otw_news | Apr. 23rd, 2012

Apr. 23rd, 2012

OTW supporters, you are awesome. Since our last post you've given US$2,000 and then some, thereby securing the $2,000 matching grant from our anonymous donor. Thank you so much! We are wowed by your generosity and by how quickly this challenge was achieved.

Although the matching challenge has been met, it's never too late to donate! And don't forget that the OTW Community Survey is open until May 2 — we'd love to hear your feedback about the OTW and its projects.

Thank you for your support!

Mirrored from an original post on the OTW blog. Find related news by viewing our tag cloud.

kristenmurphy.livejournal.com

kristenmurphy

Did you know that the OTW’s journal, Transformative Works and Cultures (TWC), is more than just academics writing about fandom? TWC actually has all kinds of content that's written by and for fans, such as its just-released ninth issue, which focuses on fan/remix video. The best part about TWC, at least if you ask its editors, is that its articles get discussed, debated, and even argued about within fan culture, while still serving as a resource to acafen, other academics, and the media.

For example, the most recent issue was repeatedly referenced at the yearly conference of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies. The upcoming tenth issue, co-edited by Henry Jenkins and Sangita Shresthova, concentrates on fan activism and has already been referenced in the New York Times even before publication. Since the journal's founding five years ago, the editors of TWC have received numerous reprint requests for print anthologies.

OTW founded TWC with the intention of providing a space for academic research on fandom and fan works in order to showcase the breadth and importance of such studies to other academics, other fans, and the outside public. As part of its commitment to creative freedom, all of TWC’s articles are licensed through Creative Commons, which means anyone can republish the essays as soon as they are published, so long as the republishing party provides a link to the original source.

Lately, more and more academics are calling for a boycott on long-established publishers who use academic—often publicly funded—labor for the research, writing, peer review, and even editing of their articles, but nevertheless prevent the public from having access to the final products. Such traditional models of publishing keep valuable information behind pay walls at increasingly prohibitive costs. Due to its status as an online-only, Open Source, peer-reviewed academic journal, TWC exists not only on the cutting edge of current academic movements, but also at the forefront of the fight for intellectual freedom and continued informational access.

Be sure to check out essays on mashups, remixes, fan trailers, and more in the latest issue of TWC, and donate to help OTW continue this vital, ground-breaking project!

Thank you to Kristina Busse, editor, for providing the overwhelming amount of information for this post.

Mirrored from an original post on the OTW blog. Find related news by viewing our tag cloud.

kristenmurphy.livejournal.com

otw_staff

Here's a roundup of fandom then-and-now stories that might be of interest to fans:

The Houston Press hosted a story about the past, present, and future of music fan clubs, from The Beatles to Ke$ha. "People place pen-pal ads in the back of magazines. They join mailing lists. They discover the Internet and start fan pages. Someone opens up a chat room. Someone else builds a Web forum. The methods have evolved over time, but the reason remains the same: Fans want to connect with other fans." Focusing on the tangible offerings of official fan clubs, the writer observes that "Chamillionaire recently launched the Chamillitary Rewards/Loyalty Program though his Web site. More than just a fan club or social network, it allows fans to earn points (Chamillitary coins) for the things they'd be doing anyway: Visiting his site, watching videos, etc. They can turn around and use those points for everything from phone calls with Koopa to limited gear. It takes being a fan from a passive experience to a active experience. And so the one-way street of fan club delivering information to fans becomes a two-way street where the fan and the artist interact."

Student newspaper The Elm focused on the changes to sports fandom. "Sports nerds are everywhere. How did we get here?" Citing fantasy sports as "a new avenue of fandom", the writer explains, "For those who don’t know what fantasy sports are, here is a definition from Elm Editor-in-Chief Natalie Butz: 'It's dungeons and dragons for jocks.'" Describing his own activities, the writer says, "I got to spend money on players, analyzing every bit of information, trying to outsmart my opponents in baseball knowledge. What could be better for a sports nerd? I was almost ashamed that I wasted so much time at my auction draft. I promised myself, 'Never again!' But, next year I’ll probably end up doing the same thing. So what if it's a little pathetic? I love sports. I loved sports stats. I love looking at baseball from different angles. The world of fandom is changing, every day getting more in depth, idiosyncratic, and well, nerdy. My advice, to all the other sports nerds out there: soon we will be the norm, just embrace it."

Unfortunately, fandom shifts often prompt ugly backlashes, as Magic: The Gathering tournament competitor Jackie Lee can attest. "To outsiders, the Hasbro-owned fantasy game is a diversion. To these tournament participants, however, it’s a cut-throat mental battle for a $3,500 prize." Lee reached the semifinals, which was "livestreamed around the globe and commented on by a pair of sportscasters." It was also commented on by many anonymous misogynists. "[H]undreds of viewers began to berate Lee for what they considered her largest offense: playing cards while female." As she recounted, "From 'get back to the kitchen' to comments about how fat or bangable I am, to openly stating one's intention to masturbate, it was pretty much as bad as you could imagine. They grew more and more desperate for me to lose, and when I finally lost my semifinal match, they exploded in delight." The sole woman in the Top 100 ranked Magic players worldwide, Lee is highly visible, and she hopes for more company. "It's been shown that in very heavily male-dominated professions, such as certain fields of science, when the number of women begins to approach 50 percent, the chilly climate evaporates," she said. "I'm hoping that as more women enter the tournament scene, women who play will finally be regarded as the norm, and we can all stop fussing about it."

If you play fantasy sports, Magic: The Gathering, or are part of a music fan group, why not write about it in Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW. Mirrored from an original post on the OTW blog. Find related news by viewing our tag cloud.

otw-staff.livejournal.com

Here's a roundup of fandom then-and-now stories that might be of interest to fans:

The Houston Press hosted a story about the past, present, and future of music fan clubs, from The Beatles to Ke$ha. "People place pen-pal ads in the back of magazines. They join mailing lists. They discover the Internet and start fan pages. Someone opens up a chat room. Someone else builds a Web forum. The methods have evolved over time, but the reason remains the same: Fans want to connect with other fans." Focusing on the tangible offerings of official fan clubs, the writer observes that "Chamillionaire recently launched the Chamillitary Rewards/Loyalty Program though his Web site. More than just a fan club or social network, it allows fans to earn points (Chamillitary coins) for the things they'd be doing anyway: Visiting his site, watching videos, etc. They can turn around and use those points for everything from phone calls with Koopa to limited gear. It takes being a fan from a passive experience to a active experience. And so the one-way street of fan club delivering information to fans becomes a two-way street where the fan and the artist interact."

Student newspaper The Elm focused on the changes to sports fandom. "Sports nerds are everywhere. How did we get here?" Citing fantasy sports as "a new avenue of fandom", the writer explains, "For those who don’t know what fantasy sports are, here is a definition from Elm Editor-in-Chief Natalie Butz: 'It's dungeons and dragons for jocks.'" Describing his own activities, the writer says, "I got to spend money on players, analyzing every bit of information, trying to outsmart my opponents in baseball knowledge. What could be better for a sports nerd? I was almost ashamed that I wasted so much time at my auction draft. I promised myself, 'Never again!' But, next year I’ll probably end up doing the same thing. So what if it's a little pathetic? I love sports. I loved sports stats. I love looking at baseball from different angles. The world of fandom is changing, every day getting more in depth, idiosyncratic, and well, nerdy. My advice, to all the other sports nerds out there: soon we will be the norm, just embrace it."

Unfortunately, fandom shifts often prompt ugly backlashes, as Magic: The Gathering tournament competitor Jackie Lee can attest. "To outsiders, the Hasbro-owned fantasy game is a diversion. To these tournament participants, however, it’s a cut-throat mental battle for a $3,500 prize." Lee reached the semifinals, which was "livestreamed around the globe and commented on by a pair of sportscasters." It was also commented on by many anonymous misogynists. "[H]undreds of viewers began to berate Lee for what they considered her largest offense: playing cards while female." As she recounted, "From 'get back to the kitchen' to comments about how fat or bangable I am, to openly stating one's intention to masturbate, it was pretty much as bad as you could imagine. They grew more and more desperate for me to lose, and when I finally lost my semifinal match, they exploded in delight." The sole woman in the Top 100 ranked Magic players worldwide, Lee is highly visible, and she hopes for more company. "It's been shown that in very heavily male-dominated professions, such as certain fields of science, when the number of women begins to approach 50 percent, the chilly climate evaporates," she said. "I'm hoping that as more women enter the tournament scene, women who play will finally be regarded as the norm, and we can all stop fussing about it."