Once upon a time at a convention, I saw a t-shirt on display that basically told younger fandoms to “Get Off My Lawn”. Actually, I think those words were actually said the words “Get Off My Lawn”. It may be a one off or a test case. If a test case, I hope it was a royal failure. If it was intended as some kind of joke, then it WAS a royal failure.

Because…NO. Bad move. Danger, Will Robinson. Abort. Abort.

Conventions, especially fan run literary conventions (including WorldCon), are already battling an aging population. If we want convention to not only survive but thrive and (gasp) GROW in the face of ever-encroaching media/pop culture “events” we HAVE to change the narrative. WE have to embrace, engage, and encourage fans of all ages, cultures, and fandoms to participate.

I confess I’ve been guilty of exclusion, and I regret that. I’m trying to change that. I may not find certain books/series/etc. to my taste – but that’s no reason to discourage anyone in their fandom? Isn’t that why we have so many different styles of science fiction? So there’s something for everyone? We, as a community, need to engage younger readers, gamers, cosplayers, and all the other fans.

We can start by incorporating YA authors into our genre panels as simply AUTHORS – and stop the separate tracks (unless dealing with the specific elements of CRAFT). Rachel Caine put out an open letter that addressed this – and it’s a good point. We need to encourage all age groups into the subgenres and the craft.

Because, come on, if we continue to segregate our reading “levels”, how do we encourage those readers to try other things? How do we introduce authors beyond their niche? Engagement. We need to show these younger, newer fans that might pick up a wildly popular series that if they like that they might this other thing… for those who like classics – CS Lewis leading to Tolkien. Or maybe Harry Potter to other epic magical fantasy – or Twilight to Rachel Caine to any number of urban fantasies. By putting all these authors on the same panels, we create gateways.

We need to find common ground and common topics. We need to encourage these fans to become involved. We need to lose the “be seen and not heard” mentality that some seem to have – in the idea that those with experience in fandoms are older and wiser and when these fans have proven themselves them MAYBE they can have a seat at the table SOMEDAY. That day is NOW.