Why does Bronycon exist?

[SteveMorison 404]

Not that I hate the idea of MLP conventions, in fact I really enjoy them, but in all honesty you need to ask why they exist. MLP is a very good cartoon but there are many cartoons that have been just as good or better, Powerpuff Girls, Hey Arnold, Fairly Odd Parents, Teen Titans, Gravity Falls even Spongebob and the Simpsons

that didn't get their own special conventions. Most conventions are dedicated to a full genre rather than one cartoon specifically, the only exceptions I can think of are Star Wars and Star Trek, which are absolutely massive franchises, and Pokemon which is really a gameplay tournament rather thsn a show convention.

[Buck Testa 5,505]

Conventions are for sufficiently large fandoms with the financial backing can have conventions. There is money behind the Brony fandom, and thus the conventions exist. In fact a lot of business is done there from what I've heard and its a meeting place for many of the "horse famous people" 

 

Hell there are Conventions for everything from Cameras To conventions dedicated to Abraham Lincoln... No seriously

 

So yeah, if the money/demand is there, the conventions will come. 

Edited February 11, 2016 by Buck Testa

[Simon 4,557]

@,

 

The same thing could be said about every single aspect of the fandom. Why is there more fan art of MLP than X show? Why are there more fans of MLP than X show? Why is this forum larger than the forum for X show?

 

What exactly causes a show to gain this sort of following isn't an exact science. I could spend all day theorizing, but needless to say, it's not going to be purely based on the quality of the show. Other factors like relatability of the show, impact of the overall message of the show, and outright luck are all going to have massive impacts on which shows 'take off' to the degree MLP has.

 

And that's really the underlying question here... without a large fan base, a dedicated convention isn't going to happen, yet alone the dozens of conventions MLP has worldwide. Ultimately, conventions come down to a question of supply and demand. If there's nobody in the fandom for a show that has the dedication and resources to make a convention to supply to that fandom, and/or there's not enough fans to support the creation of a convention in attendance, then a convention isn't going to happen. At the end of the day, it's the size and dedication of a fandom, not the show's quality that are going to determine whether a show has conventions, and what creates that fandom is impossible to pin down with any degree of certainty.

[On-Locoweed 108]

Bronycon and other pony conventions are social events; they fulfill a necessary role within a culture that ordinarily operates online or is otherwise spread thin geographically. Different people attend conventions for different reasons.

 

I believe that much of the activity at Bronycon, BABSCon, Everfree Northwest, et al. is not necessarily centered on promoting the show itself as much as it is focused on perpetuating interest and activity among the constituent fans. Cons are about networking, socializing, and merchandising, whether we're talking about official stuff or fan-produced art and craft. In a way, conventions give fans and attendees a legitimizing physical experience for their participation in a particular culture.

 

On another note, I'm going to go out on what I think is a rather sturdy limb and say that, after 2017, when all is said and done with the show and movie, Bronycon will be one of only a handful of MLP-related conventions still operating on an annual basis with large turnouts. I don't think attendance will ever be as high again as it is during the run of the show, and, overall, the atmosphere will probably be a lot more anonymous and structured in a top-down hierarchy of people who typically pull the strings online.

 

I've mentioned elsewhere on these forums that I think the fandom is in a state of consolidation. The influence and relevance of individual creators and personalities operating on a first-name basis, driving support for the show and fandom events, has moved to a more organized, "corporate" layout in which everypony goes through the same general channels (like Poniverse) to experience the fandom (at least online). 

 

The fandom is large enough and old enough now that a large network, a supercommunity if you will, is the most feasible way for the fandom to continue existing. This type of organization is the distinction between things on the internet that are just fads or phases, and things on the internet that become active subcultures.