Vancouver Convetion - Further Thoughts

[my_daroga]

Part of going to the Star Trek con last weekend was about never having been. I never thought it'd be "my thing"--as I observed to lettered/tkp, "I don't think that's where I'll find my people." But fandom, in and of itself, has always fascinated me, and I wanted to try out this aspect of that experience. Just once.

I don't feel I got that.

The convention was very small, for one. A tiny vendor room, with some signed photos and shirts ranging from XL-XXXL. Very few people in costume (though I appreciated the many TOS-era mini-dresses). And not much to do aside from lines for photo-ops, lines for autographs, and the auditorium, where the main attraction was naturally Shatner/Nimoy and little else (for me).

Now, I didn't want to buy anything, and I was in a mini-dress, too, and it was my choice not to pay for photo-ops and autographs or to meet my heroes. But I'm glad I had a job to do (passing out fliers for Outdoor Trek), or I'd have been bored.

So. I have some questions, and maybe a few of you can answer them.

-Those of you who have done the con thing--I mean the Trek-like kind--are there bigger ones? Looking at the website for the Vegas version by the same people, it seems like the place to be. But I find myself wondering if the internet has changed the face of "real life" fandom--we no longer have to converge on physical spaces to trade fic or squee or discuss.

-Where are the cons for fans? I mean our kind of fans, the meta-fen, the places where stuff is discussed and people are social (when they want to be) and it's an extension of what we do here? WisCon, I'm looking at you next year, for sure. But is there a Trek version of something like this? Where's the meta-Star Trek convention? I don't know anything.

In short... Where's the primer on fan conventions? Because I never thought I'd be saying this, but if my show wasn't the same weekend, I fear I'd be buying a ticket to Las Vegas right now. I was fiercely jealous of those who went to WisCon this year, only because I finally figured out what it is once they got there and started telling me about it.

I want the convention experience. What's next?

Comments

[stultiloquentia]

I have your two con reports bookmarked, but I'll answer this first.

Where are the cons for fans? I mean our kind of fans, the meta-fen, the places where stuff is discussed and people are social

I don't know about Trek-only cons, but I had a BLAST at Con.txt last weekend. It was exactly what you're wishing for. Nominally slash-centric, but really just meta-and-squee-centric. And there were Trek and RPS panels, among lots of other things. It was really well-run, smallish for a fan con, and DC's a great city for it. People say similarly good things about Escapade (California), and Vividcon (Chicago).

Want to plan to meet up at Con.txt in 2012?

[my_daroga]

I have just been reading your report, and oh my goodness YES. It sounds fantastic.

I fear I am over-committed (in my mind) and under-funded for next year. Hmm.

[naraht]

The Trek cons that I went to in NH and Massachusetts in the late 80s and early 90s were run by Creation and were much as the one that you describe. I also went to a con in London in, I think, 2005 that was big in terms of name guests but similarly disappointing in terms of other attractions. Sadly if there's a bigger Trek fan con these days, I don't know about it.

[my_daroga]

Sad, but good to know. You would think there'd be more going on, but it just seemed like an autograph mill, for the most part.

Thanks!