An alternative way to program a SwanCon

[tommo]

I was going to post this as a reply on someone else's journal, but I think it's an interesting enough point to be a post of it's own.

I've been wondering whether the job of programmer should really be divided up further than it currently is. Have a head programmer to run and timetable the whole thing and generally be in charge, but then have sub-programmers responsible for different streams. You could have a media fan organising some TV and movie panels, a lit fan organising some book panels, avid gamer for gaming panels, anime buff for anime panels, and so on. And the head programmer gives them each a certain number of panel slots they have to fill up. I think that could result in a much more well-balanced programme.

What do people think? It'd swell the numbers in a committee somewhat, but I think if it was done well and everyone involved put in the required effort, you'd probably end up with a stellar programme. And it'd take some of the burden away from the head programmer, who tends to do a hell of a lot of work putting it all together.

Comments

[justadecoy.livejournal.com]

That sounds kind of like the way GenghisCon is doing it (at least this year).
We have a gaming stream person, a video stream person and a panel stream person and then a program co-ordinator to make it all work together nicely.

On a SwanCon scale that sounds like a really cool idea, it would certainly help to get things in balance more. I'm not sure how the rules of committee works in SwanCon but if bloat was an issue then perhaps it could be run as a subcommittee with the head programmer reporting back?

[tommmo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, having a subcommittee with a single reporting figurehead would probably work best.

The way I'm envisioning it, you'd have sub-programmers for:

Lit
TV/Film
Comics
Anime
Video Gaming
Gaming
Meta-Fandom
Academic Stream

With possibly some crossover, if you had people who were knowledgable in multiple fields. They'd all have an allocated number of slots of fill, and then the head programmer (who could be one of the sub-programmers) could take all their work and put it together into the final programme.

Given that programmers typically end up having to devise a sizeable amount of the programme themselves, areas they don't know much about will typically be neglected (anime, for example, has been horribly neglected every year except - finally! - this one). This would hopefully sidestep that issue and give renewed focus to all of these areas at once.

[cheshirenoir.livejournal.com]

The big problem I see is we barely get enough committee volunteers to run a minimalist convention, let alone one with multiple programmers...

[tommmo.livejournal.com]

Sure, it's going to be harder to find half a dozen people than just one, but with the appropriate leg-work being done well in advance, I think it'd be achievable.

Also, people will probably be happier to volunteer if their job is smaller and quite clearly defined. Hardly anyone ever wants to be programmer, but "comics sub-programmer" doesn't sound like nearly as much bother.

[cheshirenoir.livejournal.com]

Guess I have been on one too many dysfunctional Swancon committees :-)

[angriest.livejournal.com]

Me too.

Sometimes the same ones.

That said, I'd certainly be much more likely to put my hand up if the requirement was "find people and topics to fill these 25 slots" than I would to do a committee position wholesale.

[tommmo.livejournal.com]

Haha, yes, that'll certainly taint your view of things :)

It'd be a difficult experiment, but if it worked I think the resulting programme would be really, really good. The reason we get so many "Intro to Anime" panels is because we have lots of programmers who don't know about anime. Imagine how great it'd be having a knowledgable anime fan organising the (and I'm picking a random number here) 6 anime panels you want in the programme. It really has the potential to deliver a programme with no oversights and minimal filler.