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Moderator of talks


AnnaMC
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Hello,

 

I have a suggestion/request for a future Sherlocked event, please: It would be lovely if the convention used a variety of moderators, so people could experience a different moderator for each talk, just to mix it up a bit and provide differing perspectives. It would also be very lovely if at least one moderator was female -- again, just to mix it up a bit and provide a differing perspective.

 

Also, speaking of moderators -- who was the moderator for the talks? Just curious. I think his first name was David. I asked a lot of attendees -- and some attendees asked me -- and nobody had any idea.

 

Thanks!

 

Anna

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I thought he was very good, kept control of things but seemed to be in with the spirit of the event as well. I can't remember if it was before Benedict came on stage or after he'd left during the screening he thanked the audience for being so enthusiastic during the day and how they'd made it such a great occasion so I don't think he meant to offend anyone.

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I liked him on the whole, at least he knew what he was talking about and had seen the show. ( Although Moffatt pulled him up on the correct pronunciation of Lestrade ;) ) I also liked that he didn't do a lot of talking.

He did say before Benedict's talk "No inappropriate questions".... I think he should have elaborated a little and said it at all talks. I got fed up of hearing people ask the guests "Who they shipped?"... I know fanfic is a huge part of fandom, I'm a fanfic writer myself (not for Sherlock), but there are certain lines you don't cross and asking the actors if they think Sherlock should be having "a relationship" with Watson or Moriarty is one of those lines. Some of the guests knew exactly what was being asked and managed to steer around it (I think Mark said "I like to ship containers across the sea") but others seemed a little baffled and then it becomes very awkward.

 

Also grew tired of the same questions being asked... if they were actually listening you'd know it had already been answered about 10 minutes previously.

I know part of the fun of these things is the spontaneity of the questioning but it's almost cringeworthy sometimes and perhaps having questions pre-submitted and then vetted beforehand might have made for a bit more of a variety of questioning and save a few blushes

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Yes, I was surprised by the number of times shipping was brought up. I actually thought people would know better than to ask that. I thought all the guests handled it with as much grace as possible and most bless them actually tried to give some kind of answer exploring relationships in a non romantic way, and David stepped in when it became too awkward for the guest. I did love Mark's comment about shipping containers though.

 

I liked David he seemed to know his stuff, and be quite fan'ish himself I thought.

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I agree re the fanfic question. I'm a big reader of them myself and am happy for writers to do what the heck they want in their fics but when it's clearly out there what the opinion of the cast is it, people shouldn't go there, do they think Ben and the others are suddenly going to go 'you know what, I've changed my mind'. I think it was on Graham Norton a couple of years ago when he showed Martin some fan art they had printed out specifically to show him and it was pretty racy. I couldn't believe they put him in that position all for the sake of being able to go 'oh look at what the crazy Sherlock fans are doing'. I don't have a problem with the shipping and the art because it's between the fans and should be kept that way.

 

I'm glad David was MCing as he had the balls to move things on and to tell people to stop. I'm glad he told everyone before not to ask for hugs ect.

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David has been doing these events for a while and does a good job, I think it can take a bit to get his sense of humour but whilst he can seem a little abrupt or rude sometimes it is done with a smile and as banter and certainly not malicious.

 

I think in general he got the balance right, certainly on day one, asking a few questions himself and then passing over to the audience. Day Two seemed to be more just over to the audience which was o.k. but I think my preference was a bit more day one. He moved things along well and also played along particularly with Mark and Andrew on Sunday.

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I liked him on the whole, at least he knew what he was talking about and had seen the show. ( Although Moffatt pulled him up on the correct pronunciation of Lestrade ;) ) I also liked that he didn't do a lot of talking.

 

He did say before Benedict's talk "No inappropriate questions".... I think he should have elaborated a little and said it at all talks. I got fed up of hearing people ask the guests "Who they shipped?"... I know fanfic is a huge part of fandom, I'm a fanfic writer myself (not for Sherlock), but there are certain lines you don't cross and asking the actors if they think Sherlock should be having "a relationship" with Watson or Moriarty is one of those lines. Some of the guests knew exactly what was being asked and managed to steer around it (I think Mark said "I like to ship containers across the sea") but others seemed a little baffled and then it becomes very awkward.

 

Also grew tired of the same questions being asked... if they were actually listening you'd know it had already been answered about 10 minutes previously.

 

I know part of the fun of these things is the spontaneity of the questioning but it's almost cringeworthy sometimes and perhaps having questions pre-submitted and then vetted beforehand might have made for a bit more of a variety of questioning and save a few blushes

I could not agree with you more! My least favorite part of any con is audience questions. I was glad David shut down the shippers every time. Completely inappropriate to ask the actors about that stuff!

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I'll admit I still don't really get this whole shipping thing, and I'm not sure I really want to, but during the introduction to the screening, Cumberbatch did say that he thought Sherlock and Irene Adler had 'a night' after he saved her at the end of the episode. Not sure if that is shipping though!

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I'll admit I still don't really get this whole shipping thing, and I'm not sure I really want to, but during the introduction to the screening, Cumberbatch did say that he thought Sherlock and Irene Adler had 'a night' after he saved her at the end of the episode. Not sure if that is shipping though!

That just means that Benedict kind of ships Sherlock and Irene, lol. I'm sure there are plenty of others who do as well. Moffat says it never happened, lol

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