Things To Keep In Mind For A Great Anime Panel

I recently wrote about taking Briar to cons, which was awesome, although she wasn’t the main reason I’d gone in the first place. Yes, I’ve always enjoyed geeky conventions and have certainly gone for both business and pleasure, but this particular Sabakon was very important. The year prior, the Black Moor Productions team had gotten their first-ever panel and we were stoked! In 2018, our panel submission had been approved again, but this time so had a second panel that I’d requested with no real thought; my first panel on anime journalism.

Let me reference this particular post with a few important factors; when I placed the request for my journalism panel, I hadn’t really considered the possibility that it would be accepted. Black Moor’s voice acting panel, on the other hand, was exceptionally important to me. The planning and effort that went into it was exhausting, but the results were absolutely stellar. With this in mind, here’s what happened when I found out both were approved.

For starters, I looked at the schedule just a day or so before the approval e-mails were sent out. I saw the days and times that each panel was going to be scheduled for. Black Moor’s timing couldn’t have been any better, but my anime one was awful; it was the first and only panel that would happen in the morning section on the last day of the con. Let me give you a spoiler; this panel absolutely bombed for me. Black Moor’s, on the other hand, did not! There’s a few things I learned from my failures with the Ashley’s Anime panel versus my experiences with Black Moor, and if you’re going to be hosting a fandom-like panel, you may want to keep these tips in mind.

Timing

I always knew that timing was important to me as a con attendee, but I never thought it would be so brutal as a panel host. When I saw just how early the Ashley’s Anime panel was going to be, I could have cried; that was already earlier than I wanted to be at the convention in the first place, but it also gave me very little time to prepare in the morning should I need any last-minute things. Of course, the obvious solution would be to double check ahead of time, but that isn’t quite so easy when you have another panel to prepare.

Black Moor hit the jackpot having an afternoon slot on a Saturday. If you’re going to a three-day weekend convention, Saturday is always the best day. You’ll see far more attendees, since this is the day a combination of full weekend pass and one-day pass goers alike will be going. The afternoon is also perfect because it’s the peek time that everyone will be there; regardless of whether or not they woke up early to go.

The morning of the Ashley’s Anime panel, I was rushing. By the time I got down to the convention, they were still setting up and it took a while to get a volunteer to come unlock the door I was supposed to be hosting in. As you can imagine, not a lot of people came. In addition, they were all pretty tired, so they weren’t really looking forward to a participatory panel where they would have to ask questions. If you get a morning slot, don’t be discouraged, but keep these few things in mind:

1. Prepare a more visual display, if applicable. Even if you’re just giving a lecture, it might help for the more tired attendees to keep up with what you’re saying. Visuals are always a plus anyways!
2. Don’t go off on too many stories, unless asked by an audience member. Since they showed up for information and it’s not the best time, it’s better to give them their facts right away.
3. Read your audience. Know when they’re not in the mood for questions and pick up the pace with something else. This is where I would almost encourage a story, if it’s really applicable and not too long. If things are getting awkward, drop the teaching facade and ask what they would personally like to learn.

Visuals

As per one of my suggestions in the last section, visuals can always be exciting. Especially when you’re doing a panel by yourself, it can be useful to have something to point to or reference. Even if you did get a good time slot, that only means that you’ll possibly have a large audience to entertain. Here are some visuals you can consider including in your presentation.

1. A biography of your positionality. Since I spent so much time on Black Moor’s panel, I had absolutely no time to prepare the kind of bio I would have liked for my presentation. I personally value knowing who’s speaking to me because it tells me why I should listen to their advice and also gives me a small picture of who they are.
2. Examples of your work are always a good thing to include, if they are applicable to your topic. Even if it’s a writing piece, you can frame it in color on a slide and show the sites they were published on; even a collage of headlines or titles would be cool!
3. Graphs are a typical go-to when you’re talking about something informational. Of course, not all panels really have a research component but they most certainly could! You can always post a poll long before the convention to gather your own data and show your audience what your followers personally think on a subject. It can also be a fun way to do a Q&A with attendees and showing them fun answers!
4. Following the thought of the last point, you can also include a game in your visuals. Especially if you want to add some spice and involvement with the audience, games are a great way for everyone to relieve some tension! While Black Moor did not have visuals, we did play a game where audience members could ask questions while voice acting in order to receive special prizes. It was a fantastic idea!

Prizes, Swag Bags And Pamphlets!

Who doesn’t love the sound of getting free things from a panel? At the very least, getting a pamphlet with the information you’ve just learned about is always a nice thing. I found this to be one of the things the Ashley’s Anime panel was missing and the one thing Black Moor had really going for it.

Because we had a partnership to hand out gifts, the crowd got pretty excited and seemed much more involved. At the end of the panel, people were able to come up and grab our information and cards that had everything they needed to know about us and how to get in touch; something you definitely want to do. Here’s a few ideas of what you can hand out at an anime panel.

1. An informative pamphlet will never hurt, especially if you have a lecture type of panel. This way your audience doesn’t have to stress over the massive info dump you’re about to throw at them for next hour or so. Make it colorful, visually exciting and concise; large blocks of text can be intimidating. Keep to bullet points and small paragraphs as much as possible with an emphasis on visuals!
2. Keychains, small toys, shirts and any other applicable, affordable thing you can find that relates to your topic. For Black Moor’s panel, we couldn’t exactly afford our own merchandise, but we did have patrons who let us hand out their merch and we also had small plastic fish that matched our brand! If none of these would apply to your panel, you could always pass out candy; it’ll definitely help if you have a Q & A or participation heavy portion in your presentation.
3. Exclusive content is always going to be the best thing you can hand out at a convention. Don’t be afraid to get creative! Certainly, my Ashley’s Anime panel might not have had much of a need for anything exclusive, but if I had an Etsy shop, I could give a discount or coupon to attendees. Those who came to Black Moor’s panel recieved an exclusive episode only for con-goers. Ideas could be anything from an audio file on a CD to exclusive written content. It’ll be valuable because it’s rare.

But Ashley, What If It Bombs?

So what? Anime conventions will always have a few panels that completely tank, and it’s a very real possibility that yours will. One of mine obviously did, and that’s okay! The important thing is to not let it get you down. Instead, learn how to grow from it so that you can create a better panel for the next convention. However, if you’re in the middle of a panel and are desperately trying to save it, here’s a few last resort tips.

1. If you notice the audience isn’t super into it, don’t be afraid to stop and acknowledge their lack of involvement. Don’t apologize or call them out, simply say, “Okay, I see we’re not really connecting here. So let me ask, what are you guys personally interested in?” Something that correlates to this sentence opens up the room to what your attendees want in the first place. You don’t have to go down with a burning ship if you don’t want to!
2. If no one shows up, or only a select few do, don’t be discouraged. There are a few reasons this may have happened, including time or even the title and description given on the panel. Reassess what you can do next time to make it a more enticing panel to check out; i.e. change the name or add more to the description. Don’t ignore the few people who show up! Still give them a panel they’ll enjoy and thank them for coming.
3. If you have a guest being incredibly rude or rowdy during the panel, do your best to advert attention from them and focus on those genuinely interested. We’ve had a few people ask rude questions during our first voice acting panel a year ago; it’s important to be professional and answer honestly, even if you’re hosting a goofy panel. Be polite, move on, try to advert attention.

Of course, this small guide is only a few things out of the many you can do to create an incredible anime panel! If you have any specific questions or are looking for more detailed advice, don’t be afraid to leave a comment. As a community, we should work together to create interesting content we can all enjoy, and that includes panels. Happy con-going!