SXSW
I think maybe I need to do some clarification around my last post, because a couple of issues got conflated in my mind and in the comments.
I want to direct your attention to some of the panels happening this weekend at the South by Southwest Interactive Conference. SXSW is one of the oldest and the largest digital media conferences in the US. Something like 5,000 people whose jobs and/or passions involve the creation of the stuff you see on all your screens (TV and computer) to talk, shmooze, and party (the kick-off party is usually held in a warehouse, or an abandoned supermarket or the like.) It's a really excellent place to take the pulse of the various industries represented. I wish I were there right now, and that's despite the weather being awesome here today.
This year, panels include:
This is what I'm talking about when I say that fan communities have to be aware of the rest of the world, and, ideally, to find ways to engage it. If the only ways in which we talk about the changing media landscape are in locked posts, password-protected sites, or freely-available vids that require deep engagement with a particular slash culture to understand, then we're not part of the larger conversation. If we only address the outside world in academic articles and books, then we're not engaging the people actually creating the conditions in which the fannish ecosystem exists.
True, there is no requirement that anyone do any of this. But I do honestly think that fandom has a better chance of surviving and thriving in this new environment if we actively engage in the larger conversation.
I want to direct your attention to some of the panels happening this weekend at the South by Southwest Interactive Conference. SXSW is one of the oldest and the largest digital media conferences in the US. Something like 5,000 people whose jobs and/or passions involve the creation of the stuff you see on all your screens (TV and computer) to talk, shmooze, and party (the kick-off party is usually held in a warehouse, or an abandoned supermarket or the like.) It's a really excellent place to take the pulse of the various industries represented. I wish I were there right now, and that's despite the weather being awesome here today.
This year, panels include:
- Mystery Science Web 3000: Combinatorial Media as Self-Expression
- Building an Online Fan Base
- Community Ecology: Finding Balance When Working with Fan Groups
- The Real Story Behind Snakes on a Plane
- TV: The Next Generation
This is what I'm talking about when I say that fan communities have to be aware of the rest of the world, and, ideally, to find ways to engage it. If the only ways in which we talk about the changing media landscape are in locked posts, password-protected sites, or freely-available vids that require deep engagement with a particular slash culture to understand, then we're not part of the larger conversation. If we only address the outside world in academic articles and books, then we're not engaging the people actually creating the conditions in which the fannish ecosystem exists.
True, there is no requirement that anyone do any of this. But I do honestly think that fandom has a better chance of surviving and thriving in this new environment if we actively engage in the larger conversation.