Suggestion for more serious subject matter

[Stoney3K]

Disclaimer: I am not proposing this as a FACTS-god or anyone affiliated with the organisation of FACTS. I don't call the shots, I'm just the tech.

One thing I always enjoyed in the programming at several larger conventions was the addition of more 'serious' subjects.

At this time, we've got the cosplay as a main event you can watch, some Q&A's and quite a lot of dealers and artists showcasing their work. Which is perfect to sustain a successful event, but it may be worth the effort to add more interesting content.

I can buy autographs, commissioned sketches and merchandise anywhere off the Internet. However, something that's impossible to buy is the memory of going to an event, meeting people and possibly learning new things.

OK, enough with the vague statements now. Time to get down and dirty to the ideas. ;D

My idea would be to allow time in the programme for everyone who wants, to give lectures on Manga/Comic/Anime/SF/Fantasy/Games-related subjects.

Now some of you may think lectures are dull and uninteresting floods of information you need to swallow so you can pass a test (hey, we've all been students, right?), but that doesn't have to be the case.

I've been to countless conferences and events and enjoyed really cool lectures. Because the subjects interested me and because the lecturers know they are doing the lectures to entertain people just as much as provide information.

In short, offer the opportunity to learn new cool stuff, and have a lot of fun doing it.

On FACTS, what could a lecture 'track' like this look like? For example, you can have talks about doing comic art (e.g. "Drawing Comics for Dummies") and even a hands-on workshop, or lectures on working on cosplays and props. You could even have a guest of honour (author, director, producer, comic artist) give a lecture about their work on a specific project. Or even some really simple stuff like a basic 3D modeling workshop and a CGI show-off behind it.

I'd like to know everybody's thoughts on this so I can refine the idea, and if we have enough people backing it up, it may be worth proposing to the FACTS organisation for a later event.

[Mr. Facts]

Really a good idea.
Something we also thought about it.
But would this attract enough people?

I have an artist who would like to do a workshop for about one hour. But this wouldn't attract that much people as most visitors that come for artists prefer queuing up to receive a sketch for him or other artists. No way that these sketchlovers are going to leave the queue for a workshop. They don't even move if the artists have their one-hour lunch.

But yes, if every one gives first his thoughts about it, maybe some interesting ideas would come out from it..

[Stoney3K]

Oct 3, 2011 8:31:05 GMT 1 Mr. Facts said:

Really a good idea.
Something we also thought about it.
But would this attract enough people?

I have an artist who would like to do a workshop for about one hour. But this wouldn't attract that much people as most visitors that come for artists prefer queuing up to receive a sketch for him or other artists. No way that these sketchlovers are going to leave the queue for a workshop. They don't even move if the artists have their one-hour lunch.

But yes, if every one gives first his thoughts about it, maybe some interesting ideas would come out from it..

With artists doing workshops, I think it's fair that they can do that workshop for a fee. We have a pair of stunt doubles from the New Zealand Stunt School attending Ringcon, who do a workshop for about €50 per participant.

Personally I'd think the lectures should not be restricted to the guests of honour, but instead, a public 'call for participation' can be made so anyone can contribute content. And therefore, any anime/SF/games/fantasy/movie related subjects can be interesting.

IMO, if you have a good proposal and want to tell other people about your subject at FACTS, you would have the opportunity to do so. As long as it involves a FACTS related subject -- this could even be something about cool science like 'real-life Stargates in quantum physics'.

[dogsoldiersthingy]

Could be interesting to have some lectures or some workshops (how awesome would it be if you could get Greg Nicotero or Tom Savini to give a workshop? Not sure if that would be expensive though). If they're interesting enough, they might convince me to go both days (as I've mostly seen and done everything I want to do on one day). Some movie screenings could also be interesting, I know F.A.C.T.S. has done that in the past, but I'm not sure if they've done so in Flanders Expo?

[Stoney3K]

Oct 3, 2011 19:29:09 GMT 1 @dogsoldiersthingy said:

Some movie screenings could also be interesting, I know F.A.C.T.S. has done that in the past, but I'm not sure if they've done so in Flanders Expo?

We've tried to do so in the first year, but it didn't really work out and it wasn't really well announced back then.

I suppose movie screenings could work, however, it's also something that's more demanding on the venue when it comes to the screening room. (Which has to be dark and quiet)

[Finn]

Workshops are indeed fun to do and even to watch if it's something like stunt fighting. I've never been to or had the chance to attend a lecture but I hear they are done quite frequently during all sorts of conventions. Panels they call it, I think.

I'd definitely be interested if the offer was of interest to me.