Yeah, we get this all the time. NYC anime fans despise crossing into NJ for a con even though it’s nigh-impossible to run a mid-sized con in NYC due to costs. Trust me, we’ve checked.
@Berhard, Not quite as crazy as it sounds. Well, maybe it would be, for Milwaukee proper. Congenial (a Racine-area relaxacon) was started by Milwaukee fen and then taken over (relatively amicably as such things go) by Chicago fen who were heartily tired of the existing Chicago con scene. Not sure if it’s still operating, haven’t heard any references to it in a while. The “not a real con” comment was used non-ironically in the 80’s and 90’s to refer to any “media” (television-series- or movie-oriented) convention, because (as the gatekeepers held) “real fans read books”. Book books, not comic books. Comic cons, such as existed then, were more like flea markets or swap meets. Really boring if you weren’t really into it. “Real” cons were not-for-profit, had an art show, a hospitality suite, a masquerade for the costumers, discussion panels, and catered to a broad spectrum of interests….if your interests were literary, that is, because the GoH’s were authors and artists. Now it seems that you have to be a big glitzy (read: expensive) for-profit event with Big Name guests to be “real”…
UnCONventional is a comic that ran from December 2009 to December 2019 about the staff of a small town anime convention and their lives. This is a complete online archive of the comic.
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14 thoughts on “Real Surreal”
Bryan E
Welcome to the cesspit where I live called Florida. It’s not as bad as it once was, but there was a point in time where this was the norm.
Dessa
That poor man…
Kay Shapero
Once you’ve got your foot in your mouth, you should at least try not to chew…
Vince
Yeah, we get this all the time. NYC anime fans despise crossing into NJ for a con even though it’s nigh-impossible to run a mid-sized con in NYC due to costs. Trust me, we’ve checked.
Bernhard
I believe t’s called a “rack focus,” Mark.
Langland
What’s a real con? I mean what defines a Fake con from a Real con?
calvsie
same criteria as gamer girls?
fourthirteen
Same criteria as real cheese?
Ray Dannelly
‘Is he personally involved with running it, and take pride in doing so?’ Anything less, not a ‘Real’ Con.
Bernhard
Are he and his staff going to turn out to be from Chicago?
Trae Dorn
*whistles whle looking off to the side*
Nick Schneider
You daffy bastard!
KORfan
That’d be like people from Minnesota and Illinois running a con in Iowa! 🙂
xheralt
@Berhard, Not quite as crazy as it sounds. Well, maybe it would be, for Milwaukee proper. Congenial (a Racine-area relaxacon) was started by Milwaukee fen and then taken over (relatively amicably as such things go) by Chicago fen who were heartily tired of the existing Chicago con scene. Not sure if it’s still operating, haven’t heard any references to it in a while. The “not a real con” comment was used non-ironically in the 80’s and 90’s to refer to any “media” (television-series- or movie-oriented) convention, because (as the gatekeepers held) “real fans read books”. Book books, not comic books. Comic cons, such as existed then, were more like flea markets or swap meets. Really boring if you weren’t really into it. “Real” cons were not-for-profit, had an art show, a hospitality suite, a masquerade for the costumers, discussion panels, and catered to a broad spectrum of interests….if your interests were literary, that is, because the GoH’s were authors and artists. Now it seems that you have to be a big glitzy (read: expensive) for-profit event with Big Name guests to be “real”…
About the Comic
UnCONventional is a comic that ran from December 2009 to December 2019 about the staff of a small town anime convention and their lives. This is a complete online archive of the comic.
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