There are conventions and there are conventions…
The Time & Again DWAS convention will only be allowing people from the one particular podcast to record any conversations with the guests. Clearly they are well within their rights to do so but it has ruffled a few feathers, to say the least.
A heated debate raged on Twitter earlier this evening between one podcaster who would be allowed to record and another who wouldn’t. Forgive me for being vague, I don’t want to turn this in any way personal, it’s the policy I want to examine not the people on any side of the of the ‘debate’! I only name the event because people deserve to know in case the policy might affect their choice on whether to attend or not.
I want to take the heat out of the situation and look at it rationally and hear other people’s opinions on the subject, should they have any.
When asked, via email, “what are the chances of getting a few words with your guests for our podcast?”, the Doctor Who Appreciation Society (DWAS) responder replied “On this occasion we have agreed that <redacted!> will do any podcast in return for advertising on their site which we have been getting for some months now. At this stage I’m afraid I cannot turn around and say that someone else is also having access. However for the future,…?”
On the face of it that doesn’t sound totally unreasonable and does leave things open for the future. It does, however, totally fail to take into account the sort of social gatherings conventions are, especially in this newly connected world.
DWAS, at one time, used to hold the biggest Doctor Who conventions in the world until the American cons, especially Gallifrey One, really took off. Since then DWAS have rather melted away and haven’t held one of their once annual Panopticon extravaganzas since 2003. Time and Again is very modest by comparison.
Perhaps we were spoilt by Whooverville? There all podcasters were treated equally, invited in even. It was a wonderful atmosphere of freedom, fun and socialising. It was run by fans, for fans. The guests interacted with fans throughout the day in a casual way not a forced restricted way. It was utterly unlike the sort of media expo where guests are segregated from the fans and any interaction has to be paid for in advance (the organisers acting like their pimps). It’s a shame DWAS (a fan run organisation) has apparently gone at least some way down that route. Even the great (and massive) Gallifrey One has, somehow, avoided that trap.
Doctor Who fandom has long since had its ‘in crowd’ of fans, a level above the ‘ming mong’ crowd. That was always a sad state of affairs and I’m sorry to see that sort of elitism still exists. I’m not asking for a fan panel like the podcaster’s panel at Whooverville. I’m not asking for the guests to be forced to talk to every person with a handheld recorder – this isn’t a publicity event for a new film, after all. All we’d like is to be able to ask a guest or a fan attendee if they’d be prepared to talk to us for a few moments. We’re not looking for long in-depth interviews – that wouldn’t be fair on all the other attendees (or the poor people we’re wanting to talk to!) Leave it up to the individual we ask to decide for themselves if they are willing to spare us those few moments. If they’d rather not, then tell them they shouldn’t be afraid to say no. We don’t consider them to be duty bound to do so, only for us not to be prevented from asking. As one Twitter user said ‘There’s a difference between denying access to guests and giving podcasters special access. A big difference.’ I don’t think any of us are asking for special access, just equal access.
Whooverville was a masterstroke – invite all the podcasters along and get a lot of free publicity and general good will. Good will epitomises Whooverville. Time & Again seem to be taking the opposite view. If the bad will I’ve seen generated this evening is anything to go by then Time & Again (and DWAS conventions in general from now on) could well go down in infamy. That’s just not a way to run a convention.
Those people behind this short sighted decision should do themselves a favour and take another look at it. Conventions should not be about control freakery but openness and fun. Unless I’m not seeing the full picture here, this seems like a largely pointless self inflicted wound. A wound that may fester for years to come. Reconsider.
Recent Comments