laceblade

If I have identified a person with a name they don't want to be identified online, please tell me. You can tell me even if you are not that person, but you know that I've used the incorrect preferred name. I respect pseudonyms and I would like to use them. I've tried to include links to people's blogs because it makes it easier for the n00bs to become familiar with who people are.

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I spent most of Friday at The Gathering, where I was The Apprentice, and will be running it next year, hopefully with a partner. I like working The Gathering because it's a way for me to significantly help out as a (newly minted) ConCom member, but I'm also done at about 5pm on Friday and can enjoy the rest of the convention.

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NOT ANOTHER F*CKING RACE PANEL
Panel Description: Writers of color working in F/SF face unique challenges, it's true. But, at the end of the day, being a 'person of color' is only one aspect of what makes up our identities as writers and, while it's very flattering to be asked to be on panels, most of these panels never crack the ceiling of Race 101. With that in mind, wouldn't be nice for multiple writers of color to sit on a panel that isn't about race at all? Here's our chance to do just that. So, what are we gonna talk about, instead? Practically anything! Presented in game show format, NOT ANOTHER F*CKING RACE PANEL brings together writers of color to get their geek on about any number of pop culture topics (perhaps chosen from a spinning wheel of fortune) - none of them related.
Panelists: Nora Jemisin [nojojojo], K. Tempest Bradford, Moondancer Drake [moondancerdrake], Nnedi Okorafor, Naamen Gobert Tilahun

In this panel, 9 categories were taped to the wall, and random members from the audience used a Nerf-like gun to shoot and select a category. Once selected, the audience member would ask a question. The categories were: Politics, Zombie Apocalypse, TV, Aliens, Cyborgs, Food, Pleasures of the Flesh, Intoxication, and Real Estate.

This was probably the most heinous and hilarious panel I attended all convention. There was pretty much constant uproarious laughter, and I think that everyone had a good time.

badgerbag live-blogged the panel here.

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The Mismeasure of Man, and the Rest of Us, Too: Science, Colonialism, Genocide, and Science Fiction

I sat next to takumashii, who did a good job live-blogging the panel here.

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I don't have much to say about the Allies Meeting at lunch....I missed the way the discussion opened because we had to run and get food (how were we supposed to get food and come back by 11:30?!). There were a few spirals of fail, but that's what White Allies space is for - people failing, other people pointing out the fail and helping others get their shit sorted out, and then we can leave and go have discussions of race.

I attended a number of other panels later in the convention that further addressed how to be a better ally, and I really hope that those who attended the Allies Meeting were able to make at least one of those as well, or will be able to catch up online.

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I spent more money at this convention than I usually do, and I now have stacks of things to read, mostly piles of short story anthologies.

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Also in news that will make people happy....Obama nominates a woman of color to the Supreme Court!!