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Program Items
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Program Item Descriptions.
These are the individual descriptions of program items for CopperCon 22!.
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WRI 01 The Jedi Library
What are your favorite Star Wars books? How do the books harmonize with the movies? What do you wish the next series of books would be?
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WRI 02 Fan Fiction
Making Our Own Myths
Fans, being the erudite and literate people that they are, often find inspiration from the dream factories of Hollywood or the great SF/F authors, and then set pen to paper, finger to keyboard, or even shoot movies. Occasionally, they even gain some measure of fame or even make a decent living (if they can get the licensing rights) from these pursuits. Let's talk about the joys, whether sublime or mundane, of creating fan fiction. This same panel is listed in the Fan section as FAN 05.
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WRI 03 Writing Star Wars
We're all familiar with the Star Wars universe. If you are trying to write within that universe, what would give your story that feeling that it really is set in that galaxy far, far away? Once we've figured out the rules, can we successfully break them?
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WRI 04 Writing About Transcendent Themes
How do you communicate with an audience, maybe even a paying audience, about things at the edge of our perception, things that might be called metaphysical or mystical? Star Wars talks about the Force in what has been derisively called fortune cookie wisdom. Is there a better way to do it and still preserve the mystery?
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WRI 05 Writing With A Message
Writers seem to have something on their minds these days. We could be given to wonder whether with some authors we are reading science fiction or environmentalist propaganda (not to say that's a bad thing). Should writing always be grounded in "important" messages? How can we avoid being heavy handed in our delivery (assuming we don't want to be)?
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WRI 06 Sci Fi As The Gateway To Science
Many current technology workers cite science fiction as the reason they decided to make science or engineering their careers. Given this precedent, do authors have a responsibility to help lead future young people to similar epiphanies? What do we think that current writing is leading young people to consider as job fields?
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WRI 07 Mind Expanding Writing
Think about the possibility of expanding the mind through writing in 3 ways: the mind of the author, the mind of the audience, and the state of the art of writing. Does any one of these necessarily come first? How can we do any of them? Are there practice exercises? Special ways of generating breakthroughs? We can also talk about our experiences of expanding our minds through writing.
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WRI 08 The Struggle For Authorial Freedom
It seems like the enemies of freedom are everywhere in writing: the editors, the narrowminded public, our own self-imposed limits, and we haven't even mentioned the government yet. And yet, it could be argued that we are in a great age of freedom for self-expression. What is all this freedom business anyway and what would we use it for if we had it? How do we get and maintain freedom in a world of commerce and mundane demands?
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WRI 09 Is Science Fiction Obsolete?
Given the extreme pace of change in our everyday lives, how can science fiction hope to compete? Would science fiction authors be well advised simply to write contemporary dramas (involving lasers, computers, cloning, and all the stuff of the science fantasy of 25 years ago)? How do we keep the craft of science fiction writing relevant in our time of constant and frenetic change?
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WRI 10 The Future Of Shameless Self-Promotion
Because money probably isn't going to become obsolete anytime soon, we're still going to have to sell what we write. Are the techniques the same as they would have been 100 or 200 years ago? Maybe those techniques are just a little easier with the advent of e-mail and telephones? Or, in this age of science fiction as the present reality, are there really new ways of promoting ourselves and our work, for networking and making contacts?
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WRI 11 SF&F Poetry
Once Upon a Deathstar Dreary
Come join our participating authors to discuss and read their SF poetry. Debate the merits of fixed forms vs undisciplined free verse for the SF&F genre. Is poetry a suitable medium for science fiction? Why or why not?
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WRI 12 Publicizing and Protecting Your Work (Art, Fic, etc)
Fan Legality
When authors write stories featuring characters from other stories, movies or TV shows in new situations or adventures, these works of "fan fiction" may run into legal challenges because the borrowed characters, scenes or plots may be protected from unauthorized use under intellectual property laws. Specifically, fan fiction authors could be faced with copyright or trademark infringement claims. Technically, fanfic is a violation of copyrights. But as long as no one tries to sell or otherwise profit from the fanfic they write, most shows don't have a problem with it. Fanfiction can serve as free publicity for TV shows and movies. Some shows, like Sliders, Buffy, and Babylon 5, actively encourage fanfiction. So what are the boundaries? Do fanfic authors need to take steps to protect themselves?
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ART 01 The Art Of Star Wars
From the models and mattes in the 70's to digital perfection in the new millenium, Lucas has made movie magic. Discussion of the techniques and tricks as well as your favorite art moments from the Star Wars films
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ART 02 Collaborative Art
Artists work together in a medium(s) of their choice to create an art work for the Charity Auction
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ART 03 Trends And Fads In SF/F Art
Where is art going? Where has it gotten stuck? What will we remember in 20 years? What will we wish we could forget?
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ART 04 Collecting Art
Can you collect SF/F art as an investment or should you buy what you like? What are some other tips for aspiring collectors?
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ART 05 It's An Artist's Life
As entrepreneurs and visionaries, artists have a difficult life. How do you deal with the mundane aspects of being an artist. Let's commiserate and share tips
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ART 06 Art One Step Beyond
Discussion of experimental art forms and other non-conventional forms. Could they be the key to finding the next big thing? What's your candidate for the next trend?
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ART 07 Technology For Artists
Is a paint brush all you need, or is Photoshop your best friend? Are the newfangled tools liberating or poor substitutes for practice and talent?
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ART 08 Why Isn't Hollywood As Smart As We Are?
Despite spending millions of dollars, Hollywood still flubs up - Coke cans in Attack of the Clones, for instance. Continuity errors may even be the smallest of their sins. What are some of the most memorable mistakes they have made? How would we have done it better?
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ART 09 Reality For Artists
As art strives to represent the imagined and the fantastic, the demands of verisimilitude arguably increase. How would you draw a "realistic" dragon? What would a muscular Kzin look like? Stormtrooper armor is great looking, but is it also practical? Does it need to be? Let's talk about how the real world can influence the way SF/F art is portrayed.
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ART 10 The Decline, Fall, And Death Of Art
Isn't it true that winged unicorns are a sign of the approaching Apocalypse? Are today's artists swimming upstream against commercialism, postmodern despair, and the sense of irony that permeates today's culture. If so, why not swim with the current? Would dada and science fiction art make sense? Let's deconstruct that pegacorn and apply critical theory to our art show.
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ART 11 Star Wars Costuming 101
Basic Star Wars costuming techniques from the pros. Do you support the Republic, the Empire, the Jedi, or the Sith? Let everyone know by making your own costume at home!
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ART 12 Introductory Fan Art
Believable Photomanipulation
Arist participants demonstrate some of the possibilities in photographic manipulation using readily available software packages such as Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro.
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FAN 01 Universally Incorrect
Instead of talking about mundane politics a la Politically Incorrect, we will discuss conventions and fandom. Panel will be taped live for broadcast at LepreCon 29. This will be organized as 2 panels. The show will be taped and there will be an open discussion with any audience members afterwards.
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FAN 02 Isn't Star Wars Great?
We all love it, so let's talk about it. We probably don't love EVERYTHING about it, so let's talk about that in its proper proportion as well.
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FAN 03 SF FANDOM 101: Orientation
This panel is a tutorial for new convention attendees. So what is a Science Fiction convention anyway? What is a ConSuite? Should I go there? Where do I score neat free stuff? How do I meet the GOHs? What the heck is a GOH anyway? Attend this panel, which may involve a guided tour, to find out the answers to these and other questions about attending a science fiction convention.
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FAN 04 SF FANDOM 102: Required Reading
What are some of the books that every Sci Fi fan should read? Is reading even required to be a fan in the Age of Media? Either way, what movies and TV shows are "required viewing?"
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FAN 05 Fan Fiction
Fans, being the erudite and literate people that they are, often find inspiration from the dream factories of Hollywood or the great SF/F authors, and then set pen to paper, finger to keyboard, or even shoot movies. Occasionally, they even gain some measure of fame or even make a decent living (if they can get the licensing rights) from these pursuits. Let's talk about the joys, whether sublime or mundane, of creating fan fiction. Same as WRI 02
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FAN 06 Hard SF Vs Science Fantasy
Which side of this SF version of the "Ford vs Chevy" debate do you come down on?
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FAN 07 Parties
How do you throw a great party? What's a great party, anyway? While we're at it, let's share stories of the best and worst parties we've attended
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GAM 01 Gaming And Star Wars
Star Wars has spawned a number of games - board games, roleplaying games, etc. Let's talk about our favorites, the flubs, and what still needs to be created
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GAM 02 HexaCon
HexaCon is a gaming convention brought to you by CASFS, the group that brings you CopperCon. It doesn't have much in the way of structured programming like this Con does. Here's your chance to remember the good, the bad, and whatever else about HexaCons past and future.
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GAM 03 So You Want To Meet Women…
Why are women so noticably a minority in board gaming and table-top role-playing? Do gamer guys REALLY smell THAT bad? What is it about LARP that seems more attractive to women? Could more women be encourated to play the table-top games? How?
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GAM 04 Game Culture
Share your favorite stories about gaming and why you continue to do it. Think of this panel as a live action "Knights of the Dinner Table" or "Dork Tower."
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GAM 05 The Brave New World Of Gaming
Discussion topics include new game innovations, comeback of boardgames, influence of "eurogames", Open D20.
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SCI 01 Ballistic Missile Defense: 2 Decades Of Star Wars
Call it SDI, BMD, or any acronym that suits you, Star Wars as a military effort has been around for nearly 20 years. What is the state of the art? Where have we been and where do we still need to go? Will the vision of High Frontier, Brilliant Pebbles, or any of the others even be a reality (assuming we want it to come to pass at all)?
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SCI 02 Science For SF/F Writers
So you want to write hard or "harder" science fiction (or even fantasy) but you couldn't get past vector calculus, organic chemistry or even Physics 101 in college? Or, maybe you're a Ph.D. and you want to cross the divide from the technical to a lay person's understanding. Issac Asimov observed that it isn't important for you to be able to play baseball well to enjoy it but that you do have to understand the game and its rules in order to enjoy it. In the same way, lay people, Asimov thought, should be able to enjoy and understand science even if they are not the next Einstein. So, what are the basics authors should know or where can they go for further research. And, how can you communicate about science without talking down to people?
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SCI 03 Droids
The Star Wars movies are full of robots. How much sense do they make? How far away from Star Wars type robots are we now? Panel may discuss robotics in general, in a Star Wars context, or anywhere in between.
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SCI 04 Sex And The Single Alien
Freud would have us believe that understanding the human sex drive is the key to understanding human psychology. In advance of First Contact, it would perhaps make sense to consider other ways of procreating and the societal and psychological consequences these other procreation methods could have.
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SCI 05 What Went Wrong With The Dream
If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we put a man on the moon? We're a bit late for our rendezvous with the space station Kubrik helped us dream of in 2001: A Space Odyssey (let alone the Moon-base or a manned Jupiter mission). Will we ever get into space to stay? Is the discovery of water on the moon and Mars a ray of hope or just another promise that will go unfulfilled?
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SCI 06 What's New In Science
Surely we haven't discovered everything yet. Let's review the past year's biggest advances and tantalizing avenues for future research.
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SCI 07 Star Wars Medicine
Robotic hands and bacta tanks? Maybe this technology isn't so far away. Even cloning humans is now just at the edge of the possible (assuming it hasn't already been done). Let's talk about where we are in relation to Star Wars, where we lag behind and where we will soon surpass the glories of the Republic.
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SCI 08 Chuck Jones Physics
There's all kinds of physics in the world of cartoons that would surely give Sir Issac a heart attack. Let's talk about these innovative approaches to physical laws, constants, etc.
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SCI 09 Extra-Solar Planets
Just how many planets have we discovered outside of our solar system now? Will we have to wait until the Next Generation Space Telescope is up until we get pictures? How long until we get to look at the family albums of the Little Green Men?
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SCI 10 Do We Live In The Space Age?
It has been suggested that we don't really live in the space age because space travel is not easy or cheap. The X prize has been offered for several years now but no one has claimed it. When will cheap, easy space travel become a reality? What will it take?
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SCI 11 Nanotech
Nanotech seems notably absent in Star Wars but looms large in our future. What is the state of the art and where are we going?
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SCI 12 Star Wars Science
Discussion of the scientific underpinnings of Star Wars technology, how far away from that technology we are, and the effects that technology would have on our society
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SCI 13 The Fermi Paradox
Do we now see the answer to the Fermi paradox? The Fermi paradox states that if there are so many stars, and most of them appear to have planets, and many planets should harbor life and natural selection should sometimes select for tool using. Why haven't we been seeing many visitors to Earth? Is it because the aliens explore via robots, having retreated in a virtual reality such as in the movie "The Matrix"?
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SCI 14 Timelines For The Future
Discussion of the time (in decades) and probabilities certain advances will take place: 1. Space colonies (L5) 2. Moon colonies 3. Mars colonies 4. Asteriod mining 5. Human exploration of interstellar space 6. Methods other than propulsion systems (rail guns, "beanstalks" etc.) for getting off the surface of the Earth or other planets
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FAM 01 Lightsaber Duels
Young Jedi (or Sith) of all ages will be instructed in the art of the lightsaber and will have the chance to duel. As befits elegant weapons from an elegant time, duels will be light or no touch.
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FAM 02 Japor Carving
Carve your own snippet of japor. Whether making a pendant to bring fortune, or just carving your favorite symbol, carved japor pendants are all the rage in galactic circles. Due to the scarcity of japor wood in this system an alternate substance (such as soap) may be used.
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FAM 03 Star Wars Reading Circle
Bring your favorite Star Wars stories for reading
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FAM 04 Sci Fi For The Younger Set
What are good books for your young fans to "cut their teeth" on? When do you start to introduce them to more difficult and/or mature material - for instance, Starship Troopers probably gets given to a pre-teen, but maybe Stranger in Strange Land waits until high school or even college. Let's dream up a reading list.
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