Not all comic/sci-fi conventions need to be megalithic to provide a weekend full of entertainment, education, and friend-making: DemiCON, a general fandom convention ran out of the Holiday Inn Northwest off of Merle Hay Road, Des Moines, is an exceptional example of how 200-300 people can provide a memorable occasion for all. My girlfriend and I decided on a whim to drive out there this past Saturday to partake in its festivities.
I first went to DemiCON last year, attending with two of my friends as comic-peddlers in the Dealer's Room (to find that comics did not sell nearly as well as the corsets and leather costume pieces sold at the booth next to us). However, though our mercantile dreams were dashed, we discovered something that made us forget all our troubles (and almost the entire weekend): free beer and booze provided, all weekend long. We made a lot of friends, and invariably, my girlfriend and I made plenty this year too.
Aside from this wonderful perk which simply cannot be matched by any other convention I've been to or know of, what else does DemiCON provide. This year's programming we found to be lighter than others but still consisted of an anime room, a gaming room offering cash prizes to those who participated, filking, movie riffing, a costume contest, a masquerade ball, some music, and a few fan-related info panels. However, we discovered to our dismay that most of the more entertaining events such as the costume contest and most of the music happened on Friday night or earlier in the day Saturday. After 3pm, the music room stayed empty and the contestants had already been chosen for the costume contest.
Though the Des Moines Science Fiction Society did an excellent job running the convention (ensuring that all panels were run smoothly this year, a problem they had last year), my critique of the scene, along with Mindbridge's ICON in Cedar Rapids, remains the same: there's not enough encouragement and seeking out of younger and newer people to join, engage, and run events at the convention. If there were more panels exploring more of these amazing individuals who go to these conventions' areas of expertise (from explaining their love for a particular series to teaching people how to craft costumes and props to how to form communities of creative and fandom-loving people when conventions aren't going on), along with allowing more local area musicians and artists to freely perform, then I think they could easily double their attendance.
I understand that it takes a lot of volunteer hours to run this sort of event and those who commit have created an excellent scene, but I feel there's infinite room for growth and expansion. So, if you feel that you have something you could contribute, from artistic to musical to educational abilities, I strongly encourage you begin communicating your ideas. Smaller conventions are wonderful, where you can feel that at the end of the weekend you've gotten to know and become friends with almost everyone in attendance. Supporting them will only allow them to continue ad infinitum and will allow other local communities to see what brilliant things fandom can accomplish.
To read about a larger convention, please check out the C2E2 Review.
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