Beyond Panel Discussions
So, I’ve established that I’m angry about panel discussions. I'm definitely not the first and I won't be the last. But I'm asking you, now, to help me kill* (positive spin edit: go beyond) them. Get your gripes out. Talk about it. Demand better. Here are some reasons why: Attendees are passive and powerless. Most have one choice: listen or not listen. Some get to ask a single question. They ignore attendees’ collective expertise. If people bother to go to an event, they proba
Silence of the audience
I’m angry. I’m in a new city, a new flat, with a new job and no friends. I went to an event called Re-creating Communities, run by Melbourne Conversations. Free, in the incredible Deakin Edge in Federation Square. The 150-strong audience were a demographic mix and I’m sure they were a clever and interesting bunch. A like-minded temporary community, if you will. I didn’t talk to anyone. It was a panel discussion. It meandered down short tangents, skated across the surface of d
