have received a response. Moving forward, responses should come much faster than previously. We'll be making an effort also to reply to questions sent through regular e-mail, but if you think we may have overlooked your question, feel free to send it again.

Most panels are not fully confirmed until the panelist actually replies to our initial response. This ensures that no one changed their mind between submission and reply.  Others I have questions for, or have to make inquiries about. So, until things are actually confirmed, I'm going to list here panels that were submitted and are pending, panels that are confirmed but do not yet have a set day, and problem panels (these are mainly ones that I'm unable to contact the panelist).

Illustrate the Fanfic (1 hour)
The Anime List (1 hour)

Jrock (1 hour)
Jpop (1 hour)
Kpop (1 hour)
Why Girls should Watch Sentai (1 hour)
Lost Treasures (1 hour)

Your Otaku Business 101 (1 hour)
Your Otaku Business 201 (2 hours)
Your Otaku Business 301 (2 hours)
Anime Besides Bleach and Naruto (2 hours)
The Ultimate Deviant Art Panel (2 hours)
The Ouran Host Club Panel (1 hour)

How to Make a Fight Scene (1 hour - twice, so.. 2 hours - in the Dojo)
Story Story Die (2 hours)
Anime that Jumped the Shark (1 hour)
Anime Christmas (1 hour)
Your Anime Sucks (1 hour)
Anime BS (1 hour)
Manga.. manga... manga (1 hour)
The Great Debate (2 hours)
Visual-Kei: Androgyny & J-Rock (1 hour)
J-Rock: Harajuku and Beyond! (1 hour)
Everybody Dance! (1 hour)
How to draw fancomics! (1 hour)
Cthulhu for President (1 hour)
Consoles and the Industry (1 hour)
The RPG Genre (1 hour)
Restricted Rock Paper Scissor (2 hours)
Webcomics: An Insider's View (1 hour)
Your Own Webcomic: Year One (1 hour)
Webcomics: Behind the Scenes (1 hour)
Visual Novels (1 hour)
Fansites: Growing from Fanboy (1 hour)
Anime Impact on USA Cartoons (1 hour)
Create Your Own Anime (1 hour)
UniFaction Panel--with ninjas! (1 hour)
How to Talk to Girls (2 hours)
Gaia Online (2 hours)
Intro to Lolita & Fashion Show (2 hours)
Abridging A Series (1 hour)
Awesomely Bad J-music Videos (2 hours)
Create That Anime! (2 hours)
Smile! You're on NicoNicoDouga (1 hour)
Speed Comic Jams (1 hour)
The Melody of Hatsune Miku (2 hours)
Evangelion: Endless Debate (2 hours +)
Otaku Variable (1 hour)
Aliens at Versailles (1 hour)
Host a Japanese Tea Ceremony (2 hours)
Banzai Arcade (2-3 hours)

Gilles Poitras
Older Titles for Newer Fans (w/ Jonathan Osborne) (2 hours)
Anime for Parents (1 hour)
Anime and Manga for Grownups (1 hour)

Keith Burgess
Pin-Up Photography (1 hour)
Akuma to Eva: My Life in Anime (1 hour)
Keith Burgess: Uncensored (1 hour)

Ric Meyers
Breaking --And Staying-- Into Everything Plus! (1 hour)
Ric's Kung-Fu Flick-A-Rama (2 hours +)
Yelling Back at the Screen: You & Ric at the Movies & on TV! (1 hour)
Additionally - during his Breaking Into Everything panel, Ric will be offering to schedule one-on-one sessions to review your creations.

Ryan Gavigan
Anime Hell (2 hours)
Anime Hell Lounge (2 hours)

Rueben Langdon
Devil May Cry 3&4 (2 hours)
Resident Evil 5 (2 hours)
SF4's Ken Kicks Your Ass! ...or Not? (3 hours - Possibly in E-gaming)

Jonathan Osborne
Jonathan Osborne: Voice Actor (1 hour)
Script Reading with Jonathan Osborne (3 hours)
Whose Line is it Anime? (1 hour)

Carl Horn
Dark Horse Manga (1 hour)
Editing Manga (1 hour)
Showa Fansabu: Owarinaki Tatakai  (Fansubbing in the Showa Period: Endless Fight) [w/Ryan Gavigan] (1 hour)

Multiple Guests
Iron Fanime Panelists (1 hour) [Ric Meyers, Jonathan Osborne, Gilles Poitras, Keith Burgess]

Hey everyone! I'll have something up on the website later, but I thought I'd first put the word out here on the forums.

This last year in 2008 was the first year in a while that we had actual staff for the panels department, badge-checking the panel rooms and handing out opinion cards for the panels. We hope to continue with that for fanime 2009, but I'm going to need more staff!

Here's a few things to keep in mind....

-I don't have specific age requirements for most daytime panel work. Some panels do require a mature audience, and therefore require older staff to work them.
-I need at least a few people who will be arriving Thursday night or early Friday morning to help out with preparations before panels actually start.
-I need people who can work afternoon and evening shifts on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Panels take place during all of the major convention events such as Music Fest, Masquerade, etc.. and I need people willing to work during those hours. (Lots! This last year we had 5 panels going on simultaneously for some portions of Saturday & Sunday evenings.)

Last, but certainly not least, I am also looking for someone who lives in the bay area (silicon valley), to help me out more extensively with pre-con preparations for panels, sending out invitations, answering questions for panelists, and generally helping put things together. I might consider someone who lives farther away, but it'd be a lot easier to meet with them and work together if they were in this area.

If you have questions, or you're interested, just reply here or drop an e-mail to: [email protected]

[Whoo~ I'll be updating with a new thread in the near future to have a better organized listing of information for Panels for 2009. For now, this thread has information from 2008, which might be helpful for panelists wondering what they can expect.]

Whoo~ I'll be updating with a new thread in the near future to have a better organized listing of information for Panels for 2009. For now, this thread has information from 2008, which might be helpful for panelists wondering what they can expect. ~ Kava (August 6, 2008)

Deadline to submit a panel: April 15th

Deadline to submit a panel that will be listed in Fanime's Program Guide: March 25th

Please keep in mind when submitting forms that panel descriptions for the program guide should be included on your form if at all possible, and should be 300 characters in length, or less.

^-^ That's why there are two fields, one for an 'overview' of your panel to tell ME what your panel is about and one for a 'description' that is fit for public consumption on the website and in the program guide.

Tips for Advertising your panel to increase attendance:
We recommend telling friends and family about your panel, posting about it here on the Fanime forums or in any other forum where it would be appropriate. Additionally, some panelists have had good results from creating a short video clip to advertise their panel and uploading it on Youtube. (If you upload to Youtube, be sure to send me a link!)

Program Guide Listings Character Limits:
It says this on the panel submission form, but I'm noting as I put descriptions onto the website that many forms submitted did not adhere to the 300 character limit for the panel descriptions. While I'm willing to be lenient on the website, because additional text costs us nothing there, character limits will be strictly enforced for the program guide.

The program guide also has a firm limit of 40 characters for a panel title. Both of these limits include spaces. Ie: Title needs to be 40 characters or less with spaces, Description needs to be 300 characters or less with spaces.

I'll attempt to e-mail panelists whose descriptions or titles are too long, to give them a chance to truncate them, but when the deadline comes (again - March 25th), I'll be shortening them myself if no short versions have been provided by the panelists.

Notes on Panel lengths:
When considering how long you want your panel to be, don't panic thinking that you must have a panel that is exactly 1 hour or 2 hours long! The Fanime schedule runs in hourly time blocks - so it isn't possible to reserve a panel room for a half an hour. However, an ideal time for a panel that has reserved an hour in the room is actually about 50 minutes. That leaves 5 minutes at the start and end for set-up, breakdown, audience to leave and arrive, etc. Also, it is acceptable for a panel to end early.

A panel should be a minimum of about 40 minutes in length, and we appreciate it if you notify us ahead of time that your panel will not last the full length of time in a panel room. Panels that are about 90 minutes in length can reserve a 2 hour time slot, and simply notify us in their submission that the actual presentation will only last about 90 minutes.

Notes on Panel Badges:
I want to clarify first a couple of frequently asked questions.

If I already have a full weekend badge for the convention - do I need a panels badge in order to give my panel?
Answer: No, you don't. The badges that  panels is willing to provide are mainly there so that panelists who are coming to the convention for only the days of panels won't need to pay for attendance on those days. If you're giving one or two panels, but you want to be at the convention all weekend, you may want to just get yourself a pre-reg convention pass. Even with two day-passes, you're not saving much if you're going to pay for the other two days anyways. If you're giving an Industry panel - we usually recommend getting Industry badges for your company instead. I can only give two one-day passes for a single Industry panel, but you can get weekend passes through registering as an attending Industry. (Professional Reg is here: http://www.fanime.com/professional/professional-registration )

I already bought a convention pass, but it turns out I could get a free pass through giving more panels - can I get re-imbursed for my bought badge?
Answer: No, I'm sorry. If you need your qualifying badge(s) for others helping you with the panel instead of yourself, that can be arranged, but I don't give re-imbursements to those who have already pre-registered for regular member convention badges.

I only qualify for a day-pass through panels, but I plan to attend the convention all weekend. Can I get a discount on a weekend pass?
Answer: No, I'm sorry. There is no way to get a discount on a weekend pass through giving a single hour-long panel, or even two. If you're giving a minimum of three hour-long panels, you qualify for a weekend pass through your panels, and one additional weekend pass for an assistant.

So how does this work? When do we get the badges? How do we pick them up?
Answer: First, keep in mind the requirements. 1 panel = two one-day passes for the day of your panel. These are not general 'panelist' badges. They're convention badges with your name on them that are good for a particular day, and you must show a valid ID when you pick them up. Ie: Don't expect to be able to hand them off to someone else. To qualify for weekend passes rather than day passes, you must be hosting a minimum of 3 hour-long panels.

If you need badges - you'll need to send information to either [email protected] or [email protected] with the full real names of the individuals whose names will go on the passes. You can include a nick-name or con-name, but if you don't give me a real name either the badge will not be given or you won't be allowed to pick it up since your ID won't match the name the badge was processed for. Also keep in mind that if you're getting a badge for more than just yourself - whoever is getting the badge needs to be helping in your panel, and not merely a friend you wanted to give a free pass too. Make them earn it!

At-con you'll pick up your panels badges at Programming Ops this year. Programming Ops is located on the second floor of the Hilton hotel, right around the corner from two of the panel rooms. I'll post hours that Ops will be open later, as those haven't been determined quite yet. (Please don't confuse us with Con Ops... they're on the other end of the con center from us.)

So... what if I agreed to do three panels and they were approved, and then later one of them was canceled? Do I still get my weekend badges?
Answer: Yes, you do. If your panel or panels were approved and then the con needs to cancel one of them for any reason, you will still receive the badges for the panels that were previously approved. We feel that's only fair. However, that is only if the convention cancels a panel that was previously approved. If you cancel a panel, you will not receive the badges that you would have been eligible for had you given it.

For those wishing to utilize Stage Zero to advertise their panel, you have two options.
#1 You can prepare a video/audio presentation to advertise your panel which can be played on the Stage Zero screen. It should be no longer than 2 minutes in length, and must be approved by Stage Zero staff before they are shown. You'll need to present these to Programming Ops when you check-in at the convention, so that they can be displayed. If you want to hand them over prior to when Programming Ops opens up on Friday, (I'll give these hours later), you'll need to make special arrangements with the panels coordinator (that's me!).

#2 You can choose a day that you want to appear on stage zero personally to give props to your panel. Your live promo time will be limited to 5 minutes or less. Please plan to finish your live promo within the allotted time so that Stage Zero can get back to their other programming. ^-^

More Notes about Stage Zero:

• Video presentations for stage zero should be in the form of files (not .wmv, but most other things work) that SZ staff can put onto their computers, not DVD's that they'd be required to 'play'. A good idea is to put your panel title, day, time, and location into the file name. ie: DYI7pmSat24May2008VidMain.mpeg or VideoGripe4pmSun25May2008Panel3.avi  (those aren't real file names, just stuff I made up for examples)
• Your in-person and live 'promo' time will not be scheduled. You'll want to visit the stage during or slightly before one of the 'open programming' hours when none of the scheduled events are going on to get your promo time. Show up, introduce yourself, and show them your panelist badge - or let them know which panel is yours. Be prepared to wait a bit, and they'll get you on when they're able to. Remember that you're allotted a set amount of time, regardless of whether anything is specifically scheduled to go after you or not, and you should be prepared to relinquish the stage once your time is up.

Programming Ops Hours
Friday: 3:30pm - 10pm
Saturday: 9am - 10pm
Sunday: 9am - 10pm
Monday: 10am - 2pm

Important note: Weekend and Friday-Only passes will be available through Professional Registration on Thursday night from 5pm-8pm or Friday morning from 10am-12pmNoon. After this, all badges will be picked up through Programming Ops. Saturday or Sunday only passes cannot be picked up via professional registration.

That's it for the moment, but if anyone has any other questions or can think of any dates I haven't listed yet - feel free to reply here and ask. I'll update this post as needed.

[5/19: Gainax panels announced in the last post! ;D]

Hey everyone -

5/19: Gainax panels announced in the last post!  ;D

5/16: The schedule is live on the website now! Check the news on the home page or find links to it at the top of the main Events page.

Please check the 4/23 post for a preview of panels confirmed for Friday!
Update 4/24: Added panels confirmed for Monday to the same post.
Update 5/1: Added two more guest panels to Friday listing, one more to Monday listing, and put the full list of Saturday and Sunday panels in the same post.

These will be on the website with full descriptions hopefully not too long after they're listed here. I thought I'd give a preview here on the forums though, of the panels that are currently being added to the schedule. I'll update this first post as more get confirmed.

Please Check the second post and the 4/13 and 4/17 posts for panel titles. Thanks~!

Raymond is coming back with the Anime Fans Over 30 panel.
Paladin Cecil will be returning with Story Story Die and a couple of other game panels - these are really fun, if you didn't try them out last year, now you'll have another chance. The new ones will be The Anime List and the Fan Art Caption Contest (which will have prizes!).
The folks at the ImmortalGeisha.com plan to come and give us a slew of panels on traditional dress, and hopefully... a kimono fashion show. (We're still working the kinks out of that last one.)
Broccoli, Bandai Visual USA, and Bandai Entertainment should all be back with industry panels, as well as Gothic Garnet - who say they're planning some freebies at their panel.
Panda Cubed: http://www.pandacubed.com/ is coming to our con this year, and we hope to give them a chance to perform several panels.
We'll also be having a "How to be a Host" panel, sponsored by the Cosplay group OH!smeCK.
Then we have...
Cosplay Posing
Dansei  Seiyuu 101
And the Damn You Internets panel is back as well.

Oh yes. I almost forgot the Guest panels that I already know about. I have panels from Jonathan Osborne and Giles Poitras already. ^-^ I'll list them up here when I have a chance to check my records for the names of the panels.


Edited 4/13: The Panels Schedule is now nearly full. Any panels submitted in these last couple of days will probably need to be open to late-night programming.

-Kava

Just wondering if there's going to be any other twitterers at FanimeCon this year. xD; So far, I'm failing to get most of my friends signed up. >>;;

(If you don't know what it is... check out http://www.twitter.com - it's basically an instant notification service that works via phone (texting), web, or IM, and everyone 'following' you gets your messages, and you get all the messages from anyone you're following.)