Fandom First: Demographics

While in grad school I had the chance to study quantitate methods of study and was tasked with running a small  survey. I ran a survey through social media to take a look at the demographics of Fandom. I was a bit overwhelmed when over 500 people responded to the survey.  While the survey is not perfect (hey I was in school learning about surveys at the time) I found the responses very interesting and wanted to share the results. 

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Fandom First: The Business of Conventions

When thinking about comic/fantasy/sci fi conventions, most people immediatly think of costumes, and a gathering of people playing games or talking about the latest books and movies. Few people immediatly think of economic power and the impact a large convention can have on a city. But conventions have a huge economic impact on the cities they're hosted in, and on the vendors and dealers travelling around the world with booths.

In an essay for Apex Magazine, I looked at the economic forces behind conventions and the money behind the funny business of fandom. 

You can read the essay here