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Atlanta Fantasy Fair 1986
Feb. 9th, 2015 11:35 amI have a blog where I write about the Atlanta Fantasy Fair and related Atlanta SF/comics/fantasy conventions from Back In The Day, which mostly means the mid 80s to the mid 90s. There's a post up right now that focuses on the program book for the 1986 AFF!
It's safe to say that the AFF is the reason I'm still involved in fandom conventions. The show was THE high point of my summer for many years, and you know that when things imprint on young brains they tend to stay imprinted. We got a weekend away by ourselves in a big hotel downtown, we were blowing an entire year's worth of saved allowances, lawn-mowing cash, and paychecks from part time jobs, and by the time we were 17 we were on staff, getting to play pretend adults surrounded by comic books and videos and people in crazy costumes. What's not to love?
The fascinating part is how I fell in love with the "fandom convention" format of a not-for-profit group, a big hotel, a convention center, videos and events and suchlike, and how I did NOT fall in love with Star Trek or Dr Who or fantasy role playing or any of the big media properties being sold to us by these 80s fandom conventions. It was Japanese cartoons all the way for me and my crew, and once they became their own thing, capable of supporting their own clubs and conventions, my interest in and attendance at general sf/fantasy shows would vanish.
It's safe to say that the AFF is the reason I'm still involved in fandom conventions. The show was THE high point of my summer for many years, and you know that when things imprint on young brains they tend to stay imprinted. We got a weekend away by ourselves in a big hotel downtown, we were blowing an entire year's worth of saved allowances, lawn-mowing cash, and paychecks from part time jobs, and by the time we were 17 we were on staff, getting to play pretend adults surrounded by comic books and videos and people in crazy costumes. What's not to love?
The fascinating part is how I fell in love with the "fandom convention" format of a not-for-profit group, a big hotel, a convention center, videos and events and suchlike, and how I did NOT fall in love with Star Trek or Dr Who or fantasy role playing or any of the big media properties being sold to us by these 80s fandom conventions. It was Japanese cartoons all the way for me and my crew, and once they became their own thing, capable of supporting their own clubs and conventions, my interest in and attendance at general sf/fantasy shows would vanish.
