About SF Cons
Historians go to academic conferences, doctors attend medical
seminars, lawyers have annual meetings of the Bar Association. So
what's different about professional gatherings for science fiction
writers? Well, there are the Klingons having lunch in the hotel
coffee shop....
The truth is a little more complex. In fact, most SF conventions
are organized and run by fans as volunteer operations. This doesn't
mean that pro writers don't show up -- far from it, as many SF
writers are fans themselves. It does, however, mean that the
atmosphere is more casual than that of the typical business
conference or trade show, and that you don't have to wait for
evening to enjoy the entertainment portion of the program.
You can now find at least one SF convention ("con" for short)
somewhere in North America on just about any weekend of the year,
devoted to some aspect of SF fandom. Some cons emphasize specific
subcategories -- costuming, filk music, televised SF, comic books,
Japanese animation, literature, feminist SF, et cetera -- while
others are more general in focus. Most are (or aspire to be) annual
affairs, and the majority are held in the same city each year. A
few, either the largest or the more specialized, move from place to
place; among these is Worldcon, which has been held everywhere from
Scotland to Australia. My "home convention" is
OryCon, held annually in
Portland during the third weekend of November, and I was involved
for a number of years with various aspects of OryCon's organization,
including its writers' workshops, publications, and music
programming.
Klingons in the Hallways
What happens at an SF con? Almost anything, really.
Dealers in books, videotapes, jewelry, and other SF-related
merchandise display and sell their wares. Fans of
particular books or TV shows may attend dressed as their favorite
characters (thus the Klingons, as well as assorted aliens, wizards,
barbarians, vampires, knights, and so on). Published writers
discuss issues of craft, marketing strategy, and literary merit,
autograph books for their readers, and accept dinner invitations
from editors in hopes of landing lucrative book contracts.
Editors listen in on fannish conversations hoping to learn what
readers are most interested in buying, then take writers to dinner
in hopes they'll finish their novels more quickly. (Well-fed
writers are said to write faster.) Novice writers attend panel
discussions in hopes of finding the One True Secret to selling their
short stories or novels. (There isn't one, but this hasn't
stopped anyone yet.) Publishers throw lavish parties for
writers and fans, hoping that a reputation for throwing lavish
parties will translate into a reputation for publishing good SF.
Fans throw parties for each other, some more lavish than others, in
hopes of attracting new fans to a particular TV show, series of
books, or upcoming convention. There's often a formal costume
competition, or masquerade, and there may be one or more concerts, a
dance, or both, as well as informal
filk
circles. There may also be an exhibition of SF and fantasy
artwork, frequently of high professional quality, with works
available for sale or auction.
Exceptions & Advice
The above description applies, in some degree, to most fan-run
cons. There's another breed of convention that does not follow
this model -- the "professional" con, nearly always promoting a TV
show such as Star Trek, put on for profit by a traveling
production company. These are usually one-day affairs
featuring very limited programming, a high-profile guest star from
whatever TV series is being promoted, and the chance to buy
expensive licensed souvenirs. While these can offer a decent
opportunity to pick up current gossip about favorite TV shows and
get a look at the actors, as a rule they're not especially
"fan-friendly". Note, however, that not all media-centric
conventions are of this stripe. A rule of thumb: if the con is
selling tickets, it's a professional convention; if it offers
memberships, it's probably a fan-run con.
For considerably more detail about what happens at SF cons and how
to survive one without sacrificing sanity or other valuable
commodities, the materials contained in the
Science Fiction Survival
Kit for Newbies are an excellent reference.