SMOF News, volume 1, issue 30

Hollywood notices female fans, and news in brief.

Women Discover Media Fandom (Again)

Under the headline “‘Harry Potter for Adults’: Netflix Lures ‘Bridgerton’ Fans With Live Events”, the New York Times looks at the Bridgerton Experience, a series of Regency balls aimed at hyping up the next season of the show.

The streaming giant hopes it serves as a marketing tool for “Bridgerton,” the second season of which becomes available on Friday, and appeals to the show’s primarily female fan base, which is often ignored when it comes to fan culture.

Though Bridgerton itself is not speculative fiction, Netflix (and the reporter) see Bridgerton fandom as a cousin to the more traditional geeky fandoms. (This actually seems reasonable, given that the World Science Fiction Convention has been holding Regency dances for decades.) The usual tale is told of how women only came to geekdom relatively recently.

Indeed, it was a milestone when the cast of the first “Twilight” movie showed up at Comic-Con in 2008, introducing a new demographic to the predominantly male-skewed fan convention. “Fifty Shades of Grey” followed suit with an extensive line of merchandising. “Outlander” and “Downton Abbey” have also proved the purchasing power of a largely female fan base.

Here is your periodic reminder that the first well-developed media fandom was Star Trek fandom, and it was overwhelmingly female. The show was so associated with female fans, in fact, that the term “Trekkie” is alleged to have been coined as a dismissive analogy to “groupie”.

In Brief

• This year’s MARcon (May 6-8, Columbus, Ohio, USA), the 57th, will be the last unless someone steps in to take over.

• Kogaracon 2022 (planned for April 23, Edison, New Jersey, USA) has been cancelled. The convention expects to return in 2023.

• Wiscon’s latest funding update reports $22,000 of a possible $30,000 match has now been raised. 291 memberships have been sold, of a goal of 1000.

Event Calendar

Weekend of March 25-27

• AggieCon 51, College Station, Texas, USA

• MidSouthCon 38, Memphis, Tennessee, USA

• HELIOsphere, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA

• FantaSci 2022: Time Warp Edition, Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, USA

• Consonance 2022 (music), Milpitas, California, USA

• Motor City Furry Con, Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA

• Plattecon XXXV: The Redemption Arc (gaming), Platteville, Wisconsin, USA

• GameStorm 22, Portland, Oregon, USA

• Terminal City Tabletop Convention (gaming), Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

• WashingCon (gaming), Washington, DC, USA

• Ludinord (gaming), Lille, France

• Game On Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA

• SIMCON 43 (boardgames), Rochester, New York, USA

• Adepticon 2022 (wargaming), Schaumburg, Illinois, USA

• FreeCon 18 (anime), Tallahassee, Florida, USA

• Nadeshicon (anime), Québec City, Québec, Canada

• Banzaicon (anime), Columbia, South Carolina, USA

• SwampCon 1v1 (anime), Gainesville, Florida, USA

• AnimeJapan 2022, Tokyo, Japan

• Zenkaikon 2022 (anime), Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA

• Anime Recharge 2022, Des Moines, Iowa, USA

• ExpOtaku Almería 2022 (anime), Almería, Spain

• Fluke 2022 (independent comics and zines), Athens, Georgia, USA

• Revelcon 32 (media relaxacon), Houston, Texas, USA

Weekend of April 1-3

• CyPhaCon 2022, Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA

• Roscon-2022, Moscow, Russia

• Costume-Con 40: Rogues, Royals, Renegades, Rockville, Maryland, USA

• Atlanta Game Fest 37, Alpharetta, Georgia, USA

• LeiriaCon (gaming), Leiria, Portugal

• LexiCon 2022 (gaming), Lexington, Kentucky, USA

• LexiCon-IL (RPGs), Lexington, Illinois, USA

• Animarathon (anime), Bowling Green, Ohio, USA

• Cape Anime, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, USA

• KokoroCon (anime), Nottingham, UK

• Tokyo Alley (anime), Perth, Australia

• AniFest 2022 (anime), Torrance, California, USA

• FACTS (media), Ghent, Belgium

• Angers Geekfest: La Culture Geek Au Féminin (media), Angers, France

• Quad Cities Comic Con, Davenport, Iowa, USA

• Vaca-Con (media), Vacaville, California, USA

• WonderCon 2022 (media), Anaheim, California, USA

Weekend of April 8-10

• LuxCon 2022 (Eurocon), Dudelange, Luxembourg

• ConStellation, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA

• Jack Williamson Lectureship, Portales, New Mexico, USA

• Springmoot (J. R. R. Tolkien), Exeter, UK

• 221B Con (Sherlock Holmes), Atlanta, Georgia, USA

• FK-NO 3 (music), online

• CosXpo (costuming), Reading, UK

• Golden State Fur Con (anthropomorphic), Los Angeles, California, USA

• CODCON XXV: Re-Roll! (gaming), Glen Ellyn, Illinois, USA

• Adirondacon (gaming), Glens Falls, New York, USA

• DaveCon (gaming), Roseville, Illinois, USA

• MEPACON (gaming), White Haven, Pennsylvania, USA

• Buckeye Game Fest 2022, Columbus, Ohio, USA

• Long Island Tabletop Gaming Expo 2022, Garden City, New York, USA

• Havoc XXXVI (miniatures gaming), Sutton, Massachusetts, USA

• Conpulsion Lite (RPGs), online

• Ambercon 2022 (Amber Diceless Roleplaying Game), online (usually Livonia, Michigan, USA)

• LAN All Night V: LAN of the Rings (LAN gaming), Grapevine, Texas, USA

• CoMo Retro Con (retro video games), Columbia, Missouri, USA

• Aselia Con (Tales game series), Irving, Texas, USA

• Con Ja Nai XXVI (anime), Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

• Jaycon 11 (anime), Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, USA

• Made in Asia (anime), Brussels, Belgium

• Romics XXVIII (comics), Rome, Italy

• Sci-Fi Scarborough (media), Scarborough, UK

• Rod Con (media), Cedar Falls, Iowa, USA

• Wicked Comic Con, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

• SC Comicon, Greenville, South Carolina, USA

• Central Texas Comic Con, Waco, Texas, USA

• Bedford Who Charity Con 7 (Doctor Who), Bedford, UK

• Star Trek Mission Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA

• Dairycon 2022: The Moo Adventures (Transformers), Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, USA

Weekend of April 15-17

• Reclamation 2022, the 72nd Eastercon (UK national sf convention), London, UK

• Minicon 55, Saint Louis Park, Minnesota, USA

• Norwescon 44, Seatac, Washington, USA

• Fastaval, Hobro, Denmark

• HAL-CON 2022, Kawasaki, Japan

• Fauntastic 2022: Night of the Yōkai (anthropomorphic), Lyon, France

• Fur Squared 2022 (anthropomorphic), Brookfield, Wisconsin, USA

• GothCon XLV (gaming), Göteborg, Sweden

• Conquest Games Convention (RPGs), Melbourne, Australia

• Nashville Tabletop Day (boardgames), Nashville, Tennessee, USA

• OzBunnyCon 2022 (boardgames), Glen Waverley, Australia

• Kanpai!Con (anime), Omaha, Nebraska, USA

• MTAC Score! (anime), Nashville, Tennessee, USA

• Mang’Azur (anime), Toulon, France

• Polymanga (anime), Montreux, Switzerland

• Karoshi-Con (anime), DeKalb, Illinois, USA

• Saluki Con (anime), Carbondale, Illinois, USA

• SacAnime, Roseville, California, USA

• Colorado Anime Fest, Denver, Colorado, USA

• Sakura-Con 2022 (anime), Seattle, Washington, USA

• Puerto Rico Comic Con, San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA

• Indiana Comic Convention, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

• BABSCon 2022 (My Little Pony), Burlingame, California, USA

Weekend of April 22-24

• No Brand Con XIX, Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, USA

• Swancon Not-A-Con, Tuart Hill, Australia

• JordanCon (fantasy literature), Atlanta, Georgia, USA

• Ice and Fire Convention (Song of Ice and Fire series), Mt. Sterling, Ohio, USA

• Penguicon 2022 (sf/open source), Southfield, Michigan, USA

• Malice Domestic 32-33-34 (mysteries), Bethesda, Maryland, USA

• Farmageddon IX (gaming), Farmer City, Illinois, USA

• Cheyenne Gaming Convention, Cheyenne, Wyoming, USA

• Rising Phoenix Game Con, Milford, Massachusetts, USA

• Jeu au Boute (boardgames), Chertsey, Québec, Canada

• Recon (miniatures gaming), Orlando, Florida, USA

• PAX East (video games), Boston, Massachusetts, USA

• Omnicon Revival (anime), Cookeville, Tennessee, USA

• Oz-Con (anime), West Plains, Missouri, USA

• Kawaii Kon (anime), Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

• Anime St. Louis, St. Charles, Missouri, USA

• ExpOtaku Vitoria-Gasteiz (anime), Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain

• Mobile Bay Anime Festival, Daphne, Alabama, USA

• Beta Quest 2022 (anime), Kingsland, Georgia, USA

• San Diego Comic Fest, San Diego, California, USA

• El Paso Comic Con, El Paso, Texas, USA

• Yellow City Comic Con, Amarillo, Texas, USA

• Fayetteville Comic Con, Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA

• Suncoast Comic-Con, Palmetto, Florida, USA

• Comic-Con Prague, Prague, Czech Republic

• Fanboy Expo Las Vegas (media), Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Coda

• Mercury may be studded with diamonds (Science News)

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