Every Con has its Flavor

Have you ever been to a ‘science fiction’ convention? And if you have, what type?

My first convention would be termed a ‘media’ con today. Specifically, it was a Star Trek convention, run by a group of dedicated fans in Kansas City. Over the next decade, I attended other media conventions, but they were changing. Most of the fan-run conventions no longer concentrated on one show, but gathered actors from various sf movies and shows - and maybe some not-so-sf venues. I remember one convention that had guests from Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek and other shows. As I wandered through the dealer’s room, I was surprised to see fanzines for Starsky and Hutch! Well, whatever that editor was into, I guessed.

Then I started attending ‘literary’ conventions. These were more my style. I had never dreamed of being a famous actress, but I have wanted to be a writer from a very young age. At a literary convention, I could attend panels given by authors, agents and editors, and get advice on how to write, how to write better, and the business of writing.

Later, my husband and I discovered gaming conventions. But while I thought this was a fun thing to do on Saturday nights, it wasn’t something I wanted to do for an entire weekend. I went to the local one with the kids and stuck around all day in case they needed something, but I sat in the corner, reading.

Then an anime convention started in our area. I like some anime, dislike others and don’t understand still others. Frankly, I’m almost afraid to attend this convention, because I don’t know anime shows by names. The first one I ever saw was an episode of Lupin III, and that’s the only name I can remember, so I can’t talk to others intelligently on this subject.

About 3 years ago, John and I stumbled across a comic convention while on vacation, and now we plan a vacation so we can attend that con. That first year, I found one panel on writing, and had to ‘settle’ for other kinds of panels ... making independent films, costuming, rumors and trailers for upcoming movies.... When I couldn’t find any panel of any interest, I would sit in the hallway and watch all the costumes walk by. And they were a thoroughly mixed bag! Quite a bit of anime, but also super heroes, Star Wars ... I think I even saw an Olive Oyl and Popeye! This year, they had a couple more panels on writing, and instead of 4 or 5 people in the audience, the room was packed!

So, ‘sf’ conventions are all over the place, and for whatever sub-genre you like. No two are exactly alike, even if they are the same ‘type’. Taste a few and see which ones you like.