panels

I've been on a number of panels now, and am trying to categorize them.

Panel Type 1

A--There is one "big" name on the panel. Everyone else defers to big name.
B--One particular person enjoys the huge audience draw for "big" name and decides to borrow some of it by tweaking big name.
C--"Big" name author is completely senile and while the others try to show respect, they cannot help but be bewildered by what comes from his/her mouth.

Panel Type 2

A--Everyone on the panel is pretty much a smaller name and they all wonder why they are being asked to speak on this particular topic.
B--The self-published author on the panel takes over and/or must be shouted down.

Panel Type 3

The panel is divided into two camps and there is pretty much a war between them on the panel, which sometimes devolves into physical fights.


Panel Type 4

Everyone is on the same page, has witty things to say, and the audience is tweeting the whole thing because it is so brilliant and quotable.

Panel Type 5

There is no moderator and the audience takes over the panel, not only directing where the questions lead, but giving "comments" instead that derail everything.

Panel Type 6

The moderator chides people on the panel as if in a classroom and he/she is the teacher of unruly students.

Panel Type 7

The moderator has no idea what is going on, rambles on, and the rest of the participants are forced to try to save the panel.

Panel Type 8

The panel is completely mutually incomprehensible to each other and to the audience. It is as if they are literally speaking different languages.

Obviously, I prefer Panel Type 4, but only about 5% of the panels I have been on are like that, and that is probably a generous number. I wonder if I were an organizer for a conference how I would put people on panels. I suspect it has a lot more to do with filling spaces and making sure everyone gets a proper number of panels than it does to do with figuring out who would work well together.

At Sirens, I got a lot of compliments from people who came to my panel on Female Friendships in Fantasy. I didn't really know how to react, since I hadn't moderated a panel before. After thinking about it a while, I have decided that if I did anything particularly well, it was simply that I picked good people to be on the panel, not that my actual moderating during the panel was superb. It's all about who is there and if they are willing to give and take.