Upcoming Conventions: 2005-2006

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Please use this thread to post information on all upcoming conventions. If you have some news about any conventions scheduled for after 2006, please start a new thread or tell me about it.

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Slayage II
« Reply #18 on: Jun 16th, 2004, 07:55am, originally posted by Sue.

Slayage.tv Academic Conference (II)

Last weekend in May, 2006:

From "Surprise"

The Judge puts his hand on Dalton's chest, and he begins to smoke.
Drusilla watches excitedly. The Judge's hand begins to burn into
Dalton,
who quickly combusts, disappearing in a flash of flame and smoke.

Drusilla: (gasps) (gleefully) Do it again! Do it again!
_______________________________________________________________

Rhonda and I have decided to "do it again."

In two years: The Slayage Conference on the Whedonverse.

Go to Slayage and follow the link at the top. Or go directly here:

slayage.tv/SCW

Start planning now.

David and Rhonda


---------------------------------------
Dr. David Lavery
English Department, Box 70
Middle Tennessee State University
Murfreesboro, TN 37132
Homepage: www.mtsu.edu/~dlavery/
Co-Convenor, The Slayage Conference on
BTVS: slayage.tv/conference

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« Reply #19 on: Jun 16th, 2004, 10:39am, originally posted by Lola M

Sue said:

Slayage.tv Academic Conference (II)

Last weekend in May, 2006:

From "Surprise"

The Judge puts his hand on Dalton's chest, and he begins to smoke.
Drusilla watches excitedly. The Judge's hand begins to burn into
Dalton,
who quickly combusts, disappearing in a flash of flame and smoke.

Drusilla: (gasps) (gleefully) Do it again! Do it again!
_______________________________________________________________

Rhonda and I have decided to "do it again."

In two years: The Slayage Conference on the Whedonverse.

Go to Slayage and follow the link at the top. Or go directly here:

slayage.tv/SCW

Start planning now.

David and Rhonda


---------------------------------------
Dr. David Lavery
English Department, Box 70
Middle Tennessee State University
Murfreesboro, TN 37132
Homepage: www.mtsu.edu/~dlavery/
Co-Convenor, The Slayage Conference on
BTVS: slayage.tv/conference

So Sue - can non-academics come to Slayage? Can folks just attend to hear from others? Can anyone present papers or participate, or just folks who are affiliated in some way with a college or university? And if it is allowed, do you thing it would feel welcoming / comfortable for non-academics?

I know I could just go to the site and prowl around and probably get these questions answered, but figured I would get your personal thoughts first.

Lola

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« Reply #20 on: Jun 16th, 2004, 12:14pm, originally posted by Sue

Lola said:

So Sue - can non-academics come to Slayage? Can folks just attend to hear from others? Can anyone present papers or participate, or just folks who are affiliated in some way with a college or university? And if it is allowed, do you thing it would feel welcoming / comfortable for non-academics?

I know I could just go to the site and prowl around and probably get these questions answered, but figured I would get your personal thoughts first.

Lola

Lola,

Anybody!

Now, it's not a fan convention--no TV personalities or costumes.

But I had a great time just being in the company of that many (350) avid and highly intelligent Jossverse fans. More presentations than you could possibly hope to attend. Some very scholarly, some not so much.

Mary (makd) also attended. We met some fanfic writers.

Regarding presentators: Anybody can submit a paper. I assume it could certainly be rejected if not up to their "standards." I heard at least a few papers which really were not academically impressive at all--one at least was presented by a college sophomore. makd might know more about that process.

Some were very scholarly with references and slides and video clips. Some based their premise just on the show(s); others referred to books and articles written about Buffy. Some were way too long for the 20 minutes allotted. Some were poorly presented (read, rapidly, head down, no inflection)--other presenters had a lot of flair. (Anything with video clips went over the best, but there were a number of A.V. glitches so people who had brought clips or slides couldn't get them working.

Some papers were presented in pairs.

There were several group panels.

Truly, truly, We have a number of people and essays which would measure up well, I would think.

Nan could take highlights of all her season 5 reviews and work them into an over or an examination of season/series thematic arcs.

There were sessions devoted mainly to characters studies--Anya, Andrew, Xander, Willow, Spike.

Papers relating Buffy to Shakespeare and other writers, to every epic hero out there. (The "Heroes' Journey "essay on the "London Calling" website would make a spectacular presentation--does anybody have an up to date URL on that?) Buffy and religion(s); philosophies, evolution of language, violence, feminism, pop-culture, gender roles.

So--anybody can submit. If accepted then you present. Anybody can attend. (It was $100 for general public for Thursday night thru Sunday; $50 for students. Which is really alot cheaper than a lot of the fan conventions--but, you know, no JM or AD, or BD. Continuing education credits were offered thru MTSU. Of course transportation, hotel fees, banquet was $20.

Maybe makd will also comment.

Went back and reread your question: Comfortable to attend--absolutely yes. Comfortable to present, also yes unless you hate public speaking. This was like a giant group of S'cubies--well spoken, thoughtful, kind, excited to be with one another. I personally didn't see or hear any instances of "flaming" type behavior. There were people who didn't agree with the premise of the presenter (like the emasculation of males by Buffy) but nobody was rude.

[teacherdarling1]

Anyone planning on going to James Marsters and Friends in September in Long Beach, California?