My obligatory Arisia schedule

Not too busy on Friday or Saturday, but man, am I going to need a drink come Sunday night. Being on panels with kradical and cucumberseed at least guarantees I'll see them during the con; for anyone else, I'm up for gaming (board games or board-games via iPad) during the downtime on Friday and Saturday, and will likely be at parties as well. I'm amenable to meeting up for the occasional meal, although with money being reasonably tight, am mostly planning on bringing food and supplementing with the staff den/green room/etc.

Hope to see some of you there!

Friday

5:30 PM The Supernatural Detective

From Asimov’s Olivaw to Sara Gran’s Claire DeWitt and beyond, we have a fascination with detective stories. Set in outer space, the city next door (but with vampires), and epic-fantasy worlds, the intricate steps of a procedural can be both soothing and interest-piquing. We like our rogues, but we also love the fearless investigators who solve the crime and set things right. Where’s the line between “Damn the man!” and “Book ‘em, Danno?”
Keith R. A. DeCandido, Max Gladstone, Adam Lipkin (m), Daniel José Older, Margaret Ronald

Saturday:

1 PM Unruly Places: When the Setting Does Not Behave

Streets that shift in the night, pathways that change destination, hills that certainly weren’t there yesterday: some places just don’t behave. What works of genre fiction have explored these unruly places? What stories can only happen where our rules just don’t apply?
Erik Amundsen (m), Greer Gilman, Elektra Hammond, Adam Lipkin, Shira Lipkin

8:30 PM Person of Interest: Politically-Relevant SF TV

Person of Interest gained new relevance in 2013 when the stories of the NSA’s massive surveillance program made the show appear a lot less fictional. But PoI has upped the stakes, adding hints of AI and other concepts as it begins to explore the implications of Finch’s machine. We’ll discuss what makes this show work, from the top-notch cast to the tight writing and plots.
Keith R. A. DeCandido, Gordon Linzner (m), Adam Lipkin, Sarah Smith

Sunday:

11:30 AM TV Year in Review

Our annual look back at SF, horror, and fantasy in 2014 on TV. What were the memorable shows? What are the new ones to watch? Vampires, time travel, super heroes—what’s hot and what’s not?
Howard G Beatman (m), Gayle Blake, Randee Dawn Kestenbaum, Adam Lipkin, Thomas Vitale

(2-4 PM Program Staff Office Hours)

4 PM The Arisia Curmudgeon Panel

Do you hate one of the holy grails of fandom? Can’t stand the original Star Wars movies? Think the answer to “Kirk or Picard?” is “neither”? Want to revoke Peter Jackson’s Oscar? Cross the street to avoid Browncoats? This is the panel for you! Expect a mix of vitriol, snark, and actual media criticism at this wide-ranging panel.
Abby Hafer, Adam Lipkin (m), Shira Lipkin, Mark Oshiro, Pablo Miguel Alberto Vazquez III

7 PM Video Gaming Year in Review

Our annual look back at the electronic games released in the past year. Big franchises like Dragon Age, Bayonetta, and Super Smash Bros. have all had major updates this year, and a few new big IPs like Titanfall and Watchdogs arrived (with mixed results). Meanwhile, indie games like Five Nights at Freddy’s, The Banner Saga, and Octodad: Dadliest Catch and have attracted a lot of attention. Our panel will discuss these and more.
Adam Lipkin (m), Maddy Myers, Israel Peskowitz, Jessa Phillips, Brianna Wu

8:30 PM Topical, Typical, and Trope-ical

Essays are devoted to analyzing them and TVTropes curates them. “Tropes” usually refer to the motifs we’re used to consuming in fiction, like the Casanova, the Action Girl, the Trickster, or the Hero’s Journey. What families and variations of archetypes add to the grand, literary tradition, and what are the stale, even harmful stereotypes readers could do without?
Heather Albano, Gordon Linzner, Adam Lipkin (m), Israel Peskowitz, Heather Urbanski

Monday:

11:30 AM Non-Genre Books That Fans Love

Many of us are very well-versed in genre classics and new genre work—but some fiction that’s not specifically SF/F has rooted itself in our canon as well. Which books that aren’t genre are familiar and beloved by genre readers?
Grant Carrington, Max Gladstone, Adam Lipkin (m), Meredith Schwartz, Sonya Taaffe

1 PM Representations of Disability on the Screen

Assistive tech has been a staple of genre movies and film, from Geordi’s visor on Star Trek: The Next Generation to Julie’s artificial legs on Extant. We’re also seeing more disabilities represented in fantasy, from How to Train Your Dragon to A Game of Thrones. How are genre creators getting it right (and wrong), both in their handling of disabilities and assistive tech, and in society’s treatment of those themes?
Adam Lipkin, Adrienne J. Odasso, Steve E Popkes, JoSelle Vanderhooft (m)

My obligatory Arisia schedule

Not too busy on Friday or Saturday, but man, am I going to need a drink come Sunday night. Being on panels with kradical and cucumberseed at least guarantees I'll see them during the con; for anyone else, I'm up for gaming (board games or board-games via iPad) during the downtime on Friday and Saturday, and will likely be at parties as well. I'm amenable to meeting up for the occasional meal, although with money being reasonably tight, am mostly planning on bringing food and supplementing with the staff den/green room/etc.

Hope to see some of you there!

Friday

5:30 PM The Supernatural Detective

From Asimov’s Olivaw to Sara Gran’s Claire DeWitt and beyond, we have a fascination with detective stories. Set in outer space, the city next door (but with vampires), and epic-fantasy worlds, the intricate steps of a procedural can be both soothing and interest-piquing. We like our rogues, but we also love the fearless investigators who solve the crime and set things right. Where’s the line between “Damn the man!” and “Book ‘em, Danno?”
Keith R. A. DeCandido, Max Gladstone, Adam Lipkin (m), Daniel José Older, Margaret Ronald

Saturday:

1 PM Unruly Places: When the Setting Does Not Behave

Streets that shift in the night, pathways that change destination, hills that certainly weren’t there yesterday: some places just don’t behave. What works of genre fiction have explored these unruly places? What stories can only happen where our rules just don’t apply?
Erik Amundsen (m), Greer Gilman, Elektra Hammond, Adam Lipkin, Shira Lipkin

8:30 PM Person of Interest: Politically-Relevant SF TV

Person of Interest gained new relevance in 2013 when the stories of the NSA’s massive surveillance program made the show appear a lot less fictional. But PoI has upped the stakes, adding hints of AI and other concepts as it begins to explore the implications of Finch’s machine. We’ll discuss what makes this show work, from the top-notch cast to the tight writing and plots.
Keith R. A. DeCandido, Gordon Linzner (m), Adam Lipkin, Sarah Smith

Sunday:

11:30 AM TV Year in Review

Our annual look back at SF, horror, and fantasy in 2014 on TV. What were the memorable shows? What are the new ones to watch? Vampires, time travel, super heroes—what’s hot and what’s not?
Howard G Beatman (m), Gayle Blake, Randee Dawn Kestenbaum, Adam Lipkin, Thomas Vitale

(2-4 PM Program Staff Office Hours)

4 PM The Arisia Curmudgeon Panel — Media, Panel — 1hr 15min — Burroughs (3E)

Do you hate one of the holy grails of fandom? Can’t stand the original Star Wars movies? Think the answer to “Kirk or Picard?” is “neither”? Want to revoke Peter Jackson’s Oscar? Cross the street to avoid Browncoats? This is the panel for you! Expect a mix of vitriol, snark, and actual media criticism at this wide-ranging panel.
Abby Hafer, Adam Lipkin (m), Shira Lipkin, Mark Oshiro, Pablo Miguel Alberto Vazquez III

7 PM Video Gaming Year in Review

Our annual look back at the electronic games released in the past year. Big franchises like Dragon Age, Bayonetta, and Super Smash Bros. have all had major updates this year, and a few new big IPs like Titanfall and Watchdogs arrived (with mixed results). Meanwhile, indie games like Five Nights at Freddy’s, The Banner Saga, and Octodad: Dadliest Catch and have attracted a lot of attention. Our panel will discuss these and more.
Adam Lipkin (m), Maddy Myers, Israel Peskowitz, Jessa Phillips, Brianna Wu

8:30 PM Topical, Typical, and Trope-ical

Essays are devoted to analyzing them and TVTropes curates them. “Tropes” usually refer to the motifs we’re used to consuming in fiction, like the Casanova, the Action Girl, the Trickster, or the Hero’s Journey. What families and variations of archetypes add to the grand, literary tradition, and what are the stale, even harmful stereotypes readers could do without?
Heather Albano, Gordon Linzner, Adam Lipkin (m), Israel Peskowitz, Heather Urbanski

Monday:

11:30 AM Non-Genre Books That Fans Love

Many of us are very well-versed in genre classics and new genre work—but some fiction that’s not specifically SF/F has rooted itself in our canon as well. Which books that aren’t genre are familiar and beloved by genre readers?
Grant Carrington, Max Gladstone, Adam Lipkin (m), Meredith Schwartz, Sonya Taaffe

1 PM Representations of Disability on the Screen

Assistive tech has been a staple of genre movies and film, from Geordi’s visor on Star Trek: The Next Generation to Julie’s artificial legs on Extant. We’re also seeing more disabilities represented in fantasy, from How to Train Your Dragon to A Game of Thrones. How are genre creators getting it right (and wrong), both in their handling of disabilities and assistive tech, and in society’s treatment of those themes?
Adam Lipkin, Adrienne J. Odasso, Steve E Popkes, JoSelle Vanderhooft (m)