Dear fandom
Jul. 14th, 2009 11:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yagathaiDid you ever wonder why Worldcon is shrinking, why fandom is greying, why new people aren't joining at the same rate that the old-guard is dying out?
This is the problem, friends. This is the problem. In fact, honestly, every single comment by Eric Van in these two posts is the problem.
Now, it would be easy to say that![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
calimac and ericmvan's tin-eared comments weren't carefully considered, the result of post-con burnout and irritation and ultimately just the cranky brayings of a couple of disgruntled old-timers. That may or may not be, but ultimately their attitude is representational -- and symptomatic of the greater issue.
In brief, the problem is that like any other dynamic entity, fandom is constantly faced with the choice to adapt or die, and time and time and time again, they have chosen not to adapt. The old guard, having found their promised land, promptly built a wall around it and decided that anyone who didn't conform to their standard would be rebuffed, rejected and cast out from their private playground. I see this attitude reflected a hundred times a day at every convention I go to, in every programming track, every panel discussion, every dealer's table, every closed circle of grey ponytails at almost every room party I've ever been to. It's a combination of institutional myopia and the fear of becoming irrelevant -- it's difficult, after all, for the chronically insecure to relenquish their stranglehold on being the big fishes in the tiny, tiny pond.
As a result -- well, see for yourself. Worldcon, once the gathering of the nerd tribes, has a good year when it hits 8,000 people, the average example of which is probably pretty close to collecting Social Security. By contrast, Otakon is a non-profit, volunteer-operated anime convention that started in 1994 with less than 400 attendees. Today, average draw is about 26,000 with an average attendee not old enough to legally drink yet. And it's by no means unique -- DragonCon has 30,000, the bigger anime cons pull 40,000, and San Diego Comicon regularly breaks 100,000.
The simple, logical and Darwinian solution is to let the old-model conventions die out by simple attrition -- sooner or later, peanut-butter-and-cheeto sandwiches and scooter accidents will take their toll, and all that will be left are the for-profit, new-model conventions, the slick commercial operations run by multibillion-dollar corporations.
On the other hand, where does that leave us, the (dwindling) generation of younger fans? I'm looking at you,stegoking, yuki_onna, tithenai, redstapler, rosefox, misunderstruck, farwing, xraytheenforcer, aghrivaine, zarhooie, kdsorceress and all the rest of you that I'm too tired to name. What's the solution, assuming we don't all decide to pull a Paul T. Riddell* and retire from fandom to pursue a (admittedly very entertaining) career of flinging poo at the grognards from the sidelines?
Frankly, I don't really know, but something's going to have to be done. I tend to be conservative by inclination, but every con that I attend makes me want to declare a revolution, storming the barricades and flinging greybeards** from the ramparts, just a little bit more. It seems as if the first step might be organization, though what form that organization would take, I have no idea.
And yes,txtriffidranch, I know what you're thinking, but first of all I don't have chains that heavy, and besides where would we find anthills big enough?
* Whose books, incidentally, I highly recommend.
** a gender-neutral term, often literally so.
ETA: Cross-linking of this post would be welcome. I'm looking for dialogue, to help create ideas.
This is the problem, friends. This is the problem. In fact, honestly, every single comment by Eric Van in these two posts is the problem.
Now, it would be easy to say that
calimac and ericmvan's tin-eared comments weren't carefully considered, the result of post-con burnout and irritation and ultimately just the cranky brayings of a couple of disgruntled old-timers. That may or may not be, but ultimately their attitude is representational -- and symptomatic of the greater issue.In brief, the problem is that like any other dynamic entity, fandom is constantly faced with the choice to adapt or die, and time and time and time again, they have chosen not to adapt. The old guard, having found their promised land, promptly built a wall around it and decided that anyone who didn't conform to their standard would be rebuffed, rejected and cast out from their private playground. I see this attitude reflected a hundred times a day at every convention I go to, in every programming track, every panel discussion, every dealer's table, every closed circle of grey ponytails at almost every room party I've ever been to. It's a combination of institutional myopia and the fear of becoming irrelevant -- it's difficult, after all, for the chronically insecure to relenquish their stranglehold on being the big fishes in the tiny, tiny pond.
As a result -- well, see for yourself. Worldcon, once the gathering of the nerd tribes, has a good year when it hits 8,000 people, the average example of which is probably pretty close to collecting Social Security. By contrast, Otakon is a non-profit, volunteer-operated anime convention that started in 1994 with less than 400 attendees. Today, average draw is about 26,000 with an average attendee not old enough to legally drink yet. And it's by no means unique -- DragonCon has 30,000, the bigger anime cons pull 40,000, and San Diego Comicon regularly breaks 100,000.
The simple, logical and Darwinian solution is to let the old-model conventions die out by simple attrition -- sooner or later, peanut-butter-and-cheeto sandwiches and scooter accidents will take their toll, and all that will be left are the for-profit, new-model conventions, the slick commercial operations run by multibillion-dollar corporations.
On the other hand, where does that leave us, the (dwindling) generation of younger fans? I'm looking at you,
stegoking, yuki_onna, tithenai, redstapler, rosefox, misunderstruck, farwing, xraytheenforcer, aghrivaine, zarhooie, kdsorceress and all the rest of you that I'm too tired to name. What's the solution, assuming we don't all decide to pull a Paul T. Riddell* and retire from fandom to pursue a (admittedly very entertaining) career of flinging poo at the grognards from the sidelines?Frankly, I don't really know, but something's going to have to be done. I tend to be conservative by inclination, but every con that I attend makes me want to declare a revolution, storming the barricades and flinging greybeards** from the ramparts, just a little bit more. It seems as if the first step might be organization, though what form that organization would take, I have no idea.
And yes,
txtriffidranch, I know what you're thinking, but first of all I don't have chains that heavy, and besides where would we find anthills big enough?* Whose books, incidentally, I highly recommend.
** a gender-neutral term, often literally so.
ETA: Cross-linking of this post would be welcome. I'm looking for dialogue, to help create ideas.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-07-15 10:51 pm (UTC)Perhaps the name should be changed.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-15 11:34 pm (UTC)Um, huh? Just because I don't want much more than about 8000 people at a completely volunteer-run convention doesn't mean that I don't want attendees from all over the world. Worldcons already have representation from all over the world, and have been held in Scotland, England, Germany, The Netherlands, Japan, and Australia (where it will be held again next year).