Consumer Brands Go Geek at Comic Con. Last weekend’s New York Comic Con — the East Coast’s largest comic book and pop culture exposition – included an unexpected sight: Diagonally across the aisle from the Marvel Comics booth, surrounded by the usual assortment of attendees sporting superhero costumes, was a large booth for Craftsman tools.
The division of Sears Holdings was hawking its Bolt-On tool system to the Comic Con crowd, an indication that the New York version of Comic Con may be moving beyond superheroes and science fiction into mainstream consumer products. Chevrolet was also there — as a partner sponsor of the event — with multiple points of presence at the show, including a large booth on the main floor, a contest featuring a line of Chevy Sparks in the lobby of the Javits Center and a car being decorated by professional comic book illustrators in “Artist Alley.”
As geek culture goes mainstream, mainstream vendors are striving to tap into the nerd zeitgeist. How comic heroes became mainstream. Sub-Cultural Darwinism: Some Thoughts on the Rise and Fall of Fandoms « Ruthless Culture. Over the past few months, I have been slowly pulling together some thoughts on the question of why it is that certain pop culture institutions prosper while others decline. Traditionally, when people talk about these types of issues they do so from one of two perspectives: Firstly, they assume that the health of a sub-culture is indistinguishable from the health of the industry that serves said sub-culture and so discussions tend to revolve around issues relating to the expansion and contraction of said market. For example, when people talk about the health of tabletop roleplaying games, they talk about the number of books sold and the number of companies in business.
Thus, when the d20 license created a boom in the market that convinced existing fans to buy more stuff, people mistakenly confused this boom with an expansion in the boundaries of gaming fandom. Think of it this way: The challenge facing all pop-cultural institutions is that of perpetual renewal. It’s nerd time: A legit nerd’s take on the rise of nerd culture. Today is probably the best time ever to be a nerd.
A lot of the things that were once considered “nerd stuff” have become appealing to the masses and dominate the media. First Person Shooter video games PWN gaming sales figures. But back in the day, only hardcore PC gamers used to play them. The top two movies at the box office this year, The Dark Knight Rises and The Avengers, are based on comic books. The No. 1 comedy television show in America is The Big Bang Theory, which centers around four nerds and their everyday lives. The No. 1 show on basic cable is The Walking Dead, which is based on an independent black-and-white comic book. The most downloaded show in history is Game of Thrones, which is based on the medieval fantasy novel series, A Song of Fire and Ice.
Undoubtedly, it is a good time to be a nerd. Technology is better than ever and thanks to the Internet, our nerdy voices and opinions influence Hollywood. And it’s happening locally as well. Disney bought LucasArts.
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After creating compelling copy, titles, descriptions and link strategies, it’s time to list your blog in one or more directories. There are many paths to building links, such as link baiting or blogroll-link swapping, but few are as easy to implement and cost effective as submitting to blog directories. And good link juice makes for a growing blog. Here are 24 directories you need to know about: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
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International Bluegrass Music Association. By: Mary Burdette, Assistant Director, Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival A few months ago, the 1st Annual International Music Festival Conference (IMFCON) was held in Las Vegas, Nevada, with two of us from Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival attending.
The topics and speakers were intriguing enough to prompt us to take a chance and go. Taking chances, after all, IS what Las Vegas is all about! And we’re happy to report that we weren’t disappointed in the least. The mission of IMFCON is “to promote and strengthen the global music festival industry through education, networking, dissemination of information and the cultivation of high standards for the industry,” all of which fit well with the goals of IBMA. About 100 music festival professionals and entertainment executives, mostly from the United States and Canada, gathered in one room for two days to discuss the issues that face our industry today. 1. 2. 3. 4.
The 1st European IMFCON will be held April 8-9, 2010 in Amsterdam, NL.