THS1FEM The Event Experience - Major Essay Help

Jenkins, (2012) describes beautifully in his book about the cultural phenomenon that is Comic Con, held in the summers at San Diego, where not only comic book and movie fans gather but with time it has evolved to cater to an audience of around 130,000 fans, producers, guests, pre-registered participants for different genres in the gaming, comic book universe and cinematic adaptations. Originally, the convention was founded in the seventies in a different state, however it was moved to San Diego later onwards which was under the supervision of one of the founding members Shel Dorf. He chaired it with Richard Alf, Ken Krueger along with other chair persons who helped in initiating the convention. Jenkins, (2012) had further described that the idea for a 3-day convention had been put to place and entertained 300 participants, it was held in 1970 as was known as the San Diego’s Golden State Comic Con. It included various popular science fiction writers, this also featured them through being showcased on panels where they could interact with the participants. They had some new film screenings along with programs that were to be introduced in the following year. This helped the productions with their publicity and the convention to gain more attraction as a newly introduced platform.

Kohen, (2019) had recently reminisced that the organizing committee had to increase as the convention was gaining popularity. By networking with organizations such as Mythopoeic society which was focusing towards literature and how to further improve it with the inclusion of both renowned and struggling writers. The Society for Creative Anachronism was also chosen to be networked with as their focus was towards medieval European culture, this was a strategy to introduce different genres and themes to the convention itself so they could participate and they could create more engagement and attraction for potential participants. Kohen, (2019) added that with such inclusions and being published in popular magazines such as Publishers Weekly, Rolling Stones, Forbes and plenty others. It became one of the 'most looked forward to' and largest conventions in San Diego. It has had its fair share of ups and downs financially, but it still operated as a non-profit organization. 

As per Elliot (2018), it had initially started as a small comic book convention but gradually grew as a popular cultural event. It was officially titled as the ‘San Diego Comic Con’ in 1973. Later onwards SDCC introduced its first cosplay event which is an annual parade where participants get to dress as their favorite character and participate in a contest for best costume. Pett (2016) had shared that the major shift towards pop culture came when there were glimpses of the movie Star Wars shown to the audience, which later became a worldwide phenomenon and to this day is being featured and debuted in SSDC halls. Bolling, Smith and Eds, (2014) mentioned that with a facility to their name which they had acquired from funds through the convention, SDCC gained its major comic book cinematic shift through the superhero movies of today. In 2000, with X-men in the makes, there were more participants anxious to see the debuted trailers and snippets of the movie as it was very popular amongst fans. This was one of the top reasons Hollywood invested in featuring their movies and content through SDCC as it was a major hub and platform for comic book fans, readers, producers, writers, film makers, artists and actors.