Al Bogdan (author), Daniel O'Riordan (author), Deborah Millitello (author), Ellen Denham (author), Ferrett Steinmetz (author)

I'm afraid I didn't get much out of this panel. This was partly because the panel was at 7:00 PM, just after I finished a large dinner and was deep in a postprandial stupor, and partly because the panelists had similar backgrounds and group experience, and thus didn't present many differing ideas.

Even so, there were some gems:

• The big takeaway: The concensus was that the ideal size for a writer's group is 7-8 people.

• One member (I failed to note his name in my notes) had been involved with both on-line nad face-to-face groups. He found on-line groups to be better than nothing, and generally provide fast turn-around, but found the face-to-face groups more useful overall.

• All of the face-to-face groups that were mentioned by the panelists follow a Clarion/Millford model in which everyone brings a piece to be critiqued and each piece is analyzed. They allow two to four minutes per person to comment and the author is only allowed to respond to direct questions. Everyone admitted that the rules are not followed religiously.

• One group is limited to 16, but usually only 10-12 folks are active. They have six hour meetings, including an intermission and refreshment break.