ext_27377 ([identity profile] kevin-standlee.livejournal.com) wrote in [personal profile] kevin_standlee 2007-10-11 09:58 pm (UTC)

Yes, I know, but the creation grew beyond its creators, and I'm not especially bothered by that. I like the fact that the convention is becoming more worldly, although an almost inevitable consequence has been a slight shrinkage. It's not nearly as dramatic as what happened to Westercon, which shrunk to about one-third of its peak size, partially due to it traveling away from its home territory more often, becoming increasingly less relevant to newer generations of fans whose "needs," so to speak, were being met by events that didn't require them to travel much.

As we've discussed here many times, Worldcon will never grow past the size of the mega-events unless it does what those events do. Now to a great extent Worldcon ended up driving away most of the people who were attracted to what it once was -- witness the "core fandom" phenomena -- so it's not impossible that it could happen again. If Worldcon settled down, put down permanent roots, and started growing, it would probably lose most of the attendees and organizers that have been heretofore attracted to it.

Post a comment in response:

This account has disabled anonymous posting.
(will be screened if not validated)
If you don't have an account you can create one now.
HTML doesn't work in the subject.
More info about formatting