I'm guessing the moderators and the panelists - in that order - myself, as I have noticed a difference in the overall quality of panels of all type depending on who was moderating and who was speaking.
But they are all connected. The moderators choose what to ask, the panelists are chosen, and the panelists decide what to say all knowing who will be in the audience in a general sense, after all.
Also, I've been at a panel or two where a good - or ok - panel went bad because the audience had bad questions, but I think this tends to happen when the panel is too basic. The best example that comes to mind was a panel on manga where the moderator and panelists felt the need to spend a decent amount of time explaining what it was and the history of it. The audience that had questions were not terribly respectful towards the panelists. Which was bad of them, no matter what. At the same time, the teens and young adults that asked the questions (and it was mostly teens and younger adults being disrespectful) probably didn't think much of the panelists expertise after having spent a half hour or so being told stuff they've known for years. The only reason I think it mattered that the question askers were younger is because I think they are more likely to have gotten used to brushing it off when people brush THEM off, and so were less likely to respond favorably to cues from the moderator and panelists.
At the same time, I've been to a few really good panels were the best questions being asked were ones asked by the audience - and teens at that. Whoever asked Laurie Halse Anderson about the fantasy and imagery in Wintergirls has my undying gratitude. Not only was it a fantastic question that prompted a great response, the whole exchange is what convinced me to shell out the money for the hardcover right then and there - and I very much didn't regret the decision.
This was also one of the best moderated panels I've been to, and I don't think that's a coincidence either. Partly because the quality of the audience and the moderators are both related to popularity, but also because better questions from the moderators prompts better questions from the audience.
"... I want to be at the YA panels you go to. In that sense, definitely the history is relevant."
er, well, it's never really discussed in depth - THAT's the panel I want to go to - but it's been mentioned in passing at lot of the one's I've been to.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2009-06-24 11:35 pm (UTC)But they are all connected. The moderators choose what to ask, the panelists are chosen, and the panelists decide what to say all knowing who will be in the audience in a general sense, after all.
Also, I've been at a panel or two where a good - or ok - panel went bad because the audience had bad questions, but I think this tends to happen when the panel is too basic. The best example that comes to mind was a panel on manga where the moderator and panelists felt the need to spend a decent amount of time explaining what it was and the history of it. The audience that had questions were not terribly respectful towards the panelists. Which was bad of them, no matter what. At the same time, the teens and young adults that asked the questions (and it was mostly teens and younger adults being disrespectful) probably didn't think much of the panelists expertise after having spent a half hour or so being told stuff they've known for years. The only reason I think it mattered that the question askers were younger is because I think they are more likely to have gotten used to brushing it off when people brush THEM off, and so were less likely to respond favorably to cues from the moderator and panelists.
At the same time, I've been to a few really good panels were the best questions being asked were ones asked by the audience - and teens at that. Whoever asked Laurie Halse Anderson about the fantasy and imagery in Wintergirls has my undying gratitude. Not only was it a fantastic question that prompted a great response, the whole exchange is what convinced me to shell out the money for the hardcover right then and there - and I very much didn't regret the decision.
This was also one of the best moderated panels I've been to, and I don't think that's a coincidence either. Partly because the quality of the audience and the moderators are both related to popularity, but also because better questions from the moderators prompts better questions from the audience.
"... I want to be at the YA panels you go to. In that sense, definitely the history is relevant."
er, well, it's never really discussed in depth - THAT's the panel I want to go to - but it's been mentioned in passing at lot of the one's I've been to.