I got a surprise attending yesterday’s ConVivial: I got to talk with some of the show’s organizers over lunch and videos. Don’t want to use their names without permission (which I forgot to ask), but the gist of what they told me is “We were just looking for a name that included ‘con’ and hit the right tone for what we’re about.”
To be clear, the “con” pun phenomenon isn’t that widespread. This list of upcoming conventions is far from complete, but with 555 entries at this writing, it seems like a representative sample. Looking through it, we can draw a few conclusions.
A sizeable minority of fan conventions don’t have “con” in their name at all (Fan Expo, Capclave, Midwest Toy and ComicFest). “Con” is the most common word or fragment in such names, but it’s usually presented without wordplay, often identifying itself by locale, focus, or both (Carlisle Con, Terror Con, New York Comic-Con). The remainder of such “Con” names usually set themselves apart with some little stroke of imagination, such as Tiger Con (named for its mascot) or MarsCon (still sci-fi, but a little more specific in its imagery).
Actually, there are at least two MarsCons. One is in my old hometown this weekend, and it used to occupy the space that ConVivial occupies now. I have a long history with that space, and fond memories of attending that show for years, starting when I was in college there. But Janice and I will be attending the other MarsCon in Minneapolis in a couple of months.
Con-founding, I know. But there’s no governing body that would force one show or the other to change its name. And while a few shows like the San Diego Comic-Con are big business, most aren’t corporate enough to have legal departments. So I guess what’s surprising is that this sort of thing doesn’t happen more often.
So pun-names for conventions aren’t too common. But they happen often enough to make an impression. I have stories about attending I-Con, a show on Long Island that may return someday, as well as Intervention (Internet convention) and ConFusion. Like the organizers at ConVivial said, little flourishes like this can help strike the right tone. A little play is a good way to introduce a play-space.
Next: A few “new” three-letter words.
Amazing! Your powers of concentration
where CON names are concerned.