The Inclusive Fan
Jun. 12th, 2003 03:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
daveonI've not really tried fan writing before, but this occured to me sitting here in the airport bar drinking beer and follows on from a lengthy and beer fueled conversation with Randy Byers and others over the weekend.
The Inclusive Fan
I had an afternoon drinking in Seattle with, as we described it at the time, the cream of Seattle fandom – or at the very least the bits that floated to the top. I was in Seattle on business and had looked up the 2003 TAFF winner Randy Byers for a spot of drinking. He suggested we do the monthly Seattle SF fan meeting and off I went.
The very next afternoon, we met for breakfast with another Seattle fan and continued the quite far reaching discussion until the bar tender told us enough was enough. Or Randy had to go home, I can’t recall.
One of the topics we looked at in the discussion is the nature of fandom. This stemmed from a comment that Randy is liked by everybody and acts as a conduit between the various warring factions. Thinking back to the previous night, I had noticed that half the attendees were in one area, and the rest in another. I was sitting down trying not to think about how jetlagged I was feeling. However, this was an interesting comment, and thinking on various Fan scribblings, such as James Bacon’s “The Arrogant Fan” and my personal experiences in Fandom, I realised this was a subject worthy of consideration.
I came into “real” fandom late in life. My first Con being the 1994 Eastercon. In the words of Tobes Valois, I came for an afternoon and have been here for 9 years. As it was I stayed at the con without a room and without a clue for the entire event and made many good friends there that have stuck with me. I entered fandom via my local SF group which at the time was going through a rather serious bout of guest talks, meaning that when I attended a con I would hang around in the bar and relatively famous people, and people I didn’t know would come and talk to us.
In my naivety I kind of assumed that was how things work.
I now know with the wisdom of 10 odd years con going that I was pretty seriously wrong on this score.
Fandom can a pretty harsh place for the uninitiated. There is an internal perception, I think, that it’s a fluffy inclusive group. My fear is that the people who hold that view are often on the inside and persist in an insular attitude because everybody they meet holds the same views. In many interesting respects it echoes some of my experiences as a Brit living in the US.
I knew of the feuding, but it was sometime before I met my first one – to all intents and purposes it came close to destroying a set of friendships that had existed for decades. Why? I screwed up a restaurant bill. Nothing serious. The problem was spotted, I paid over the money. No harm done. Wrong. Mucho harm done. A feud was born. Before we managed to kill him on route to the World Con, I had met John Brunner on several occasions. He was a little outspoken, but I enjoyed having a drink chatting. I was shocked, therefore, to find a section of Fandom who seemed to curse the ground on which he walked.
Chatting, that Sunday in Seattle, I realised that Fandom is spectacularly riven with such feuds which most Fen just skirt the periphery of. Occasionally one of us will wander through this in blissful ignorance. I was, as a neophyte, unaware that I should not associate with certain people; I was not aware that you had to pay your dues before acceptance. I’ve not written a Fanzine, I wasn’t at MagiCon ’85 – am I therefore not entitled to an opinion?
Of course I am, and so, for that matter is everybody else.
SO what is it that drives the feuds; of which there are many – he slept with her and him and her and her and so forth; he only left £20 for the meal but drunk 15 pints; author X is a fool; author Y is pompous.
I’d like to present a thesis, but, before I do so a caveat.
I am a British Fan, I’ve lived in the US and been to a local US SF group, but I haven’t been to US Cons. I am generalizing here, but, I suspect, accurately.
Here goes.b lnz Fandom is a broad church. But I fear that we Fen don’t always perceive that. It represents a vast range of interests, life styles and attitudes – like SF there isn’t a typical fan (except for the one called Dave who has a beard, beer belly and a jumper and does something with “Computers”). We like to think we’re inclusive to new blood. We’re not really. We like to think we’re a kind of anarchy. We’re not that either.
Cons can be scary places for non-Fen. I know my wife finds them such.
We live in close quarters though, even if we can’t stand each other. It is, after all, hard to leave your social circle. While we all “like” “SF”, SF is a wide term. Media fandom is as legitimate as written SF fandom. I’ve heard a lot of rather derisory things about media fandom since I became an “official” con going Fan. I like media SF – I also read, a lot. We bridge a huge range of educational qualifications and backgrounds – we didn’t all go to Oxford, many of us don’t have degrees – you don’t need a degree in physics to be a writer – or a fan. Sex related feuds aside, which at the end of the day, should stay where possible with the involved parties, Fandom needs to deal with and embrace the variety.
There is much talk of the “greying” of Fandom – I suggest exponents of that theory go to an Eastercon and then pick the media con of their choice. There are plenty of young Fen out there. What we should do is help expand their horizons, not take the piss out of them, which, sadly I have seen done at a “real” con.
The distinctions of Trufen, SMOF et al, remind me of the various secret societies that exist. The, “if you have to ask, you’re not one” attitude ought to slip away, we are not the Cateeneans or the Maisons. We’re Fans – some of us are older fans, some younger, some just want an excuse to spend a weekend drinking beer with more like minded people than you meet in the rest of your life.
James Bacon was right, there are arrogant fans. There are also inconsiderate fans, fat ones, thin ones and a bunch of others. I’d like us to try and embrace a new type. The Inclusive Fan.
Randy Byers made a good impression at the Eastercon because he didn’t realise their were sub-groups and divisions. There are too few people like that in Fandom, too few of us who are willing to step outside our “box”. James Bacon does it. I’d like to think I do it. I’d like people to think about that at the next Con they go to.
Some thoughts. Next time you see somebody you know flitting around. Spend a little time with them. There is a British Fan of my acquaintance who only thinks a Con is a success if she has met an interesting new person. Expand that, even if the person isn’t all that interesting, it’s a new acquaintance. If you see a rival faction, at least spend some time with them eh? It might be interesting. If somebody you don’t know or don’t like says something on a panel – have a chat to them. If you’re a new fan, certainly do that.
Although, on that score, if you want to argue the finer points of EE Doc Smith’s technobabble with me, or disagree with one of my quiz questions – then you’re going to setting up a whole new feud!
You have been warned.
And, for that matter, so have I. This piece will come back and bite me in the arse. Of that, I have no doubt.
The Inclusive Fan
I had an afternoon drinking in Seattle with, as we described it at the time, the cream of Seattle fandom – or at the very least the bits that floated to the top. I was in Seattle on business and had looked up the 2003 TAFF winner Randy Byers for a spot of drinking. He suggested we do the monthly Seattle SF fan meeting and off I went.
The very next afternoon, we met for breakfast with another Seattle fan and continued the quite far reaching discussion until the bar tender told us enough was enough. Or Randy had to go home, I can’t recall.
One of the topics we looked at in the discussion is the nature of fandom. This stemmed from a comment that Randy is liked by everybody and acts as a conduit between the various warring factions. Thinking back to the previous night, I had noticed that half the attendees were in one area, and the rest in another. I was sitting down trying not to think about how jetlagged I was feeling. However, this was an interesting comment, and thinking on various Fan scribblings, such as James Bacon’s “The Arrogant Fan” and my personal experiences in Fandom, I realised this was a subject worthy of consideration.
I came into “real” fandom late in life. My first Con being the 1994 Eastercon. In the words of Tobes Valois, I came for an afternoon and have been here for 9 years. As it was I stayed at the con without a room and without a clue for the entire event and made many good friends there that have stuck with me. I entered fandom via my local SF group which at the time was going through a rather serious bout of guest talks, meaning that when I attended a con I would hang around in the bar and relatively famous people, and people I didn’t know would come and talk to us.
In my naivety I kind of assumed that was how things work.
I now know with the wisdom of 10 odd years con going that I was pretty seriously wrong on this score.
Fandom can a pretty harsh place for the uninitiated. There is an internal perception, I think, that it’s a fluffy inclusive group. My fear is that the people who hold that view are often on the inside and persist in an insular attitude because everybody they meet holds the same views. In many interesting respects it echoes some of my experiences as a Brit living in the US.
I knew of the feuding, but it was sometime before I met my first one – to all intents and purposes it came close to destroying a set of friendships that had existed for decades. Why? I screwed up a restaurant bill. Nothing serious. The problem was spotted, I paid over the money. No harm done. Wrong. Mucho harm done. A feud was born. Before we managed to kill him on route to the World Con, I had met John Brunner on several occasions. He was a little outspoken, but I enjoyed having a drink chatting. I was shocked, therefore, to find a section of Fandom who seemed to curse the ground on which he walked.
Chatting, that Sunday in Seattle, I realised that Fandom is spectacularly riven with such feuds which most Fen just skirt the periphery of. Occasionally one of us will wander through this in blissful ignorance. I was, as a neophyte, unaware that I should not associate with certain people; I was not aware that you had to pay your dues before acceptance. I’ve not written a Fanzine, I wasn’t at MagiCon ’85 – am I therefore not entitled to an opinion?
Of course I am, and so, for that matter is everybody else.
SO what is it that drives the feuds; of which there are many – he slept with her and him and her and her and so forth; he only left £20 for the meal but drunk 15 pints; author X is a fool; author Y is pompous.
I’d like to present a thesis, but, before I do so a caveat.
I am a British Fan, I’ve lived in the US and been to a local US SF group, but I haven’t been to US Cons. I am generalizing here, but, I suspect, accurately.
Here goes.b lnz Fandom is a broad church. But I fear that we Fen don’t always perceive that. It represents a vast range of interests, life styles and attitudes – like SF there isn’t a typical fan (except for the one called Dave who has a beard, beer belly and a jumper and does something with “Computers”). We like to think we’re inclusive to new blood. We’re not really. We like to think we’re a kind of anarchy. We’re not that either.
Cons can be scary places for non-Fen. I know my wife finds them such.
We live in close quarters though, even if we can’t stand each other. It is, after all, hard to leave your social circle. While we all “like” “SF”, SF is a wide term. Media fandom is as legitimate as written SF fandom. I’ve heard a lot of rather derisory things about media fandom since I became an “official” con going Fan. I like media SF – I also read, a lot. We bridge a huge range of educational qualifications and backgrounds – we didn’t all go to Oxford, many of us don’t have degrees – you don’t need a degree in physics to be a writer – or a fan. Sex related feuds aside, which at the end of the day, should stay where possible with the involved parties, Fandom needs to deal with and embrace the variety.
There is much talk of the “greying” of Fandom – I suggest exponents of that theory go to an Eastercon and then pick the media con of their choice. There are plenty of young Fen out there. What we should do is help expand their horizons, not take the piss out of them, which, sadly I have seen done at a “real” con.
The distinctions of Trufen, SMOF et al, remind me of the various secret societies that exist. The, “if you have to ask, you’re not one” attitude ought to slip away, we are not the Cateeneans or the Maisons. We’re Fans – some of us are older fans, some younger, some just want an excuse to spend a weekend drinking beer with more like minded people than you meet in the rest of your life.
James Bacon was right, there are arrogant fans. There are also inconsiderate fans, fat ones, thin ones and a bunch of others. I’d like us to try and embrace a new type. The Inclusive Fan.
Randy Byers made a good impression at the Eastercon because he didn’t realise their were sub-groups and divisions. There are too few people like that in Fandom, too few of us who are willing to step outside our “box”. James Bacon does it. I’d like to think I do it. I’d like people to think about that at the next Con they go to.
Some thoughts. Next time you see somebody you know flitting around. Spend a little time with them. There is a British Fan of my acquaintance who only thinks a Con is a success if she has met an interesting new person. Expand that, even if the person isn’t all that interesting, it’s a new acquaintance. If you see a rival faction, at least spend some time with them eh? It might be interesting. If somebody you don’t know or don’t like says something on a panel – have a chat to them. If you’re a new fan, certainly do that.
Although, on that score, if you want to argue the finer points of EE Doc Smith’s technobabble with me, or disagree with one of my quiz questions – then you’re going to setting up a whole new feud!
You have been warned.
And, for that matter, so have I. This piece will come back and bite me in the arse. Of that, I have no doubt.
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Date: 2003-06-12 01:51 pm (UTC)