Some people seem to think that the only reason someone would want to encourage new people into fandom is because it will create bigger conventions, be good for fandom, etc.
So, as the "some people" who sparked this post, I should probably reply.
Let me rephrase my first question from the other thread - why the fuck should all of us care?
As you said in that original thread, Fandom is a sub-culture, like any other. Maybe, as Rob Hoges said, it's got a lower acceptance bar and a slightly different set of rules - I'd probably argue that they're different, rather than lower or higher, but it doesn't really matter.
Like any group of people in any setting, there are people who want to go out and find new people and bring them in to the broader circle, and there are people who want to hang out with their friends and do their own thing - if you're one of the former, then that's great. Every community has them, and they play a really important role.
But what do you want the rest of us to do, seriously?
This seems to be a fairly pointless discussion - those people who are going to go out of their way to make people feel welcome are going to do so, and the people who want to hang with our friends, and maybe meet other people through those extended networks will do so. No amount of online angst is going to change that.
It's probably a good idea to have an ice-breaker event or two at the beginning of the Con, for those people who are so inclined. That's a matter for the Con committee, like the rest of the program.
Mind you, if we're offering suggestions on the subject, I'd recommend that the ice-breaker games limited to those people who want to participate.
If there are, as you suggest, all of these lonely people coming to cons for their first time who are too shy to approach groups of people at the con, they are:
a) unlikely to have the confidence to approach those same groups as part as ice-breaker games, which would render the exercise a tad pointless; and
b) unlikely to react well when those groups of people (who very probably won't know what the hell is going on) look at them like they smell of dead cat.
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Date: 2008-03-31 10:18 am (UTC)So, as the "some people" who sparked this post, I should probably reply.
Let me rephrase my first question from the other thread - why the fuck should all of us care?
As you said in that original thread, Fandom is a sub-culture, like any other. Maybe, as Rob Hoges said, it's got a lower acceptance bar and a slightly different set of rules - I'd probably argue that they're different, rather than lower or higher, but it doesn't really matter.
Like any group of people in any setting, there are people who want to go out and find new people and bring them in to the broader circle, and there are people who want to hang out with their friends and do their own thing - if you're one of the former, then that's great. Every community has them, and they play a really important role.
But what do you want the rest of us to do, seriously?
This seems to be a fairly pointless discussion - those people who are going to go out of their way to make people feel welcome are going to do so, and the people who want to hang with our friends, and maybe meet other people through those extended networks will do so. No amount of online angst is going to change that.
It's probably a good idea to have an ice-breaker event or two at the beginning of the Con, for those people who are so inclined. That's a matter for the Con committee, like the rest of the program.
Mind you, if we're offering suggestions on the subject, I'd recommend that the ice-breaker games limited to those people who want to participate.
If there are, as you suggest, all of these lonely people coming to cons for their first time who are too shy to approach groups of people at the con, they are:
a) unlikely to have the confidence to approach those same groups as part as ice-breaker games, which would render the exercise a tad pointless; and
b) unlikely to react well when those groups of people (who very probably won't know what the hell is going on) look at them like they smell of dead cat.