Oh cool! Yes, please do come to the party! I can't recall if we've met offline or not yet, but I look forward to seeing you!
Re: the panel. I have this slowly growing list of female protagonists over 40 in SF/F, which is now also a Goodreads list. I think we'll jump off from there and I hope to be adding to both!
The original list - https://catherineldf.dreamwidth.org/362533.html
Goodreads version - https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/114723.Old_er_Women_in_SF_F_