Wise words

[dalekboy]

"...they don’t think they need saving. I mean, they haven’t changed for years, have they? They’re not designed to be wanted because they don’t want to be wanted, not really. They want to be left alone to do their thing, and they don’t want any loud new people in the room. They serve a dwindling audience, and they have to be aware of that — so they have to be in it to simply serve that audience, to provide that presumably cosy experience to their people until the last light goes out. Otherwise they would have done something different years ago."

That's Warren Ellis talking about sf magazines, but he could be talking about the majority of sf fan clubs and conventions in Australia.

Just because your friends turn up, doesn't mean it's good.
Just because it breaks even, doesn't mean it's a success.
Just because something runs, that doesn't mean it's still relevant.

More on this later...

Comments

[dalekboy.livejournal.com]

The MSFC is such a weird beast, its greatest strength is also its key flaw - the fact that it embraces all SF and not single show or facet. Folks who like a single show enough will join clubs or online groups about it, but they are unlikely to join a group that merely celebrates the genre.

Also, the MSFC looks like a place that is book-ish, even though pretty much everyone there loves TV and movies. So the folks that see the club as 90% book related don't feel there's anything for them.

These aren't new problems, they've always been there. I think it really important for clubs and cons to start finding out from the youngest people coming to things what they would like to see, and get them involved in making it happen.

I always love it when I go to the club and don't recognise people :)