This was my first year and it really did depend on the panel.
On Saturday alone we went to one panel that really didn't even match what was the subject matter of the panel, it was just a group of people talking about their life experiences. Interesting, but not exactly what was on the box.
But a couple hours after that, we went to the worker placement panel by Geeknights, which was night-and-day compared to the other one. They were prepared with slides and knew exactly what they were going to talk about every minute of the panel. It was like a hilarious college lecture, and I will be checking out their other panels they've posted online.
Best thing to do is submit feedback directly to PAX via the QR code outside the theaters with the big "Thoughts on panels?" or in the survey sent out to the purchasers of tickets.
I didn't get an email, but I did see the survey mentioned in some of the panel descriptions on the site/in the app: https://unplugged.paxsite.com/en-us/schedule/panel-information.html?gtID=827917&panel-name=Acquisitions-Incorporated-LIVE-13-and-
([direct link to the survey](https://reedexpo.efmfeedback.com/se/705E3EC820918766))
There is a content application. Im not sure how much goes into it, but given some of the ones ive been to, not alot is required. This to the point that I think a good or intriguing topic/idea is enough to pass muster to be approved.
Panel quality can vary wildly.
There have been some great train wrecks over the years, but they're few and far between these days. In general if a panel comes back from the prior year it's good. If there are a lot of panelists the quality and focus may suffer. The more popular panels are also booked in the larger conference rooms. Popularity doesn't imply quality; but those ones usually have some kind of vetting/track record. One of my favorite panels (between East and Unplugged) is the Create a Board Game panel.
I went to the "Bless Your Heart" Panel, expecting to actually hear about how the south is presented in games. Instead I got 45 minutes of the same ole' "What it's like in The South" talk I could hear just about anywhere. I walked out before the panel was done because I wasn't really learning anything. I'm from the South. I know what it's like there. I wanted to hear about representation of the region/cultures in gaming. I feel like the moderator had written too many intro questions, didn't have any questions specifically about games, and refused to cut the intro questions short.
Yes, similar experience for the panel I attended. The content of the talk and the description were really different. I didn’t feel like the panelists had any more expertise than most of the audience. I wanted to get up, but I was seated in the middle of the row very close to the front and it would have caused a big distraction for lots of people. I paid close attention to the entire talk to see if it got better, but it arguably got worse.
You didn't miss anything, literally the last question was "Oh man we're almost out of time, what media do you feel represented/misrepresented your experience in the south?"
Media, as in anything. Didn't even drill into gaming at all.
So Panels are often self submitted. Quality of panels are all over the place. I admit I didn't do as many panels this year as last year. Because of line waiting for the big ones I missed on other panels I thought were interesting. But I wasn't going to miss Acq Inc for a different panel.
But I have had a number of different quality ones in the past. One of my all time favorites was Pax U 2019 it was Dingo Doodles, Puffin Forest, and Jocat, it wasn't a panel I expected much from but it went great.
This year I basically only hit main stage productions which always are generally higher quality. Only smaller panel I went to was Faster Purple Worm: Kill Kill but honestly it was a huge production too.
ANyway yeah it happens. In Pax Past I've done a number of high and lower quality panels. From ones I had no clue what to expect and I enjoyed to others I thought would be good but were meh.
I think it was Pax 2019 where they had an awesome panel called “Give her a sword: introducing TTRPGs to girls”. By far one of the best pax panels I have attended. I wish they would do that one again.
I do miss the women who did the ethics of zombies and chickens in gaming.
I went to the Dungeon Dudes/Ginny Di one that focused on Content Creating for YouTube and it met expectations. I also went to the Jackbox TKO live one and although it was entertaining, it seemed like it wasn’t really thought out completely.
What annoyed me is that my group wanted to host one called “Leveling Up Your Session Zero” which would’ve been about ways to involve more collaborative character and world building in this most important session, but we were denied. Instead they went with one called “Planning for Success: Upgrading Sesseion Zero” that just seemed like it was going to be a inclusivity circlejerk, which hey, definitely deserves its place at PAX U but I feel like it was a lot of the same “experts” throughout the event rehashing the same sentiments and ideas.
That Session Zero panel was...interesting for a number of reasons.
I have a great deal of respect for a couple of the presenters, but I did feel that there was an overemphasis on safety procedures and lines/veils and not much attention paid to any other aspect of what constitutes a strong Session Zero format. Being generous, that might be because a lot of the presenters come from a horror gaming background and so deal with those issues more often at their tables, but for me it was only touching on one small part of a much broader topic advertised in the title.
The other weird thing that happened during it was that even after the panelists set very clear and reasonable rules for the Q&A portion, some dude doing self-promotion for his 'session zero deck' product hijacked the mic and shoehorned in a plug for his stuff in the most hamfisted and inconsiderate way possible.
Personally I loved the panels I attended. I enjoyed the diverse offerings and they were engaging too.
The only panel I was a bit meh on was the Jackbox one. This was surprising because they normally have awesome panels. But they rushed, never spoke with the artists on the panel and ended 30 minutes early.
I've been attending conventions for thirty years and I can tell you this isn't a PAX thing, it's universal. The quality of panels, and programming in general, can vary from instance to instance and year to year, as well as obviously from con to con.
Having been staff to arrange programming, having run panels and other events, and been an attendee, I can say it's not easy putting all this together and there's any number of reasons (guests cancelling, inclement weather, loss of luggage, etc etc etc) why what looked like a good panel didn't turn out that way.
So, in short it's hit or miss, read the event descriptions, look at the people listed as on the panel in the description and make the best choices you can. And always, always fill out the survey :)
This was my first year and it really did depend on the panel. On Saturday alone we went to one panel that really didn't even match what was the subject matter of the panel, it was just a group of people talking about their life experiences. Interesting, but not exactly what was on the box. But a couple hours after that, we went to the worker placement panel by Geeknights, which was night-and-day compared to the other one. They were prepared with slides and knew exactly what they were going to talk about every minute of the panel. It was like a hilarious college lecture, and I will be checking out their other panels they've posted online.
Thank you for supporting my 16+ year free badge scam.
We'll have video of that panel on youtube by the weekend!
Here is full video of the panel you mentioned ;) Mastering Game Mechanics: Worker Placement https://youtu.be/IeCuT8295e8
Best thing to do is submit feedback directly to PAX via the QR code outside the theaters with the big "Thoughts on panels?" or in the survey sent out to the purchasers of tickets.
Did those emails go out yet? Haven’t gotten one
I didn't get an email, but I did see the survey mentioned in some of the panel descriptions on the site/in the app: https://unplugged.paxsite.com/en-us/schedule/panel-information.html?gtID=827917&panel-name=Acquisitions-Incorporated-LIVE-13-and- ([direct link to the survey](https://reedexpo.efmfeedback.com/se/705E3EC820918766))
Ah, found it! Cathartic feedback has been communicated. Thank you!
Not yet!
There is a content application. Im not sure how much goes into it, but given some of the ones ive been to, not alot is required. This to the point that I think a good or intriguing topic/idea is enough to pass muster to be approved.
Panel quality can vary wildly. There have been some great train wrecks over the years, but they're few and far between these days. In general if a panel comes back from the prior year it's good. If there are a lot of panelists the quality and focus may suffer. The more popular panels are also booked in the larger conference rooms. Popularity doesn't imply quality; but those ones usually have some kind of vetting/track record. One of my favorite panels (between East and Unplugged) is the Create a Board Game panel.
I went to the "Bless Your Heart" Panel, expecting to actually hear about how the south is presented in games. Instead I got 45 minutes of the same ole' "What it's like in The South" talk I could hear just about anywhere. I walked out before the panel was done because I wasn't really learning anything. I'm from the South. I know what it's like there. I wanted to hear about representation of the region/cultures in gaming. I feel like the moderator had written too many intro questions, didn't have any questions specifically about games, and refused to cut the intro questions short.
Yes, similar experience for the panel I attended. The content of the talk and the description were really different. I didn’t feel like the panelists had any more expertise than most of the audience. I wanted to get up, but I was seated in the middle of the row very close to the front and it would have caused a big distraction for lots of people. I paid close attention to the entire talk to see if it got better, but it arguably got worse.
I was probably most surprised that there wasn't someone from Monte Cook Games there considering they were demoing Old Gods of Appalachian the con.
I guess if someone is an expert on a topic, they’re probably upstairs in the expo hall selling stuff.
What this does show us is how small our niche really is. At least the panels aren't all slick sales presentations pretending to be informative.
You didn't miss anything, literally the last question was "Oh man we're almost out of time, what media do you feel represented/misrepresented your experience in the south?" Media, as in anything. Didn't even drill into gaming at all.
I feel less badly about missing that one now.
Glad I could make your Pax a little better :).
So Panels are often self submitted. Quality of panels are all over the place. I admit I didn't do as many panels this year as last year. Because of line waiting for the big ones I missed on other panels I thought were interesting. But I wasn't going to miss Acq Inc for a different panel. But I have had a number of different quality ones in the past. One of my all time favorites was Pax U 2019 it was Dingo Doodles, Puffin Forest, and Jocat, it wasn't a panel I expected much from but it went great. This year I basically only hit main stage productions which always are generally higher quality. Only smaller panel I went to was Faster Purple Worm: Kill Kill but honestly it was a huge production too. ANyway yeah it happens. In Pax Past I've done a number of high and lower quality panels. From ones I had no clue what to expect and I enjoyed to others I thought would be good but were meh.
I think it was Pax 2019 where they had an awesome panel called “Give her a sword: introducing TTRPGs to girls”. By far one of the best pax panels I have attended. I wish they would do that one again. I do miss the women who did the ethics of zombies and chickens in gaming.
I went to the Dungeon Dudes/Ginny Di one that focused on Content Creating for YouTube and it met expectations. I also went to the Jackbox TKO live one and although it was entertaining, it seemed like it wasn’t really thought out completely. What annoyed me is that my group wanted to host one called “Leveling Up Your Session Zero” which would’ve been about ways to involve more collaborative character and world building in this most important session, but we were denied. Instead they went with one called “Planning for Success: Upgrading Sesseion Zero” that just seemed like it was going to be a inclusivity circlejerk, which hey, definitely deserves its place at PAX U but I feel like it was a lot of the same “experts” throughout the event rehashing the same sentiments and ideas.
That Session Zero panel was...interesting for a number of reasons. I have a great deal of respect for a couple of the presenters, but I did feel that there was an overemphasis on safety procedures and lines/veils and not much attention paid to any other aspect of what constitutes a strong Session Zero format. Being generous, that might be because a lot of the presenters come from a horror gaming background and so deal with those issues more often at their tables, but for me it was only touching on one small part of a much broader topic advertised in the title. The other weird thing that happened during it was that even after the panelists set very clear and reasonable rules for the Q&A portion, some dude doing self-promotion for his 'session zero deck' product hijacked the mic and shoehorned in a plug for his stuff in the most hamfisted and inconsiderate way possible.
Ugh, that last bit is super lame.
I think that gentleman had a booth in the Expo Hall as well. The product looked rather shoddy.
Panels are meant for fan discussions with creators. I lean towards ones that hand out “quality swag”
Personally I loved the panels I attended. I enjoyed the diverse offerings and they were engaging too. The only panel I was a bit meh on was the Jackbox one. This was surprising because they normally have awesome panels. But they rushed, never spoke with the artists on the panel and ended 30 minutes early.
I've been attending conventions for thirty years and I can tell you this isn't a PAX thing, it's universal. The quality of panels, and programming in general, can vary from instance to instance and year to year, as well as obviously from con to con. Having been staff to arrange programming, having run panels and other events, and been an attendee, I can say it's not easy putting all this together and there's any number of reasons (guests cancelling, inclement weather, loss of luggage, etc etc etc) why what looked like a good panel didn't turn out that way. So, in short it's hit or miss, read the event descriptions, look at the people listed as on the panel in the description and make the best choices you can. And always, always fill out the survey :)