Fan convention
Fan convention (also known as con or fan meeting), a term that predates 1942, is an event in which fans of a particular topic gather to participate and hold programs and other events, and to meet experts, famous personalities, and each other. Some also incorporate commercial activity. Overview. Fan conventions are traditionally organized by fans on a not-for-profit basis, though some events catering "to" fans are run by commercial interests for profit. Many conventions have award presentations relating to their genre (such as the Hugo Awards which have been presented at The World Science Fiction Convention  (WorldCon) since 1953). At commercial events, performers often give out autographs to the fans, sometimes in exchange for a flat appearance fee, and sometimes may perform songs that have no relevance to the shows or otherwise entertain the fans. Commercial conventions are usually quite expensive and are hosted in hotels. There is often tight security for the celebrities to protect against potentially fanatic fans. Such features are not common at traditional science-fiction conventions, which are more oriented toward science fiction as a mode of literature, rather than toward visual media, and do not include any paid appearances by famous  personalities, and maintain a less caste-like differentiation between professional and fan. Anime conventions, gaming conventions, filk-music conventions, and furry conventions may all be considered derivatives of science-fiction conventions, which began in the late 1930s. Different conventions use different methods to count their attendance, which leads to some confusion about actual convention size. History. Fan conventions for various genres of entertainment extend to the first conventions held in the 1930s. However, while a few conventions were created in various parts of the world within the period between 1935-1960, the number of convention establishments increased slightly in the  1960s and then increased dramatically in the 1970s, with many of the largest conventions in the modern era being established during the latter decade. Impetuses for further establishment of local fan conventions include: