My First Panel

Posted in Life Lately by

This past weekend I attended CONvergence for the 5th year. Usually, I plan different blog posts around my time at this convention because it’s honestly my favorite con I attend. Each CONvergence is special for me because it’s a chance to see friends I don’t see that often. This is my first year as a panelist as I appeared on the DC Comics / Justice League discussion panel!

[Image shows a booth. There's a woman talking with a name tag that says "Mariah" nearby her. She's wearing star earrings with a gold band on her wrist]
Panelist at CONvergence 2018

Two weeks before CONvergence. you can sign up for panels that seem interesting to you. I only picked panels with topics I felt passionate about and I could talk about that topic for an hour. There were a couple I wanted to be on that I didn’t get picked for, but I was sent an email a week later from our moderator alerting me that I had been chosen to appear on the panel. He had sent me an email asking what topics to talk about for this panel.

[Image shows a conference room with many rows of chairs. There are 19 people seated in chairs throughout the rows. The room feels pretty empty for how big it is]
About 30 people attended the panel

Thursday came around and I walked into the room where my panel would be. I wasn’t sure how many people would be attending since the timing of my panel also coincided with a larger show on the main stage. I think we had about 30? ish. people came to see our panel including a couple friends of mine. As we waited for the panel to start, I found out one of the panelists wrote articles at Twin Cities Geek and he complimented the articles I wrote which was kind of neat.

[Image is a picture of two cosplayers. One is dressed as Killmonger. The other is Donna Troy from Young Justice]
My fellow panelist for the Justice League panel. Cosplaying as Kilmonger from Black Panther

The clock turns to 8:30 PM and I see our moderator hasn’t shown up. The moderator at a panel is responsible for keeping the panelists on a topic so we aren’t rambling about something unrelated. The moderator didn’t show up to the panel at all along with another panelist. Me and my two other panelists had to lead the entire panel without any prep. I will say I think we did a great job at keeping time, but also entertaining the audience by asking questions and getting their commentary.

Overall being a panelist was a really fun experience! It was slightly nerve-wracking before the panel began and my heart felt like it was going to explode out of my chest, but I felt energized after I had talked. If you have a chance to be on a panel, you should definitely apply! This CONvergence was certainly a memorable convention and of course, I’m already counting down the days till next year.

16 thoughts on “My First Panel”

  4. One of these years I will make it to Convergence! It’s so close yet so far away when kids are in the mix. Haha. Kudos for running the panel without a moderator! I bet you guys did awesome and I’m wish I could have been present to attend.

    Like

    Reply

  6. That’s so rude the moderator and panelist didn’t show up. I hope nothing serious caused them to miss out, but you guys probably did an awesome job! Congratulations!!

    Like

    Reply

  7. This is so awesome. I hope you are very proud of yourself. Talking in front of people, no matter how many there are, can be super terrifying – for me anyway. And all without a moderator. Well done all of you! Also, that Killmonger Cosplay is AMAZING!

    Emma | https://geekytourist.com

    Like

    Reply

  8. That is pretty cool, particularly on a panel where things could get contentious. From the sounds of things that didn’t happen, so, well done for doing it in the first place and keeping things under control

    Like

    Reply

Leave a reply to Emma Cancel reply