MASTER POST FOR REVIEWS AND FEEDBACK

[alladinsane.livejournal.com]

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Comments

[mmissroon.livejournal.com]

Lighting in the Ballrooms
I say it every year, but I will repeat myself. Please don't darken the house lights in the ballrooms. The only ballroom that typically leaves the lights up is Centennial. When they do that, the guests get to see the crowd. I have watched the way they react in Hyatt rooms and the way they react in the other rooms. They appear to LOVE to see the whole audience. They can see the people who are asking questions. They can see the cool costumes. They can see how many people filled a room to listen to them. Also, it is nearly impossible to get good photographs in any room other than Centennial. And I have a DSLR with a zoom lens that opens to 2.8 - all set up on a monopod. I can only get good photos in the Hyatt - which is why that's my favorite hotel.

Notification of Rooms Being Full
Buyer beware on this one. The people at the Westin were super nice about telling me that the line for Friday's Firefly panel was closed. But they were dead wrong. I got in line after it started to move inside. The room wasn't even half-full when I went in. All the people who walked away because they were told that the room would be full could have easily fit.

Panel Moderators
Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't. They guy who teaches film in California and moderated the Eureka panels does a good job now. I wasn't crazy about him when he started doing this a couple of years ago. But I can see now that he's there to make sure all the guests are engaged. I do feel bad when all the audience questions are directed at the same people. So I think that's good. But then Richard Dean Anderson was a little too much for the Stargate Track Director to handle. I thought she had a good idea of getting the audience to submit their questions to her while the room was seating. I often would like to ask a question, but don't want to have to crouch in that horrible line. So this was a decent way solution. And I think she does a great job with the track - I have no complaints about her. But it was hard for me to tell if RDA was genuinely annoyed with how that moderation worked or if he was just being his crazy self. The other members of the panel didn't seem to have a problem with it and even seemed to give him a hard time about not being able to handle it. So maybe it was just him and maybe he was just having fun. But I will remind you of how easy it is for moderating to get out of hand ... just remember how some of the pre-Garrett Wang Trek panels went. (Yeah, I went there.)

[myras-girls.livejournal.com]

YES! I forgot to mention panel moderation- sometimes it works okay and sometimes it doesn't. It very clearly did not work with the Supergate panel on Sunday. The panel was incredibly awkward & I feel the moderator talked more than the guests. There was so much awkwardness about the questions it would have been helpful if they'd just switched it to fan questions midway through. RDA seemed so annoyed.

The moderator asking questions at the beginning of the panel & then opening up to fan questions seems to work a little better, though in my experience the panel guests seem to have more fun answering fan questions. For example, the Sunday Torchwood panel was entertaining but really dry when moderated and got really fun when the fans were asking questions.

[hollycomb.livejournal.com]

I have watched the way they react in Hyatt rooms and the way they react in the other rooms. They appear to LOVE to see the whole audience.

Gillian Anderson actually asked for the lights to be lowered, heh. And yet she commented on at least one costume during the panel.

[mmissroon.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Maybe it's different with each guest, then. I've seen some put their hands up to shade the lights that shine just on them in a darkened room so they can try to see the person asking the question. And I've heard them make comments about how odd it is to just hear a voice out of the darkness ask a question. Interesting.

[aerialmelodies.livejournal.com]

John Barrowman requested the lights cut back on because he wanted to see everyone and paused the Q&A for a moment until they were up. Maybe someone can ask prior to the panel how a panel guest wants the lighting? If they prefer it one way or the other, at least then the lights will already be adjusted based on their previous request instead of stopping the panel to ask about the lights.

[irishbuddha.livejournal.com]

We ask a lot os stuff prior to the panel... we just don't often get an answer.