#fsn2018

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Pour tous les fondus de fromage, Mardi 18 décembre à 19h30, c'est soirée raclette sur la Grande Roue ! 🎡😍 Billets à retirer à la caisse de la grande roue. Recette versée aux associations Saint-Nicolas Solidaire. #Nancy #fsn2018 #SaintNicolas (à Nancy, France) https://www.instagram.com/p/BrdnZnKHWKf/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1pmv7lowttua9

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Fêtes de Saint-Nicolas de Nancy@fetes_stnicolas Pour tous les fondus de fromage, Mardi 18 décembre à 19h30, c'est soirée raclette sur la Grande Roue ! Billets à retirer à la caisse de la grande roue. Recette versée aux associations Saint-Nicolas Solidaire. #Nancy #fsn2018 #SaintNicolas (à Nancy, France) https://www.instagram.com/p/BrdmwM7n84L/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=xhme9m9vr2yv

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We just released Episode 78, coming at you from the Fan Studies Network 2018 conference, to Patrons! To listen 24 hours before anyone else, donate to our Patreon!

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In 2016, at the end of my second year, I attended my first major academic conference. That conference was the Fan Studies Network’s annual conference, aimed at bringing together scholars whose research focus included work on fandom, participatory culture, media and communications, and audience studies. The conference was fun, lively and had a real ‘homey’ atmosphere; really the perfect introduction to conference life and, indeed, to those academics who would become integral parts of my scholarly network over the next few years. Having taken part in one of their ‘speed-geeking’ sessions in 2016 (speed-geeking is really an ideal foray into presentation for the novice academic – you have eight minutes to pitch your research to a small group of scholars and ask any questions/address any issues that have cropped up in your work, with an aim towards ‘sounding out’ your research ideas within a friendly group dynamic. After your eight minutes expire you hop to another group, meaning you can get a multitude of perspectives on your work in under an hour) I knew it was time that I should ‘formally’ present some of my doctoral work. I was thrilled to have my abstract accepted for presentation and set to work developing a paper based on an intriguing aspect of my research project: the use online audiences were making of GIFs in processes of film reception. I was looking forward to reconnecting with familiar faces and attending some of the brilliant panels set out in the conference programme.

I arrived in Cardiff after a rocky rail journey from the North of England (bus replacements be damned!) and headed to the FSN welcome event to catch up with some of this year’s attendees. This was just one of a number of events set up by the committee that made the whole conference feel just that little bit more comfortable and welcoming – the chance to chat to other scholars, to find out a little about their backgrounds, where they travelled in from, and what they were looking forward to at this year’s event. I think when you pack a load of aca-fans into one room you will only ever have a fun and friendly conversation (we’re an enthusiastic bunch, it’s kind of in the job description!) and I found it particularly great that the committee chose two independent venues within Cardiff city centre for the social events, as it allowed us ‘tourists’ to get a feel for the city and the kinds of entertainment it offered. As a self-funded student I also massively appreciated that the committee subverted the more traditional ‘conference meal’ for a more relaxed (and affordable!) quiz night, held at Kongs, St Mary’s Street, whose burger menu I cannot recommend enough!  

Beelzebub’s, Cardiff’s newest craft beer pub and Kong’s, an arcade themed restaurant and bar, played host to FSN’s social events

I was part of some of the first panels of the day after Dr. Mark Duffett’s fab keynote (‘Things that go Punk in the Night’) and so had some (expected) pre-presentation jitters. Even though I’d presented a fair few times since my first experience at FSN2016, the dry mouth and the shaky hands never really go away! I needn’t have worried, however, as true to form the audience were receptive and good-natured, showing great engagement with all the panel’s papers and sharing some really helpful perspectives/ideas. A lot of the time academia has (to me, at least) felt like an ongoing battle of wits, where your competency can dangle on a knife-edge between what you happen to know and what you don’t, so it will never not be nice to be in touch with ‘your people’ – those who get the contexts of the research, can expand upon relevant theories and frameworks, and who have circled around similar research subjects in their own work. It’s deeply reassuring and, in all honesty, is the sort of academic environment I would prefer to be a part of, as it’s ten times more productive and considerate than an setting that fosters competitiveness and aloofness. And indeed, self-care was a critical theme of this year’s conference, with many presenters asking what we could do to tackle any critical/conceptual issues that touched on our own identities, to treat participants responsibly and acknowledge the often unseen labours of their fannish work, and how we can lean-in to the emotive aspects of our work without apology in order to make important critical and conceptual gains.

I heard some amazing presentations over my two days at the conference, and though I don’t have the space (or the memory!) to recap it all here, there is a link with the accumulated tweets of the event, graciously compiled by Dr Lori Morimoto. FSN still maintains it’s place as my favourite conference to attend, but now it also stands as my favourite conference to present as I received such excellent feedback on my work, ideas that I know will help both refine and bolster my research in the next few months of writing up. I’m glad I got the opportunity to visit Cardiff itself – my first trip to Wales! – which was brimming with cultural goodies: a personal favourite was finally getting to see the stunning Millenium Centre, which was nestled in the equally gorgeous (and sunny – very very sunny!) Cardiff bay. The University itself was a stunner and the National Museum, which was literally round the corner to the conference venue, hosted an eclectic collection of art and historical artefacts.

  Scenes from Cardiff Bay; artwork by Monet in the National Museum and photography included as part of the current ‘Women in Focus: Women Behind the Lens’ exhibition

The FSN conference is growing in popularity and has been for a number of years now, and I have to believe that this isn’t just a reflection of how many people are studying popular culture at the moment, it must also have a lot to do with people recommending the conference to their colleagues and friends. I know I have been since 2016 and will likely continue to do so, because it really is a warm, friendly and inclusive event. I feel really enlightened by a lot of the conversations I’ve had over the past few days and I know this will show through positively in my ongoing research. There’s real power in being able to be yourself and express your ideas in a space that understands you can be both academic and human at the same time. I’m already looking forward to FSN2019 and whatever new experiences – and new memes! – it has to bring.

        Thoughts on #FSN2018 - The 6th Annual Fan Studies Conference 🤩 And a shameless plug: https://spectatorsandco.wordpress.com/ In 2016, at the end of my second year, I attended my first major academic conference. That conference was the Fan Studies Network's annual conference, aimed at bringing together scholars whose research focus included work on fandom, participatory culture, media and communications, and audience studies.