The Rise of Cons


 
With conventions once being exclusive for only niche fandoms or nerdy shows and movies, the idea of a "con" has grown broader than what it has been. With Beer-con and CatConLA being actual live events for people to attend and enjoy their obsessions with other obsessed fans, it has quickly turned into something that anyone can enjoy. While allowing more people to enjoy their quirky tastes with others that enjoy it as much as they do is a great thing to allow, is it perhaps occurring too much in the world?
    In the past, these conventions were more for nerds and geeks of the world as it allowed them to meet one another face to face and make new friends in new places, something the internet cannot do. Events like Comic Con and Wizard World allow the socially introverted to converse with others in a fun and strange environment, allowing themselves to express themselves in however they see fit. Conventions are also a place where business occurs as well, with many artists, writers, advertisers, and various fan-made product merchants being able to make some money off of the conventions while at the same time show off what they have to offer to the world.


     However, recently in the past few years with the rise of superhero movies crushing box offices and the rest of the competition Hollywood Studios have been using these cons to market their new movies like Disney with Star Wars, showing the first trailer for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" along with 500 Stormtrooper mannequins at the Great Wall of China last year. The number of cons has also increased with its new popularity as for example with Wizard World, it had 24 events in just the last year in comparison with only 8 in 2013.
    But with all the hype and excitement over so many different conventions happening so much around the world, it may actually end up burning them out do to all of the events. Rob Salkowitz, autohr of a book on Comic-Con and business, said in 2012 that many fans now see them as overcrowded and too commercialized, with him seeing it becoming just a consumer event if the fans become tired out and leave. Wizard World already has to cancel some of their 2016 events they planned due to how many they had. The whole point of these cons were not to show off the newest summer blockbuster movie of the next Avengers sequel or make what already had hype even more hyped, but to simply just come in with a bunch of nerdy friends, laugh at the weird people and things you see there, and enjoy whatever came in your way. The wild factor used to be what gave buzz about these conventions and while they may have turned off the average person from coming in them, it really wasn't for them in the first place. It was just a place where for those that wanted to show their love for something they liked, they could with the rest of the same kind of fans in the world too. This isn't to say that conventions should only be for the hard-core fans that love their stuff to the extreme, but at the same time it isn't a giant commercial center for industries like Hollywood to present their big movie posters that everyone knows about from their other giant posters everywhere else. It's for those that like their Star Wars cosplay and homemade wookie plushies but don't really know much about how to show it outside in the real world besides the internet. It's a place for these kind of people to put all of their love and giddy quirks in one place with other strange people that are just like them and put all of their effort and energy into making this one place at this one point in time something that can't be done anywhere else in the world. Cons are for nerds and fans, but the right kind of nerds and fans that can make what they love into something more than just what producers and marketers see what they enjoy; a home for the geeky and strange.



Title: "The Rise of Cons"

Link: http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-rise-of-cons-1457036227

Time Published: 5:37pm March 3rd, 2016.