"At the "What are we doing wrong at Swancons" panel there was a lot of interest in attracting new members, but none in figuring out what it is we could do that the people who don't go to Swancon would like (for example, what they do at Waicon). The assumption seemed to be that we just needed to get people to turn up, and once they'd done that they'd be overwhelmed by how awesome the con is and never leave."

Are attendances down? I hadn't realised. I would've thought "not being the Internet" would be a significant factor.

I have found Swancon an enthusiasm-neutral experience, the couple of times I've gone. I haven't been that eager to attend, and I've left neither more nor less eager to attend again.

"It's like at the "Race and the Other" panel where people were coming up with all these plausible reasons for the fact that there are no non-white technological societies in StarGate: yes, it's not impossible that any one of those could hold and the whole thing could make sense in a non-racist way. But when this sort of thing happens in show after show you eventually have to put your foot down and stop acting like it isn't an issue."

Many fandoms (seem to) have followers that prefer to collaboratively cover up the flaws of questionable material because they derive enjoyment from those flaws (of racism, sexism, whatever-essentialism ...) and by the time one arrives with a critical viewpoint they often have their arguments prepared. I'm personally willing to forgive a lot of political incorrectness in those works that I actually enjoy. Most people have that double standard.