Ideas for panels for Conflux 4
We want to do everything we can to make sure that people have an interesting, thought and discussion provoking fun, with new ideas and concepts as well as the old favourites we all know and love. Who said we don’t think big at Conflux? 
Here’s a list of things we’ve thought of so far. Have your say, whether you’re a member or not. Vote for the ideas you like. Suggest the panels you’ve always wanted to see. And if you are coming, and there’s a panel you really want to do, then let us know so we can book you in.
Panel ideas:
Writer’s Idyll: our very own version of a certain reality television show. Five panels of writers during the convention will be set tasks, and the members of the audience will vote on who wins each session. On the last day of the con, the five winners of the semi-finals will be set the final challenge, which will be presented in the last panel session of the con. The members of the audience will choose the Writer Idyll.
10 things beginning writers do wrong
What’s the next button? (What new technology do you want to see?)
How to hire henchmen.
Authors’ blogs–necessary PR, or just a great waste of time?
The Dead Body Guy - how to die in one easy lesson.
Women in SF as characters and writers - How has the ratio changed over the years? Ho are women portrayed differently, if at all from in the past? Do subgenres influence how women are portrayed? Are women drawn to certain genres or subgenres as both writers and readers? Are women more likely to read a female author?
Kill it with Kindness. How plots die when the author is too nice.
When Viagra won’t help. Is your protagonist missing passion?
Is “slan” the next stage of human evolution… or a type of elvish waybread? It’s an SF version of Balderdash! Panelists will be asked to define terms from obscure works of science fiction or fantasy, taken out of context. They’ll try to fool the audience, whose votes will determine the winner.
SF Trivia Contest: A preliminary written test with the top contenders doing a event contest.
Portraying Race in SF
The Deep Roots of SF– SF before we had a name for it
Utopia: What would a utopia really be. Would yours look like mine?
The Noble Loser: the valiant schmuck who dies nobly and grotesquely.
How to Deal with Death through SF
How to deal with sex in SF
What is Fear and What is Evil
Dragons in literature and story
Story Creation How to generate ideas.
What makes a good villain in story and real life
The past, present and future of web publishing
The Worst SF and Fantasy in History.
Seducing the Young: How do we grow fandom?
Do you want to live forever?
What is Horror?
Storytelling from other ethnicities: Pitfalls, pratfalls and promise
Structured writing programs like Clarion, pluses and minuses
Literary versus Commercial in speculative fiction: Do some sell out to sell?
Creating your own religion for fun, profit and literary merit
Great Blunders in History
The Niche Society; Will the internet bring us together or tear us apart? Is that good or bad?
Filking 101
Portraying Race in SF
The Deep Roots of SF - SF before we had a name for it
Doctor Who: Where did it start and where is it going.
Alternate Alternate Histories: Not the typical “What if the Hitler had won the War” but more obscure events that might have created a different present.
Do you want to live forever?
SF from the rest of the world
Does War solve anything? Why or why not?
Peacekeeping and peacemaking for dummies
Madness in Leadership. Under what conditions?
Great Blunders in History
Great but unknown: events and discoveries that changed the world but most people wouldn’t know about
Do super heroes have any relevance to the real world? Are normal heroes better or more relevant? Can people relate better to normal?
The Physics of Sci-Fi Battles: Can the Death Star really blow up a planet? How do the Enterprise’s shields protect if from a Photon Torpedo? Doctor Robert Ryans of Queen’s University gives a highly entertaining and informative talk on some of the greatest Sci-Fi battles and weapons around.
Sunday Service: Gods in the Machines: Religions in Sci-Fi. Are they convincing? Examples from DS9, B5, Doctor Who etc
Beasts of Burden – donkeys, camels, cattle and so on in fiction
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December 12th, 2006 at 8:55 pm
How about a panel featuring a range of specialist spec fic booksellers? They are the real interface between writers and readers, and often have the clearest idea of what it is the reading public is really after.
Also, a panel on how other writing disciplines (script writing, playwriting, poetry, journalism/non-fiction) can help a novelist improve their work/technique?
December 12th, 2006 at 8:56 pm
How about a panel featuring a range of specialist spec fic booksellers? They are the real interface between writers and readers, and often have the clearest idea of what it is the reading public is really after.
Also, a panel on how other writing disciplines (script writing, playwriting, poetry, journalism/non-fiction) can help a novelist improve their work/technique?
What makes a character memorable, and how do you create one?
Is there really a gender difference in writing? Do men and women write differently, and can they ever create a realistic character of the opposite sex?
December 15th, 2006 at 11:28 am
I’d like to see/be involved with another panel on the rise of the Webzine format for SpecFic. I though the one last year went really well but could have examined areas more related to getting published (geared to writers) in the area than the different models used to set up a webzine (rather than geared to publishers).
I’d like to see the AHWA be involved in programming with a nice stream for Horror/Dark Fantasy, especially with all the things going on in this genre in Australia at the moment.
December 15th, 2006 at 2:38 pm
Hi Karen and Andrew
Some great ideas there. We’ve got a workshop on characterisation, being done by Kaaren Sutcliffe, but it’s definitely something to do a panel on too. And I think bringing the other writing disciplines in as well is a brilliant idea.
I definitely want a lot of horror/dark fantasy in there, particularly since two of our guests are from that realm of things (Graham Joyce and Kaaron Warren). So I’ll definitely get in touch with the AHWA, thanks for the suggestion, Andrew!
Nicole
December 21st, 2006 at 11:26 am
Another thought. How about something to do with cross-genre pollination, the mixing of crime/mystery elements and spec fic, or romance and spec fic. The challenges of writing that, and reaching across audience boundaries.
January 1st, 2007 at 12:02 pm
That’s a great idea, and something close to my heart, as I do romance based fantasy and sci fi. So consider it noted.
January 6th, 2007 at 7:06 pm
As an Aussie who writes dark urban fantasy, I’d love to have this market and the paranormal romance market talked about more here in Oz. They’re both huge in America, and there’s currently a number of Australians and New Zealanders doing big business over there in both genres
January 13th, 2007 at 11:22 am
Hi Keri
As a writer of paranormal romance myself, I’m right with you on that one. I’m sure there’ll be quite a bit of talk about dark fantasy and horror, as this is where guests Graham Joyce and Kaaron Warren shine. If you’ve got ideas for particular things to talk about, then let me know
Nicole R Murphy
Chair, Conflux 4
http://www.conflux.org.au
January 18th, 2007 at 9:11 am
I really like Karen’s ideas about writing from and male and female perspective and cross-genre pollination too.
February 7th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
I would like to know if there are any real super heroes out there and base a story around them. If you know any body or have any leads on Aussie Super heroes, please leave your blog and I’ll get back to you.
April 19th, 2007 at 7:25 pm
A panel featuring SF publishers and editors of YA fiction discussing what sorts of work they are looking for. What sort of MSS do they roll their eyes at? What excites them?
May 12th, 2007 at 9:07 am
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