Barbara Gavin pointed me to a great article by Derek Powazek on How to Moderate a Panel. Kickass advice in here, including doing your homework, limiting introduction time by the panelists, and my favorite: “Be a jerk.”
One of the best examples of this working really well was Michael Arrington of TechCrunch fame. Mike had two sessions at this past Spring 2007 Video on the Net, and in both, he played the naysayer and curmudgeon role (Mike: correct me if you want another label). But always to effect. It always worked as a good springboard to get more conversation out of the topic.
Anyhow, check out that article. It’s worth it.
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