Are “media conventions” sf conventions?
A. This one is open to debate. Most fans, regardless of whether they attend them, would agree that being devoted to a particular television program, or a particular author’s work, doesn’t make something not an sf con. On the other hand, if the main activities involve actors, and most of those are autograph sessions, a lot of people don’t think it’s a real con. In other words, of course a con can discuss Babylon 5 as well as, or even instead of, the writing of Philip K. Dick or Ursula Le Guin; if it isn’t interested in discussing much of anything, it’s not a convention–a gathering of people with shared interests–it’s a show.
