Basic Rules

Hello, everyone, and thanks for taking an interest, however brief, in building a large skeptical presence at Gen Con Indianapolis 2010. We appreciate all input; after all, the more people we get participating, the bigger and better the skeptical events at Gen Con will be.

Before you get started, though, please remember to obey the following very important Rule Number 1:

(1) Don't be a dick.

That's about it. Don't engage in shouting matches, don't get pissy or cause drama, and don't attempt to dominate conversation. Profanity is fine, but insults and attacks against others or their ideas are not. Play nice with each other or you'll be kicked out of the sandbox.

Other rules are as follows:

(2) No events are to overtly include religion or politics.

This is a practical issue: we want to sell skepticism and critical thinking to the attendees at Gen Con 2010; we do not want to alienate the religious or get involved in political bickering. A couple of examples of clearly out-of-bounds event topics might be "Why There Is No God," or "Why the Right is Wrong." You may have strong feelings on these kinds of issues (and we here a the top might even agree with you) but they don't have a place in our program. If you're not sure if your topic is allowable, throw it up and see what others have to say.

(3) Please stay on topic.

This forum is a central location from which to brainstorm, plan, administrate, and execute a large battery of skeptically-themed events at Gen Con 2010. Please do not create unrelated threads. The internet is filled with forums dedicated to anime or video games or politics, and if you feel the need to discuss those topics, please do so elsewhere. This forum is to remain dedicated to Gen Con planning. Unrelated threads will be deleted.

The administrators reserve the right to ban users who continually violate these rules, especially rules 1 and 2.

We are hoping for a general gestalt and consensus when determining which events to develop and run at Gen Con 2010, but there will undoubtedly be executive decisions. Likewise, if you have a vision in your head and don't want too much control taken by others, we've included a category for "Talks" as opposed to "Panels."

Be warned, however: if the administrators don't feel your talk is appropriate, it will not be added to the final list and will not be submitted to Gen Con (see the "Basic Agenda" sticky in this category). You can feel free to submit it on your own, but the event will not be associated with our program.

Okay, now that all that unpleasant "Don't do it!" crap is done with, get out there and start brainstorming!