My Private Idaho
There were a lot of genres and fandoms represented there - some of which have had historic rivalries - and it was somewhere between a multi-genre con, a fair, a village, and in some ways like a spiritual retreat. At ever con there is an air of acceptance but at Fandemonium it's an active community experience. Everybody was pretty darned honest with who they were and it was really great.
The chairman and Great Leader, Borneo, doesn't approach it so much as a con but as a revolution. They had to carve a space in hyper-conservative Idaho and it took a lot of money and years and above all, effort, on the part of a dedicated family-group of folks of really want to make it happen and make a difference. All cons do but most don't have to deal with attitudes such as, "People who are into fiction are idiots", being harassed by drunken people downtown, and being made to feel generally unwelcome. People in Idaho pay a price for their fandom and now they've decided to change that. Everybody there - staff, attendees, dealers, etc - seemed actively and passionately dedicated to making a great con and to helping with the big picture. It was a great experience.
It's always interesting to me places that not only require but sometimes violently enforce conformity turn out such powerful, focused, interesting and dynamic people and alternatives to that conformity are aggressively pursued. It's also interesting to note that the only people who actually make something of their lives are the ones who resist and surpass conformity, no matter what their ideas or beliefs are. I think that Idaho has more pagans and Wiccans per capita than any other place I've ever been. (Dallas is the second most in that regard.)
They had some programming that was cutting edge. They had a late night Cosplay After Dark where only folks who were 18 and older were allowed in and everybody who came in the door was waivered to agree that they would not be offended by anything they might see there. The county that they are in defines obscenity as anything that the audience is offended by so by agreeing not to be offended n a contract, they can go places nobody else has. (The space was very effectively guarded and controlled of course.) There were a lot of great bawdy skits and a little bit of skin one doesn't see in most cosplays. I have to say that this was the only cosplay I've really enjoyed in about 9 years! : D It was amazing and funny and the audience had a great time. There was nothing tasteless of weird or disgusting about it at all. It's good to see adults treated as adults and enjoying things as adults and to have a con that is willing to do so. I really like the idea of the waivers and I wish that more cons had the balls (nyuk nyuk) to do this kind of thing.
I enjoyed my live programming and working my table was enjoyable. Since the con was in the Nampa Civic Center, it closed each night at midnight and we went back to the hotel. It was weird sleeping 7 - 8 hours a night and waking up to work my table without the usual grainy difficulty for the first few hours.
I met a lot of amazing people there and had a lot of great conversations. I especially enjoyed hanging out with Eric (Ogre) and Rebecca, who fed me most excellent fondue (which I must confess was my first) and who I enjoyed talking about Buddhism and meditating with. Their boy Sean is the most well behaved, well rounded child I think I have ever met or even seen and was in extremely stark contrast to the spoiled brats and their egocentric parents that I had to endure on the various plane flights. On one leg, there was a little girl sitting next to me who talked (a little louder than a mumble) to herself the entire trip and did not have the words "thank you" or "please" or "excuse me" in her vocabulary, as I never heard her say them once in 3 hours despite the opportunity to do so many times.She refused to tighten her seatbelt and was so focused on playing with her little brother in the seat in front of me, who also wouldn't sit still and drooled on my multiple times, that when the plane landed and they hit the brakes she shot forward and her face smashed flat into the tray table on the seat in front of her. As difficult as it was not to get involved, I realized that the compassionate thing to do was allow it all to play out so that she and her mother might learn to modify their behavior. I have to say it was weird and rather uncomfortable.
A flock of geese, a herd of cows, a pride of lions, a murder of crows and a nightmare of traveling families. : ) (In all truth, there were just as many families, if not more, with good kids and reasonable parents of course.)
It was nice to see Erika again and to finally meet her husband Damien, who is a great guy. I'm very glad they found each other and they're a great couple. I enjoyed hanging out with them a lot.
Huge thanks to the staff and attendees of Fandemonium who made me weekend a great time! I wish them great success in their revolution and I'd be happy to join them in carrying their banner. : )