Last weekend marked the 25th anniversary of Escapade, the little
California slash convention that is the remarkable work of two very
energetic, very enthusiastic women, Charlotte Hill and Megan Kent.
Now, they would tell you that the con works only because of their
vast number of volunteers and, to a point, they're right; the
smooth-running event relies heavily on knowledgable volunteers.
BUT... Charlotte and Megan were smart enough to blackmail
those volunteers into working for the convention. And I will say
right now that Escapade has always been a joy to attend from it's
early days in Goleta, California to its current incarnation at a
hotel near LAX.
Before
last year, I hadn't attended Escapade for over a decade. During that
time, the con had moved from north of Santa Barbara in Goleta to
south of Santa Barbara in Ventura, but I never experienced the con
there so I can't speak to the difference between that location and
the current location. I can say that the LAX local allowed me to
attend once again because I'm a "local" and didn't have to
contend with travel and hotel costs, leaving me free to pay for a
membership and purchase a dealer's table last year. This year, I only
was able to attend for one day, Saturday of Escapade.
I
arrived a bit before 10:00, took the Star Trek buttons I was donating
to the con's charity to the art show then dropped off a few of the
fanzines I edit and publish at the Orphan Zine table before I rushed
off to my first panel. But by that time -- fifteen minutes into my
con day -- I had already encountered a handful of people I hadn't
seen in many, many years and some I had only seen again last year
after a long dry spell.
The
first panel I went to was "Mainstreaming Slash", a panel
that was being filmed to be used as promotional material for the
convention. It was very well attended and very lively. The discussion
was about how we, as slash fans/writers/artists/etc, feel about the
producers and other show runners of our favorite series acknowledging
slash and, in some cases, talking about slash on screen and, in yet
other cases, either playing up to the slash fans or purposefully
"straightening out" their characters who are slashy. It was
a very interesting discussion. Concerns about the powers that be
wanting to cash in on slash were mentioned as well as our proprietary
leanings about slash. Some thought mainstreaming slash is inevitable,
some didn't, some didn't seem to mind the idea of slash "coming
out of the fandom closet", some did. Excellent panel, run by
Charlotte and Megan.
The
second panel I attended was "Captain America" and I
attended it because I simply adore the new Marvel Universe and have
always loved Cap. What I hadn't really thought of was writing slash
Captain America fiction or even looking for it to read. I don't know
why I hadn't thought of it, I simply didn't. But listening to people
discuss the large numbers of Cap writers and the various takes on the
the character of Cap and that of Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier
really took my mind in a direction it had never gone before. I really
enjoyed listening to these women who are obsessed with these
characters; their enthusiasm was quite contagious.
"Say
What You Mean" was the next panel I attended. This was about how
to convey your intentions when giving online feedback. It was
interesting but not something that brought up too many points that I
hadn't already thought about quite thoroughly as a zine editor of 30
years. It was fun to listen to everyone, though.
I
spent time in the Dealer's Room talking with friends and talking with
friends in the halls as we encountered each other. Quite a few people
attended this year who didn't last year due to the 25th anniversary
so I saw people I hadn't seen in well over 10 years. As always, it's
lovely to reconnect, to update contact information, to reminisce, to
laugh and to cry a bit.
My
last panel of the day was "Tumblr 102: Into Darkness". I
attended because I have no idea how to work Tumblr and have been
frightened of it! I'm still in the dark about it but some of the
mystery and fear of the unknown was washed away as I tried to follow
the discussion. Tech is most definitely not my thing.
More
time was spent catching up with friends before the day ended with the
song vid show. As always, it was great fun, despite there being
several videos about fandoms I couldn't identify. A great way to end
my con-going day.
Also,
this convention coming so close to the loss of Leonard Nimoy was a
good thing; I really needed to reconnect with fandom.
I
hope to be able to attend all of the next Escapade, not just
Saturday. I really have missed that sense of community, of continuity
as new fans attend and bring their fresh outlook to the mix.
I
think Charlotte and Megan do a shockingly excellent job running
Escapade. I highly recommend it to any slash fan out there.
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