Paneling

No, not this kind....





This kind....




(And can I just say, you haven't lived until you've seen this group do a panel. Rumor has it we may see some of them together again this year. Fingers crossed.)

Anyway. Of all the email I receive about Bouchercon, the most frequent topic is the program, or more accurately, panels. In general, the themes are:

• We hate traditional panels and don't want to see them ever again.
  
• The only reason we come to Bouchercon is to see the traditional panels. We want lots of them.
  
• I want to be on a panel. No, wait! Two panels! No! Three panels! No, no! All the panels!
  
• I don't want to be on a panel. I come to Bouchercon to be alone.
  

It can be a tad confusing.





So, we do the best we can to put together a program that's entertaining and informative and has a little something for every taste.

How exactly do we do that, you ask? Good question.

This is what's going to happen: After the 4th of July weekend (during which we will drink lots of beer and eat lots of hot dogs, in preparation for the task ahead) we'll start sending questionnaires out, via email, to those who have offered to participate in the program. We'll then use the responses to start building our program schedule, which will be finalized during September.




And here's your part.

First, If you want to participate on a panel, you need to be registered by the end of this month. When we start putting together the panels we're going to be working primarily with the registration list as of June 30. Will there be exceptions? Sure. This is Bouchercon, not D-Day. (Although, the two share some rather frightening similarities ;-) But you can do yourself, and us, a huge favor by registering now.

And second, watch for email from us, and when you receive a program questionnaire, respond to it (or don't blame us if you get a panel topic you hate).

An important note: If you want to be part of the program, we'll do our best to make that happen, but there will very likely be more volunteers than there are program slots: registering now will give you the best opportunity for participation.


And finally (and putting on my Cranky Pants for a moment - they're black and very cute) here are the answers to some questions I've recently been asked. See if you can guess what they are:

• No.
  
• Yes, of course.
  
• Maybe, we'll have to check into that.
  
• Are you kidding me?
  
• OMG WTF.