Dalekboy

I totally agree with you. I think fandom is an integral part of the con experience but it should be informal and underlying. Though cons are an amateur event they should be structured and operate as professional genre conventions. I always felt the days should be serious and the evening be entertainments. Fandom community should rejoice in the comrade but anyone should be able to buy a full or day membership and encounter a smooth entertaining and educational con without needing to interact with a seemingly "private" social group. Having said that, if they feel enticed to enter the "fandom" then it should be welcoming.