i would like to say, nick an idea or 2 off avcon, one of them being a yuri panel

I remember that at overseas cons, the current state of the industry is always a populat discussion panel i.e piracy and effect on industry, recession and effect. I think the purpose was that it would encourage people to buy DVDs to try and support the industry as much as possible?

now that is a good idea, its a topic that is never talked about, or its a very rarely talked about topic @ the very least

We could always invite Madman reps to actually comment on the topic as well + the guests to make it a big panel dicussion since the guests would be in some way or another affiliated with these problems or the problems that stem from these situations. plus it would give them a bigger role and more interaction at the convention instead of being cooped up inside their rooms? It would have been awesome to get the ADV guest from this year to comment, since they are really much a part of the whole situation. I am pretty sure Madman would jump on board since it would promote buying DVDs? instead of piracy since the industry isn't as rosy as your shoujo anime and manga, and people are losing jobs, money etc because of piracy, bootlegs etc

omg. someone do a panel about how to identify whether some items/dvds/merchandise is bootleg or not. I am sure alot of people would like to be enlightened on how to be more streetsmart when buying from stalls, online and everything and not get ripped off. Cause I know it has happened to me before :( and I didnt realise until after I bought it and ran off because I was so happy only to find out I got ripped off :(

they are great ideas, and i 2nd the ideas and points

Oh, yes! I concur with Wendaii! That would be awesome!

I have a feeling we had a bootleg panel a year or so ago, but it would be nice to see it again because it is such a huge topic which can effect any con-goer :D

i dont think smash has ever had a bootleg panel, its croped up in the forums. but it is a great idea to have one

I thought we had one in 2009, too.

No we have I swear! :D (I'm staff and I remember the staff organising it working on it back years ago).

I went and looked through my collection of SMASH program booklets from years passed. We had it at 2:30pm in the Panel Room at SMASH 2008. ;)

I still agree that it would be something nice to see again as it is helpful to so many people to know what to look for when buying anime merch :D

(Unfortunately I'm missing the program book from this year, gaaa must try and pick one up at the next meeting)

I would love a 'state of the industry' panel.

I think we can take some ideas from cons overseas such as the US... they have a tonne of massive anime cons with many panels. Though a lot of theirs depends on resources, I'm sure we can pull off a few too.
I remember going through panels for Sakura-con (as well as other US cons) and they had things such as "J-rock 101", "Japanese idols 101", "Harajuku fashion", "What is Fanfiction?", "Kabuki in Japan", "Wanna trade figurines?", "Makeup lessons", etc etc...

Makeup lessons usually turns up in cosplay panels (so cosplay makeup) ;) because otherwise it doesn't have much to do with anime/manga scene.

Fanservice - what is it, why does there sometimes seem to be so much of it in anime (particularly certain genres), do the fans actually appreciate it?

how about a general information panel about fanservice, the difference between hentai and general fan service because there are alot of people who interchange the terms and dont really understand the difference between the terms, especially those who are new to the fandom, or just dont know about anime in general. might clear up some issues especially people who avoid good funny echhi anime because of the connotations of hentai and all :D just clear up the issues and everything

I've always wanted to see a panel about fanfiction. What makes a good fanfiction? Is it a good idea to add original characters? And so on, so forth.