Smofcon 25 Programming Brainstorming

NOTICE: YOU are part of the Smofcon programming braintrust. The wiki is open for business - go to http://smofcon25.wikispaces.com/ and click on Program to add your thoughts. You must register for wikispaces in order to add to the pages. It's easy to do, and fairly intuitive. Even smoffish luddites will find it easy.

Program will begin at 4PM on Friday. The icebreaker is scheduled for 9PM, preceded by a no-doubt fattening dessert reception at 8:30PM. The last program will be Sunday afternoon at 3 or 4PM. In between, we'll be mostly double tracked, with single tracked programming as appropriate.

We plan to present a keynote speaker with professional marketing expertise on Saturday to set the tone for Smofcon 25's marketing emphasis. Many of our programs will focus on marketing, but we are planning plenty of non-marketing programs as well.

A sampling of programs under discussion (no promises!)

Friends Don't Let Friends Fail
There is a saying, "Friends don't let friends run Worldcons", but this is completely false—if done well, running a Worldcon is a very fulfilling experience. If done well, running any convention can be a very fulfilling experience. What friends don't let friends do is take on a job at which they will fail. How do we keep our friends from failing?

Your 5 minutes of Fame
Open mike for program. Five or ten minute program slots that attendees can sign up to fill. Share information about something that has worked well for you at your local convention. It can be an idea for a piece of equipment (sign holders, etc.), a way of organizing, a resource to use, a new type of program item, etc. This is a place to talk about anything that might be useful/helpful to other con-runners but which is too small to merit an entire panel.

Whither Smofcon?
Happy birthday Smofcon! You're 25 years old as of October 2007. A short retrospective on Smofcon's "illustrious" history, followed by a discussion of what Smofcon should focus on in the future

We're also planning some restructuring of the Fannish Inquisition (teehee)

Priscilla Olson and Edie Stern