Right now, lots of my sff mates are boogie-ing at Fantasycon. Next weekend I'll be at Octocon. We are on panels, we are on the programme - and almost all of us will pay for the privilege to do so. Octocon will cost me in the region of €400 - and I can't wait.
Hold on, says my other writing mates. No pay for doing a panel! No expenses: not even travel?
Nope. That is the culture, the norm and what makes sff cons special. The creators don't turn up, do a panel, get paid and go. They do a panel and head to the bar to talk with the other geeks.
You simply do not write sff unless you are a significant geek. I might appear pretty ungeeky but scratch the surface and I've spent a lifetime reading and watching all things sff. And our cons are about the genre more than any personality or knowledge imparted. I get such a buzz out of feeling part of that 'tribe',nothing more is needed.
And the upshot of that? A sff con has a unique feel - a mix of readers, gamers, and watchers (who are fans), writers (who are fans), artists (who are fans) etc etc all celebrating what they love. And it makes it a submersive, unique event we all love and pay to go back to.
Hold on, says my other writing mates. No pay for doing a panel! No expenses: not even travel?
Nope. That is the culture, the norm and what makes sff cons special. The creators don't turn up, do a panel, get paid and go. They do a panel and head to the bar to talk with the other geeks.
You simply do not write sff unless you are a significant geek. I might appear pretty ungeeky but scratch the surface and I've spent a lifetime reading and watching all things sff. And our cons are about the genre more than any personality or knowledge imparted. I get such a buzz out of feeling part of that 'tribe',nothing more is needed.
And the upshot of that? A sff con has a unique feel - a mix of readers, gamers, and watchers (who are fans), writers (who are fans), artists (who are fans) etc etc all celebrating what they love. And it makes it a submersive, unique event we all love and pay to go back to.
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