Earlier this year, I managed to purchase a ticket for the annual PAXEast convention in Boston, MA. The convention is a celebration of video games and video gaming culture. Tournaments are held all day throughout the weekend. Video gaming companies and celebrities hold panels to discuss anything from development to general queries. Being a gamer, I'm excited to participate in this important annual event. But, I'm also excited to attend the event as a scholar studying nerd culture. The event will give me a hands on way of looking at, not only video gaming culture, but also nerd culture as a whole.
And I'm not the only one who is interested. While perusing the schedule site, I found myself honing in on a particular panel.
The panel captured my eye because of how it's focusing on the gaming identity and culture along with the bigger geek/nerd culture and identity. With this being such an interesting panel, I plan on, not only taking notes and recording the panel, but I plan on giving my opinions on the research and information presented at the panel.
Hi Undercover - I'm so excited for you!! That sounds like an awesome event and the panel sounds right up your alley! I look forward to hearing all about the convention!
ReplyDeleteHey Undercover,
ReplyDeleteNice, out-of-the-ordinary article on PAX. As with other essays, keep an eye on punctuation and grammar – there are a couple of points where you get a little lax. I also think that this post might have benefited from your speculation on what the panel might be talking about, and what you hoped to hear, to add a bit of your own personality in there.
Being a fellow geek and convention-er, I had two suggestions. First, a bit nitpicky, but as a tabletop gamer, I wanted to point out that PAX has a decent representation of these as well, besides the more common video games – geek/nerd bias :). Second... I don't do pop-culture/gamer conventions as much, but I serve as a panelist, booth host, screening guest and attendee at horror conventions regularly. As someone who's seen both sides, I felt that I wanted to see a little more of that in your writing. I think the part about "Celebrities come to shake the hands of fans. Independent artists host booths in order to get discovered. Panels bring the world of whatever media is on display to the world of their fans." is what bothered me. As someone who frequently "works" these conventions, I almost feel that this is putting too much power in the hands of the celebrities and game companies – they utilize these conventions as a networking opportunity just as much as fans use it as a learning base and place to meet friends and get awesome swag. Think about rephrasing it as: "Celebrities come to interact and commune with their fans and friends within the community. Independent artists host booths to sell their work and gain important contacts within the industry. Panels bring key voices of the community to the forefront, giving attendees the opportunity to learn about the newest initiative and the coolest game."
Hope this helps!
VM
Undercover, you'll be combining the best of your two current interests - gaming and academics. This sounds like a great time and definitely up your alley. Looking forward to your "report out" about this. Would you ever consider being a panelist at a convention like this in the future? Does that interest you? Could be worthy of a future blog post!
ReplyDeleteCheers!
MadMom