This past week was VidCon 2016 in Anaheim, California, USA. Though the convention is growing, there was a focus on the connection between media producers and audiences. In his keynote speech, vlogger and author John Green spoke about the importance of community: “What’s good for your community is good for your business, and what’s bad for your community is ultimately bad for your business… I would encourage you not to worry so much about how many people watch what you make; worry about how many people love what you make.”
This focus on community engagement was echoed in a section of a broader article for The Daily Dot. “For Saturday’s event, YouTuber Flula Borg took the stage as MC, with stars like Ricky Dillon, Jon Cozart and Dan and Phil drawing cheers from the packed house. It felt the most traditional interaction of fan and creator that VidCon gets—audience rapt on entertainer. Of course, those entertainers were also listening to the shouts of that audience, reacting, modifying, and essentially collaborating with those who came to watch.”
OTW Legal Staffer Heidi Tandy was also at VidCon participating in a panel on copyright. Watch out for a recap of that coming soon!
Also this week was The Fan Studies Network 2016 conference at the University of East Anglia in England. OTW’s Fanhackers blog promoted the live-tweeting of the event, which covered a variety of topics, from amigurumi to the history of omegaverse. Check out the #FSN2016 hashtag on Twitter for more.
The history of Omergaverse is explained at #FSN2016 pic.twitter.com/oB9FiSDohL
— The Daily Fandom (TDF) (@tdfdotorg) June 26, 2016
On a related note, in case you missed it, be sure to check out the call for papers for upcoming issues of Transformative Works and Cultures, the OTW’s scholarly journal on fan studies.
Lastly, in sillier news, The Mary Sue posted an article about a fan who made a helmet designed to mimic the eye beams of Cyclops from X-Men. Please, please do not try this at home. But do tell us about what other fan crafts and cosplay you’ve made on Fanlore!
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