Written by Stephen Thompson and Satima Flavell | 30 September 2010

There are probably many definitions of 'community'. At one time it referred to a clan, at another it meant the village, and as the world became smaller and more complex and the internet took hold it came to mean any group of people with a common goal or shared values.Whatever definition you choose to use there is not much doubt that you'd have in mind a sense of common interest and mutual goodwill.

At the opening press conference of Aussiecon4, revered Fan Emeritus Robin Johnson traced the growth of the sf community from the ghetto of the 1950s, when sf was very much looked down on, to its becoming the world-wide phenomenon of fandom. The community encompasses tv watchers, movie goers, book readers, writers, editors, publishers and a host of industry workers. And if you've been reading these pages regularly you'll be aware of how vast and how far the genre has reached into mainstream culture.

At Aussiecon4 – and, indeed, at cons in general – there are many fans who were there in those early days of the 50s and 60s – greyer, perhaps, but no less enthusiastic. Are the murmurs of concern about the aging of fandom, or that the community might be seen as no longer suitable for younger people, valid? It would seem not, in a general sense, given the rise and proliferation of sf films and games. In fact it would seem that sf fandom will only go from strength to strength, although enthusiasm for the genre may be exhibited in ways other than at festivals such as Aussiecon4.

Aussiecon4 Co-convenor Perry Middlemas remarked that Worldcon is more of a literary convention than some other cons. Conventions do vary in their emphases, but by and large, we can expect to find attendees from under 5 to over 75 in all streams of interest. However, it must be admitted that the commercial 'popular culture' conventions such as Supernova have, perhaps, more appeal to the younger crowd. Nevertheless, there is a strong family presence at most cons, and fresh blood is coming in all the time through this route.

It would be a pity, though, if there was a perception in the public mind that fandom is a closed shop and it's no good trying to be part of it if your parents weren't fans too. Like any community, ours needs immigrants to provide new blood and fresh ideas. The simple fact is that the genre is a leviathan, a Kraken. It is a complex organism made up of smaller, sometimes specialist, communities all symbiotically going about their business to form a magnificent monster.

Of course, there is the oft-commented-on split twixt writers and fans. As one fan put it 'Writers come to cons to talk and go to panels: fans come to booze and screw.' That might be a bit of an overstatement,  but in any case, what's a family without family arguments? There is also a good deal of nurturing within the sf community, and not just of children by parents.

And speaking of parents and nurturing —

Congratulations to The Specusphere's webgal Amanda Greenslade and hubby Mark on the birth of their first child, Phoenix. We're doing our bit at The Specusphere to keep fandom alive!