These sort of conventions serve as massive gathering places for die-hard fans and feature celebrity guest speakers, merchandise booths, and elaborate home made costumes (known as cosplay). These events are huge opportunities for authors, artists, game designers, publishers, and film studios to present their work to a receptive audience. Conventions are also profitable for event organizers and local economies, as thousands of merchandise-seeking fans descend upon cities the world over for a chance to attend. Online event organizer Eventbrite estimated that fan conventions earn about $650 million in ticket sales alone every year. And how much do fans buy when at these conventions? Over 50% of attendees spend $100-$500 and about ⅓ spend over their planned budgets, according to an Eventbrite survey of over 2,500 fan convention ticket purchasers.
You could spend the better part of a lifetime attending all the fan conventions out there, but some of the biggest events include:
- Comic-Con International
- Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3)
- WonderCon
- The Official Star Trek Convention
- DragonCon
The following video from anti-street harassment organization HOLLABACKPhilly, shows just how widespread the problem of harassment is at fan conventions:
Nerd culture is too big to ignore. If we want to welcome everyone to this burgeoning world and increase opportunities for artists and organizers, we need to create an inclusive, safe and accepting atmosphere at conventions!
-----
This piece originally appeared on LinkedIn.
intro image by PopCultureGeek.com, modified by author