Arxiv Endorsement from Conference Moderator (for someone not from academia) I'm presenting some of my independent work (in industry) at an academic conference. My paper has been accepted to the conference, but since I am from outside of academia, I'm having difficulty posting it on Arxiv. Would it be appropriate to ask for an endorsement from the panel moderator?
Yes. It even happens to people inside academics that they are not endorsed for a particular subsection of the arxiv.

If your only contact is the panel moderator, I would not hesitate to contact them in a polite email. However, you can and probably should first look whether they can endorse you (find one of their publications and click on their name—it will say for which areas they can endorse) and change your message accordingly.