FanWorks Convention

Thank you to everyone who submitted panels! Here is what has been selected for the schedule this year:

This Is Fine (Community | moderated by Trelkez):
2020 is happening to us all of the time - in every aspect of our lives, fandom included. This panel will be a group discussion on the impact of *waves hands at the world* on our fannishness - whether fandom has been an escape / coping mechanism or very much the opposite, the works we have or haven't made, the attention spans we do or don't have to engage with new fandoms or new works, the cons we haven't gone to, the state of our social media timelines, and everything else along the way.

Costuming With Craft Foam (Arts & Crafting | moderated by corbae):
Learn the basics of using craft foam (EVA) in cosplay. Follow along as we create a pair of bracers, starting by making a pattern and finishing with tips on how to paint. A list of materials will be provided so you can make your own pair at home.

Build-A-Bot (Arts & Crafting, Community | moderated by ritz):
Learn how to build a Twitter bot with zero coding experience or knowledge! Attendees will learn how to build a bot that generates fic or art prompts (here's an example of one: https://twitter.com/promptmetender). Attendees will also get a quick introduction to other (coding required) bot building resources.

Hold the Presses! Or, An Introduction to Fanbinding (Arts & Crafting, Community | moderated by ArmoredSuperHeavy & Eric Odense):
This panel will discuss ficbinding as a transformative and archival act of fandom. Ficbinding interacts with sexist and homophobic censorship, promotes the toehold of fandom as queer literacy, and demonstrates the value of grassroots media. This panel will contribute to the burgeoning field of fandom studies by placing ficbinding in a continuity of countercultural creators and activists and illustrating the necessity for fandom preservation efforts.

"Does Lossy mean Bad?" COMPRESSION EXPLAINED! (Arts & Crafting, Audio, Video | moderated by bessyboo):
If you create any kind of digital art in audiovisual formats, you're probably familiar with the idea of some formats being "lossy" or "lossless." But what do these things mean, how do they actually work, and why should it matter to you? Join bessyboo for a tech workshop on how to make sure you're putting out the best quality files you can at the right file sizes.

Back On My Bullshit (Community | moderated by sisabet):
You think you are completely finished and have this fandom out of your system. You don’t. You think this one pairing type was just an aberration. It wasn’t. You think you are out and it pulls you back in - Time is a flat circle and nothing truly ends, even your bullshit about X.

Everything You Think You Know About Copyright Law Is (Probably) Wrong (Community | moderated by bessyboo & v_greyson):
What is "fair use," anyway? Why do fans who have been around a while hiss at the name Anne Rice? Why can't you put your Patreon on AO3? Two legal professionals will correct some common misconceptions, answer your questions on fanworks & copyright law, and reminisce about the days of putting disclaimers on everything.

Fashionably Late: Navigating Established Fandoms (Community | moderated by sweetestdrain):
We all come to fandoms in our own time, and sometimes that might be months (or years, or decades) after the fandom's popularity has peaked. Whether it's the joy of discovering a cornucopia of amazing fic and art ready-made for us to devour, or [gif of Troy Barnes walking into chaotic room on fire], we'll discuss these experiences as well as the pros and cons of making fanworks for your exciting new love when your fellow fans have been around much longer -- or moved on entirely.

Vidding 101: Learn How To Vid Without Editing (Video | moderated by AbsoluteDestiny):
Many Vidding 101 sessions focus on the technical side of vidding - preparing footage, making clips, using editing software. This panel isn't about that. This is about combining footage you'd like to vid with music you think might work and finding out if it does. Is the music a good fit? Does it work with this POV? Does it create the right kind of feeling? Does the combination do something surprising? No special software is required to do this and we'll be doing some live vidding experiments during the panel.

Writing Immortal Historical Characters (Writing | moderated by Raine Wynd):
Tips and tricks on writing immortal characters with long, complex histories.

Hi, all! It’s time to start thinking about what we would like to discuss, learn about, and enthuse over in this year’s FanWorks panels! Panel brainstorming is a great way to get inspiration for panel topics and bounce ideas off one another. (It’s also a good time to find co-mods for panels you’re interested in leading, or to get mods to take on panel ideas you have but don’t want to lead yourself!)

Because FanWorks is virtual this year, there will be fewer panels than usual, but the goal is still to have panels evenly split across the usual tracks:

Writing:

• Fanfiction: writing, reading, and betaing
• Meta and fandom essays
• Ship manifestos
• Poetry
• Zines: editing and collecting

Video:

• Fanvids, AMVs, machinima, and all kinds of fan music videos
• Meta videos: Fan theories, reaction videos
• Fan filmed content: Fan films, sweded films, cosplay music videos

Community:

• Platforms: Archives, blogs, social media, chat groups (eg slacks and discords)
• Events: Gift exchanges, challenges, fests, conventions
• Curation: Recs lists, fan wikis

Audio:

• Podfic
• Podcasts
• Original fan music
• Filk
• Fanmixes
• Audio edits

Art & Crafting:

• Drawing, painting, and other 2D art in digital and physical mediums
• Manips, gifs, icons, and other digital manipulation of images
• Graphic design for websites, merchandise (including stickers, pins, shirts etc.), and more
• Cosplay
• Knit crafts, clothing design, and textile arts
• Design and creation of dolls, custom figures, models, prop replicas, and more
• Jewelry, buttons, and other accessories
• Fannish home goods and home design
• Fandom-inspired food and drink

Panel topics can range from introductory to advanced. If you want to brainstorm ideas for panels to introduce people to your favorite kind of fanwork, you can! If you’re interested in brainstorming ideas for panels on specific techniques or more in-depth topics, you can do that too.

Panel nominations open on August 30th and run until September 13th. Until then, brainstorm away! If you have ideas for panels but don't want to commit to running it yourself, this is a great time to share those ideas - make sure to note if your panel topics are free to a good home, and maybe someone else will want to run it!

Hi, all! It’s time to start thinking about what we would like to discuss, learn about, and enthuse over in this year’s FanWorks panels! Panel brainstorming is a great way to get inspiration for panel topics and bounce ideas off one another. (It’s also a good time to find co-mods for panels you’re interested in leading, or to get mods to take on panel ideas you have but don’t want to lead yourself!)

Two commons types of panels are group discussions and presentations:

• A discussion panel is driven by audience participation. The moderators act mostly as discussion leaders, working to keep the discussion focused and ensure that a variety of voices are heard.
• An instruction or presentation panel is largely or entirely focused on moderator presentation, with moderators leading the panel audience through specific techniques, aesthetics, platforms, software, and so on. These panels may include some audience discussion, if time allows.

If you have an idea for a panel in a different format, that’s fine! Ideas for panels that could fit into multiple tracks (i.e., a panel about fic trailers, including content relevant to both the Writing and Video tracks) are also fine.

The standard panel length is 45 minutes; panels start on the hour with fifteen minute (or longer) breaks in-between. If you have ideas for panels that might work better as two hour panels, feel free to toss them in! Sometimes scheduling allows for longer panel sessions, and these can be great for digging into discussions or material at greater length. (Due to time constraints, these types of panels are likely to be limited.)

Panel topics can range from introductory to advanced. If you want to brainstorm ideas for panels to introduce people to your favorite kind of fanwork, you can! If you’re interested in brainstorming ideas for panels on specific techniques or more in depth topics, you can do that too.

Panel nominations open on March 17th and run until March 31st. Until then, brainstorm away in the posts below!

Arts & Crafting
Audio
Community
Video
Writing