I’m still workshopping these ideas as I prepare to write about them in my dissertation, but I recently presented part of my argument related to fan conventions at the Canadian Communication Association’s Annual Convention during Congress 2021 — all virtual this year! — and I wanted to lay out some of the ideas I presented. As I said, I’m still working through these ideas and finding ways to fit them into my larger argument regarding the relationships between studios and fans in the marketing of tentpole/blockbuster franchises. I think presentations are a great way to work through ideas and arguments because you force yourself to make a statement about the issue, argue your opinion on it, and people often offer you feedback through conversation or outright rejection of your idea (I’ve only once had that and it was outright rejection of the concept of studying fans, to which I wanted to ask “why did you decide to attend a panel on fans and a conference dedicated to popular culture in the first place?”).

So, my main goal during this presentation was to suggest that fan conventions are laid out physically with the idea of directing attendees through the event in a fairly (though not entirely) prescribed way. This ties in to the concept that this fan space (and many fan spaces) has both physical and cultural expectations for its attendees. This is, of course, true of any space, but people often think of fan conventions as fandom playgrounds created by fans for fans. There are, of course, many fan conventions that are still very much created by fans for fans and allow for more “freedom” and less obvious/corporate consumption — not every con is SDCC. Many of those smaller cons, however, are increasingly modelling themselves after the larger, corporate-style conventions and many attendees have come to regard them as specialized supermarkets.

In making this argument, I had to prepare my general audience with a little bit of history of fan conventions but, perhaps more importantly, I had to spend a bit of time discussing the conventions themselves and how they differ. I laid out three basic types of conventions that differ slightly from general discussions of pro-cons vs. fan-cons.

I separated the conventions into:

1. Large, mixed-genre fan conventions (run by large “non-profits”)
2. For-profit fan conventions
3. Grassroots fan conventions

Types 1 and 2 would normally be classified as pro-cons, while type 3 is generally the fan-con style of convention. I split apart the larger SDCC, NYCC, and Fan Expo types of fan conventions from the more mid-range for-profit cons due to their size, focus, and intent. WalkerStalker, for example, while more general than one of the Creation Entertainment conventions, is still fairly generally focused on zombie/undead content which often limits its attendee numbers (as does location). Likewise, the stated goal of the for-profit conventions is often to offer a more personal connection with the talent attending the convention — something impossible at the larger events. While all three of these events will have similarities in physical layouts (all include an Artists’ Alley and Exhibition space, for example), the ways in which those spaces are designed and implemented will differ based on physical location and the focus and intent of the convention itself resulting in a need to separate the different types of pro-cons.

This breakdown was for one part of a very brief presentation, but I think it is a good starting point for my discussion of conventions and the physical space of the fan — particularly the physical space of the mainstream fan. I’m looking forward to delving into it a bit more as I continue working through these ideas over the coming weeks — as soon as I can finish this section on paratext and the digital space of the fan!!