Tale of Two Panels: Public Trust with Celebrity Q&As at Conventions
If you’ve been to a fandom convention, and attended a panel, you’re no doubt aware that the public Q&A portion can be fit or miss. Often, attendees will ask a question an actor can’t answer, ramble without asking a question, or expound on how much an actor or their character means to them personally. Given how rare the opportunity is to be face-to-face, it’s a waste of a lovely opportunity.
I attended two panels on two days at Fan Expo Canada, amid the record crowds. They couldn’t have been more different.
Public questions burn time
In high school, there was a project about careers in the media arts. I chose voice acting, and centred it around Jim Cummings, whose varied voice was the stuff of magic for my childhood. If you weren’t a listener to the Toon’d In with Jim Cummings podcast, it would have been an entertaining panel. But it was a case of “why buy the cow, when the milk is free,” as bounced through all the recurring tropes of riverboats, Mel Blanc, “if you do a good impression bad, it’s a new character,” etc.
At various points, Jim seemed generally dismissive of fair, honest questions from the moderator. If he’s truly that uncomfortable with different questions, he should really supply the local hosts with a list of pre-approved options.
But this column isn’t about Jim, it’s about the public. The very first person up to the mic was waving a camera around, insistent that he answer a fecal pun in Tigger’s voice. Kudos to Jim for saying no chance, but also pointing out that this same man tried the same nonsense the previous evening. It wasn’t clear if the question was asked at the taping of Toon’d In, featuring Mr. T, or at his signing table, but it doesn’t matter. In a room of easily 1000 people, it was a waste of everyone’s time.
In recent years, Fan Expo experimented with requesting questions in advance of the event, and then reading the best fan-submitted ones at panels. It led to endless screaming and pouting from the public on social media, and they didn’t solicit this sort of thing this time around. After that nonsense, I’d 100% support it returning.
Looking to get a prime spot at the Cosplay Red Carpet, I left immediately after that question. Perhaps the rest of the public questions were amazing, but they could still be amazing if submitted in advance.
Witch finds her niche
In contrast, Catherine Bell was the highlight of the weekend. I’m not sure if I’m one of the Goodies, but I did watch every episode of Hallmark’s The Good Witch TV series on Canadian station W. As I was in Toronto already, I stopped by on the Sunday for a few additional hours at the convention.
The JAG and Army Wives actress was delayed by the crush of humanity between buildings, but when before arrived, the charming host shared with the audience that he’d be surrendering most of his time to us. I braced myself.
But it was immensely clear that Bell was actively listening to each question, as she gave thoughtful responses to each. Some of the questions were certainly harder for her to answer, for instance whether she had thought of incorporating any of the herbal and holistic practices her character Cassie practiced into her life, but even then she shared how she had once considered creating a line of tea products.
Not a single question from the audience induced a cringe, and the host twice shared that they were hitting on questions he had scuttled from his plans, in our benefit. One audience member even noted that her question was inspired by the previous query, showing the benefit letting people ponder questions in real time. Proudly, not a single person made a leering question.
My thoughts
At the end of the day, I do wonder if size matters. It was the more intimate room where things went right, as there was far less anonymity. Strangers were chatting with each other ahead of her arrival, whereas Jim’s room was large and loud. There’s likely some magic number of expected attendees, where the switch between pre-submitted and public questions should happen.