The Conventions as Asimov Sees Them
| Meta | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Conventions as Asimov Sees Them |
| Creator: | Isaac Asimov |
| Date(s): | 1976 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | Star Trek |
| Topic: | conventions |
| External Links: | https://archive.org/details/starlog_magazine-001/page/n41 |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Conventions as Asimov Sees Them is an article published in the first issue of Starlog Magazine about Isaac Asimov's experiences at Star Trek Lives! and the Schuster Star Trek Conventions in New York City.
It is an updated version of a piece Asimov wrote for the International Star Trek Convention 1973 program book.[1]
Excerpts
In 1972, a Star Trek convention was held in New York, I was asked to attend, and I did.In 1973, a second convention was held in New York, I was asked to attend, and I did.
In 1974, a third convention was held in New York, I was asked to attend, and I did.
In 1975, two conventions were held in New York, and I attended both.
In 1976 ... ditto.
For some reason this seems to strike many people (whether friends or strangers) as odd, and even humorous. At least, they begin to chuckle.
It is clear that their vision of such a convention is that it is attended by hordes of screaming sub-teen girls, all jumping up and down.
Well, there are sub-teen girls at these conventions, but they are not screaming and they are not jumping up and down. They are also not the only ones present. There are, in addition, sub-teen boys, teen-age girls, teen-age boys, grown women and grown men.
Was it chaos? It most certainly was not.There was the natural discomfort that came of trying to handle many more people than you had come prepared to handle,
but I have never witnessed (in a reasonably long lifetime of attending conventions of all sorts: science fiction, science, and business) any group of people as reasonable, as orderly, and as good-humored as at each of these conventions.
The Trekkies are intelligent, interested, involved people with whom it is a pleasure to be, in any numbers. Why else would they have been involved in Star Trek, an intelligent, interested, involved show?