Comments on: Links and Thoughts on Geek Conventions

By: Julie

Julie — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:55:58 +0000

There is a really great series on XBOX Live Marketplace called Con Trek. Each month the series goes to a new fandom convention and covers all parts of the show that mainstream media skip. There are celebrity interviews but the show also meets the fans in and out of costume, it shows all the merchandise available only at these sorts of events, and checks in with all of the programming and special events at each convention. Everyone should check this out.

By: Jason Tocci

Jason Tocci — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:37:26 +0000

Hm, interesting points, Anne. I've seen the "neophile" thing described elsewhere as well, I think … Ah, here it is, Wired editor Kevin Kelly writing for Science on nerd culture as based in novelty: "The Third Culture." I wonder about this. I feel like certain kinds of novelty seem "geekier" than others, and surely there must be other subcultures that crave novelty … but seeing as how this is coming from multiple sources, I imagine there must be something to it. As for the British being more nerd-welcoming: Maybe. I found it interesting that the only wide-ranging survey I've ever heard of that asked large numbers of people about how they identify as geeks happened to take place in the UK (and estimated that about 7 million Britons identified as geeks). Oh, and before I forget: The Weekly Dig has a special ROFLCon/LOLcats-themed issue, downloadable in its entirety.

By: Anne

Anne — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:52:26 +0000

I think the Guardian post is largely true: geeks do tend to be open-minded, willing to consider varied and new ideas, more than the general population. I read somewhere (I think it was the book Geeks by Jon Katz, which is outdated by now but has some good points about geek identity) that one could define “geek” as “neophile”. Or, at least, neophilia is often a characteristic of geeks. This makes sense given that technology is all about newness. Sci-fi, too, is not only about newness but often deals with questioning authority and challenging social norms. So it makes sense that geeks are open-minded.

Also about the Guardian article… do you think the British are more likely to be accepting of geeks than Americans are? I believe sci-fi is regarded as a slightly more mainstream or “respectable” genre there than it is here, but I don’t know how far that extends into geek culture as a whole.

Oh. Also, could the open-mindedness of geeks possibly explain some of that “cross-pollination” or the blending of cons? I mean, we just want to find out about all the new geeky stuff we can!

By: Church

Church — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 21:39:14 +0000

I don’t think the Trekkies have gone anywhere. Paramount hasn’t done anything with the franchise in a dog’s age, so those guys are probably sporting their new Colonial Jock Smocks, or whatever.

As for the “too much” problem, I know where she’s coming from, but the reason the big cons do that is precisely because they want to appeal as much to the comic-hoarding LARPer as to the anime-collecting Trekkie. Yeah, the die-hards will cross the country to attend Otakon, or Farpoint, or whatever, but most geeks will just hit up the local WonderComiCon once a year and see what’s up.

The benefit of that is that it fosters cross-pollination. Trekkies and the like were hip to manga, e.g., long before it showed up on the general public’s DRADIS.

By: Matt S

Matt S — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 19:49:28 +0000

I finally got my reservations in for Portus, The Harry Potter Symposium in Dallas this July. I never did the whole con thing, so I’m not sure what to expect of this. Should be interesting though…

You should come out! :)

Actually, can you write cons off as a work expense? Seems like you should be able to.

OK, now I’m just procrastinating the crap I have to do for work.