On second thought
24 June 2004 15:55![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kinzelI've been considering my experience PortConMaine last weekend. It was a learning experience, and that (I'm told) is always useful, and even profitable. On the other hand, I'm fairly sure the convention was not "profitable" in the sense of being able to point to immediate sales of books, chapbooks, and the like. But onward.
My experience with science fiction conventions extends around 30 years. In those 30 years I've had some years with no conventions at all, and other years where I hit 20 or more conventions. Along the way I've attended as everything from a member to a guest of honor, with stints as artshow director and assistant, PR assistant, fan panelist, writer panelist, library guest, artshow runner, art agent, children's program, huckster/dealer/vendor, gofer/gopher, security assistant, party-thrower, and there were many times where roles overlapped.
One of the things I learned at PortConMaine is that the new young anime fan is polite. We had doors opened for us, way made for us, tables carried for us...
I also learned that the image I'd had of an anime con being a sedentary kind of thing with most of the fans sitting around watching anime all the time, was just dead wrong. The group was active and on it's feet a lot, with fans lining up to try their hand -- or at least their feet -- at the challenge of Dance Revolution. The convention's "general area" with gamers, Dance Revolution, video "cosplay" and an artists alley was a blast, though I was really somewhat disappointed in the general quality of the artwork.
Other things I saw: as at science fiction conventions, no one label fits everyone. Some of the fans were there to meet someone, others were there because they were with someone who was going, no matter what. Some were there to sell things, some to finish collections, some to show off their costumes.
One of the scary things I saw was just how few ordinary books were on sale at the con. Yes, manga was there -- in softcover and hardcover and in comic book format. But books? Ours,both from Walden Books and our chapbook display -- and a self-published POD guy. There were some artists, and some producer types (apparently, though if they were there we couldn't locate them)... but aside from the self-published author (who failed to arrive at any of the panels we thought he was to join us on), there were no other author guests.
Us and him. The shame was that the author/writing panels we handled by ourselves had good attendance, and most of ther questions we were asked showed attention to what we'd talked about as well as preparation -- some of the people *will* be published some day, I'm pretty sure.
What did I learn? Kids are kids, and fans are fans. Alas, a lot of the fans we saw at PortConMaine will likely never be converted to SF fandom per se, though they might be able to be brought in to a joint convention. I also learned that I've been myopic -- that the gaming and anime sections of some conventions I've been to have not been add-ons, as I thought, but the voice of a generation of fans.
So, I guess rather than trying to convert them, I'm going to need to be more flexible, and try to arrange to get my work in front of them in their terms. Anyone out there looking for some Liaden Universe manga?
Meanwhile, and speaking of science fiction conventions, we discover that the Friends of Liad have been successful in their bid to secure a suite for Noreascon. In the last few years the Friends have thrown parties at more than a dozen conventions, including Bucconneer and every US worldcon since.
I'm not sure if we know which floor the Liaden Lounge will be on, apparently though they'll have a view of Fenway and a view of the Charles River....
http://www.noreascon.org/facilities/sheraton/suite-diagrams/1BedHospitality3.gif
In the past the Liaden Lounge has been "borrowed" for party nights by several of our publishers -- Embiid and Meisha Merlin -- and who knows what might be arranged this year?
My experience with science fiction conventions extends around 30 years. In those 30 years I've had some years with no conventions at all, and other years where I hit 20 or more conventions. Along the way I've attended as everything from a member to a guest of honor, with stints as artshow director and assistant, PR assistant, fan panelist, writer panelist, library guest, artshow runner, art agent, children's program, huckster/dealer/vendor, gofer/gopher, security assistant, party-thrower, and there were many times where roles overlapped.
One of the things I learned at PortConMaine is that the new young anime fan is polite. We had doors opened for us, way made for us, tables carried for us...
I also learned that the image I'd had of an anime con being a sedentary kind of thing with most of the fans sitting around watching anime all the time, was just dead wrong. The group was active and on it's feet a lot, with fans lining up to try their hand -- or at least their feet -- at the challenge of Dance Revolution. The convention's "general area" with gamers, Dance Revolution, video "cosplay" and an artists alley was a blast, though I was really somewhat disappointed in the general quality of the artwork.
Other things I saw: as at science fiction conventions, no one label fits everyone. Some of the fans were there to meet someone, others were there because they were with someone who was going, no matter what. Some were there to sell things, some to finish collections, some to show off their costumes.
One of the scary things I saw was just how few ordinary books were on sale at the con. Yes, manga was there -- in softcover and hardcover and in comic book format. But books? Ours,both from Walden Books and our chapbook display -- and a self-published POD guy. There were some artists, and some producer types (apparently, though if they were there we couldn't locate them)... but aside from the self-published author (who failed to arrive at any of the panels we thought he was to join us on), there were no other author guests.
Us and him. The shame was that the author/writing panels we handled by ourselves had good attendance, and most of ther questions we were asked showed attention to what we'd talked about as well as preparation -- some of the people *will* be published some day, I'm pretty sure.
What did I learn? Kids are kids, and fans are fans. Alas, a lot of the fans we saw at PortConMaine will likely never be converted to SF fandom per se, though they might be able to be brought in to a joint convention. I also learned that I've been myopic -- that the gaming and anime sections of some conventions I've been to have not been add-ons, as I thought, but the voice of a generation of fans.
So, I guess rather than trying to convert them, I'm going to need to be more flexible, and try to arrange to get my work in front of them in their terms. Anyone out there looking for some Liaden Universe manga?
Meanwhile, and speaking of science fiction conventions, we discover that the Friends of Liad have been successful in their bid to secure a suite for Noreascon. In the last few years the Friends have thrown parties at more than a dozen conventions, including Bucconneer and every US worldcon since.
I'm not sure if we know which floor the Liaden Lounge will be on, apparently though they'll have a view of Fenway and a view of the Charles River....
http://www.noreascon.org/facilities/sheraton/suite-diagrams/1BedHospitality3.gif
In the past the Liaden Lounge has been "borrowed" for party nights by several of our publishers -- Embiid and Meisha Merlin -- and who knows what might be arranged this year?
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Liaden Lounges
2004-06-28 20:50 (UTC)To paraphrase John Denver, we don't get much sleep but we have a lot of fun. :)