Fan Panels

Do you want to share your experiences, fan theories, or interests related to anime, manga, video games, Japanese culture, tabletop gaming, sci fi, or general nerd culture? Then apply for a Fan Panel at OMGcon 2016!

General Panel Information

At OMGcon, a panel is considered to be a minimum 50 minute presentation on a specific topic, with a 5 minute set up/tear down time at the beginning and end of the panel hour.

At least half of the 50 minutes must contain a structure of some sort, guided by the panelist. This could include a power point presentation, question and answer session, or other informative content. Group discussions with no structure are not considered panels, so attendees are encouraged to take advantage of the attendee lounge or other common areas for fandom meet ups.

While certainly not necessarily experts, panelists are expected to be knowledgeable about their topic. In return for your hard work, OMGcon rewards panelists working at least 3 hours of programming with free three-day badges as explained in our Comped Badge Policy below.

OMGcon reserves the right to refuse any prospective panel based on content, panelist capabilities, or past panel experiences at OMGcon. Simply submitting an application does not guarantee a panel at OMGcon 2016.

Specifically, there are often many duplicate panel ideas. In case of duplicate content in two accepted applications, OMGcon will contact both panelists and either (1) ask for the panels to be combined or (2) for each panel to cover a specific section of the topic so that they do not overlap. In case this is not possible, the panel with the most clear, well explained content will be chosen by the Programming Department.

Language and Content

OMGcon is a family friendly convention, so any panel run for a general con audience should be rated PG-13 or under (no full-frontal nudity or explicit language). Any adult language, nudity, graphic violence, or other adult content must be noted in the panel application.

Panels will not necessarily be rejected for adult content/language, but they will be given a 18+ rating. All panels with sexually explicit content will be run during the later hours of Friday and Saturday evening. Any panelist running an 18+ panel must be at least 18 years of age at the time of OMGcon 2016.

Age Policy

We encourage panelists of all ages to participate in OMGcon 2016; however, there are certain criteria that panelists under the age of 16 must meet in order to run a panel at OMGcon.

All panelists must be 16 or older to independently run a panel at OMGcon 2016. Panelists under the age of 16 must have written parental/guardian consent or a parent/guardian present at the panel. Written consent must be submitted no later than the Friday of OMGcon 2016 before their first panel.

Comped Badge Policy

As a bonus for running panels at OMGcon and helping us create our unique and fun programming, OMGcon will give a free three-day OMGcon 2016 badge for every 3 hours of panels run for each active panelist involved. Up to 3 panelists can receive free badges and must check-in with programming before each panel and participate in all 3 hours of programming to be eligible.

You can have as many people involved in your panel as you want, but the maximum number of free badges for panelists is 3 for each group (for 3 hours of programming). Please list all panelists on the application, and the first 3 panelists listed will receive Panelist badges for OMGcon 2016.

Any additional panelists will need to purchase a regular attendee badge to attend events and panels other than those they are listed as participating in. After May 30th, 2016, there will be no changes accepted to panelist lists, so please be sure that all of the participating panelists can attend OMGcon before that date. No changes will be allowed at the convention.

Changes to Policy

Due to past issues such as overbooking, panelist burnout, and monopolizing of panel topics, there will be a cap placed on the number of hours given to a single panelist or group. A panelist or group of panelists may run up to 9 hours of programming over the course of the weekend.

These 9 hours can be reached through any combination of panel lengths. For example, a panelist or group might run 4 panels of 2 hours' length each and one hour long panel. (4 panels x 2 hours= 8 hours 1 panel x 1 hour= 1 hour. Total= 9 hours of programming.)

Another panelist/group might run 5 hour long panels and 2 panels that are 2 hours long. (5 panels x 1 hour= 5 hours. 2 panels x 2 hours = 4 hours. Total= 9 hours of programming.)In the case that one panelist is part of multiple groups or runs panels both on their own and as part of the group, that panelist can only be involved in 9 hours of programming total.

For example, a panelist can run 3 hours of programming on their own and be involved with 6 hours of programming in a panel group. Individual members inside a panel group will have their hours totaled individually. Panel rooms will have a moderator to check-in panelists and make sure that this cap is not violated.