We host a thousand hours of panels and need help from talented and enthusiastic fans who can create, practice and present imaginative panels and experiences.
Presenters whose submission is accepted will receive a complimentary Single Day pass for the day of their panel. If you participate on two or more panels you will receive a Full Event pass.
Here are some things we look for in presenter and panel submissions:
Public Speaking Experience:
Experience in public speaking in front of a live audience
Dynamic and enthusiastic presentation style
Ability and willingness to collaborate with 2-4 partners to develop up to three one-hour long presentations
Unique background and voice
Openness to developing a panel to fit with one of the key themes. Specific themes can include shows, movies, games or other trending\popular elements of pop culture. Generally, these will fall under
Anime\Manga
Comic Books
Fantasy
Games\Gaming
Horror
Science-Fiction
Panel Topics and Presentation Concepts
A novel presentation concept or format
An unusual topic or theme and\or a new approach to a topic
A new\interesting way of delivering content that’s beyond just a 40-50 minute lecture\Q&A
A unique viewpoint
A detailed outline and plan for delivery
We’ll ask for:
List of previous speaking engagements
Detailed outlines of previous or proposed presentations
Links to video of previous presentations
The more unique your background and voice as well as the completeness of your panel submission will increase the likelihood it will be selected.
Most of our programming is all ages. Panels that will feature strong language, graphic content, any degree of nudity or strong sexual innuendo may be less likely to be selected, and if chosen will need to be clearly marked as 18+.
Receiving a complimentary badge as a Panelist:
Provides the same in-and-out access as a paid attendee during all public hours. It does NOT allow early or special access.
Does not guarantee interviews, autographs, or photo ops with any invited guests.
Does not allow you to cut lines, save seats, or provide entry in the handful of paid events we schedule.
TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE PANEL PRESENTATION AND PUBLIC SPEAKING
Being a panelist at Phoenix Fan Fusion can be a fun, exhilarating, and memorable experience. But for some it can also be a scary, nerve-racking, and stressful ordeal. For many of us it’s a mixture of them all!
Phoenix Fan Fusion is an event that you are most likely passionate about (you are reading this after all!), but that doesn’t mean that normal public speaking concepts don’t apply. Yes we are all nerds and fans of the same things, but here are some great public speaking tips that can apply to Phoenix Fan Fusion or any public speaking event.
Public Speaking Tips from Toastmasters International
Feeling some nervousness before giving a speech is natural and even beneficial, but too much nervousness can be detrimental. Here are some proven tips on how to control your butterflies and give better presentations:
Know your material. Pick a topic you are interested in. Know more about it than you include in your speech. Use humor, personal stories and conversational language – that way you won’t easily forget what to say.
Practice. Practice. Practice! Rehearse out loud with all equipment you plan on using. Revise as necessary. Work to control filler words; Practice, pause and breathe. Practice with a timer and allow time for the unexpected.
Know the audience. Greet some of the audience members as they arrive. It’s easier to speak to a group of friends than to strangers.
Know the room. Arrive early, walk around the speaking area and practice using the microphone and any visual aids.
Be aware of the age range in the room. Please be courteous of families and small children. If your presentation involves use of adult language, explicit sexual content\inuendo and or graphic images then please WARN the audience at the start of your panel. They can then decide whether to remain.
Relax. Begin by addressing the audience. It buys you time and calms your nerves. Pause, smile and count to three before saying anything. ("One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand. Pause. Begin.) Transform nervous energy into enthusiasm.
Visualize yourself giving your speech. Imagine yourself speaking, your voice loud, clear and confident. Visualize the audience clapping – it will boost your confidence.
Realize that people want you to succeed. Audiences want you to be interesting, stimulating, informative and entertaining. They’re rooting for you.
Don’t apologize for any nervousness or problem – the audience probably never noticed it.
Concentrate on the message – not the medium. Focus your attention away from your own anxieties and concentrate on your message and your audience.
Gain experience. Mainly, your speech should represent you — as an authority and as a person. Experience builds confidence, which is the key to effective speaking. A Toastmasters club can provide the experience you need in a safe and friendly environment.
CREATING A GREAT VISUAL AID
Every panel room at Phoenix Fan Fusion is setup with a projector, why not use it? Visual presentations are a great way to support a presentation. With modern technology you can use videos, slideshows, sound, or animations. Here are some tips to a great visual aid.
1) Don’t create a slide full of text. When doing a PowerPoint presentation slide, don't put a lot of text in it. Remember, PowerPoint presentations only help the speakers to present the point they want to make, not all information comes from the text itself. You don't want to bore your audience; you want to give them information. If you really don't have any other way, create more slides instead. There's no harm in adding another 2-3 slides to express your view.
2) Read your own presentation. If you are just reading the slide, does the audience need a speaker? Your audience can read, this is one of the common mistakes speakers always made. Elaborate the points instead of just reading them. One tip is that speakers should delete some of the information so they can talk about it instead of showing the audience.
3) Be sure your font and background colors work together. Always choose the font color complimenting with the background, don't choose color that is nearly similar to the background. For example, blue is compliment with orange. Having an orange background with blue font is easier to read, thus attracting attention.
4) Don’t use too common or unreadable font. Unreadable font is probably an exaggeration, it's more like font that has twirling and winding until the audience can't even make up what letter was it. A common font like Arial or Times New Roman might be often used by other speakers. Be unique, but not in a bad way. Your attendees will look at 5 presentations that day before yours, how do you want to attract their attention?
5) Keep it simple. You may want to put every single detail into your slide just to make sure everything goes to the audience. Simple is better, use a few less pictures and a little less text to give what you show gravity. You are better off adding slides than having complicated overwhelming slides.
8) Know your stuff. This always happened if you're doing presentation in a team. They called a team because you can work with your team mates to get things done. However, hitching a free ride in presentation is just making you in worse position. Not knowing what kind of things you need to present is another death trap by presenter especially when you need to depends on the slide. What if there's something wrong with your slide? Things could get very ugly. So remember, do some research and prefer to make your own slide instead of asking for others to do it for you without you knowing.
ACHIEVING GREAT AUDIENCE INTERACTION
Audience interaction can be a great thing; it can also work against you if you don’t know how to handle it. There are a lot of ways to solicit this interaction and there ways to control it or steer it in the right direction. Phoenix Fan Fusion Moderators are all trained to manage this interaction if you have concerns about the audience be sure to ask to have a Phoenix Fan Fusion Moderator to help with your panel.
Soliciting Positive Interaction
Positive interaction comes in many forms, ranging from: laughter, shouting, hooting, hollering, questions, discussions, and literally jumping out of the seat! The first thing to keep in mind is knowing which will conflict with your presentation.
Engage your audience early and often! Many presentations are created with attendees holding questions to the end, this tends to not work as well at Phoenix Fan Fusion. Having regular breaks to ask questions or discuss talking points will keep the audience engaged throughout the entire panel. If you happen to get a question that takes you on a totally different path than you had originally planned, that’s fine. It may have been where the audience wanted to go.
The best interactions in panels come from controversy, assuming it can stop short of an argument. Having a positive discussion about two different points or ideals can be a lot of fun. Seeing an audience getting involved and passionate about a topic helps a panel flow, and it injects life. But it can turn negative if people take it personally.
Managing and Avoiding Negative Interaction
This is easier said than done, that’s why Phoenix Fan Fusion has such a great moderator team to help! Once again this can come from quite a few different sources:
The Trouble Attendee: Sometimes you may get an audience member who seems to want only one thing, your demise. Truth is they likely don’t want that, but want to share their own opinion and are just jealous you have the microphone! An easy way to deal with these attendees is to validate their point and to move on. It is much harder for them to argue when you agreed with them.
The Personal Argument: Most attendees at Phoenix Fan Fusion are passionate about their fandom. So when some attendees hear something that they feel is controversial they may take it personally. If someone does seem to be taking the discussion “to the next level”, move on to another topic and try to give them a chance to relax.
The Traitorous Teammate: It’s the betrayal that hurts the most. Sometimes you have a co-panelist who isn’t prepared, or they decide to take over. Panels are a team effort; try to include every person who is on the stage. More perspective and input creates a better discussion. If someone is a little less prepared, you can still include them in the discussion.
Panelist Policy
Phoenix Fan Fusion is a community event created for and supported by fans. One way of participating at Fan Fusion is to become a presenter. A presenter can be a panelist, host, performer, game master or anyone who creates and delivers content at Fan Fusion. Every year, we work with hundreds of presenters to bring exciting and engaging content for everyone to enjoy.
Being a presenter at Phoenix Fan Fusion is a privilege that comes with responsibilities and expectations including but not limited to:
Safety- presenters are expected to be mindful of the safety and security of
themselves and others at the convention at all times. Presenters are expected to
report any safety concerns promptly to Phoenix Fan Fusion staff or to Security
personnel.
Community conduct- presenters are expected to treat members of the community
with respect at all times and not to engage in harassing, unwanted, inappropriate
or questionable behavior.
Preparedness and punctuality- presenters are expected to be present and ready
to begin at scheduled times, to have properly prepared all materials and to have
practiced prior to the event
Professionalism- presenters are expected to behave in a professional manner, to
be respectful to other presenters, to attendees and to Phoenix Fan Fusion staff.
This includes dressing appropriately for the role.
Communication- presenters are expected to maintain open and timely
communication with Fan Fusion staff, and to follow any instructions given by
Phoenix Fan Fusion staff, Convention center staff or Security personnel
Presenters are selected on a per event basis and selection is solely at Phoenix Fan Fusion’s discretion. Phoenix Fan Fusion staff may remove presenters from events at any time, up to and during Phoenix Fan Fusion at their sole discretion.
Except in special cases which will always include a written contract, presenters receive no special consideration, access or treatment beyond complimentary passes based on the amount of content presented. All presenters must abide by the same security and prop rules as attendees and must enter the convention through the attendee access points following all of the rules and expectations of those access points including bag and prop checks and food\drink requirements as posted on the Phoenix
Fan Fusion website.
Convention policies can be found on the Phoenix Fan Fusion website. Presenters are expected to follow those policies at all times.
Presenters found to be in violation of the convention policies or who are found to be engaging in harassment or bullying may be removed from the convention. If a presenter is removed from the convention due to violating convention policies, that presenter will not be permitted to return as a presenter in the future. Depending on the nature and severity of the violation, the performer may also be permanently banned from attending the convention. These decisions will be made at the sole discretion of Phoenix Fan Fusion staff and are final.