Upcoming COSine Panel Schedule

My COSine panels this coming weekend (22-24 January, 2016):

Friday 5pm - The Singularity and Social Media

Is the advancing use of social media services like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat, and YouTube leading us closer to digital transcendence, or dumbing society down the path to idiocracy? Let’s chat.
Panelists: David Boop, W.J. Cherf, Cary Quinn (M), Kal Spriggs, John E Stith

Saturday Noon - What Makes them Masters?

In a time when so much early science fiction seems technologically and sociologically outdated, why are the classic works so timeless? What is that keeps people reading and recommending a book through the generations.
Panelists: Sourdough Jackson, Nathan Lowell, Joe Sokola (M), John E Stith, Connie Willis

Saturday 5:30-7pm - Author Reception

Sunday 1pm - The Intersection of Speculative Fiction and Contemporary Issues

Do younger readers understand that the Forever War was a commentary on Viet Nam? Are such allusions wasted effort? Does a writer limit shelf life by tying work too closely to present day issues?
Panelists: Lou Berger (M), W.J. Cherf, Marc MacYoung, K.J. Russell, John E Stith