Publicity

From Fancyclopedia 2, ca. 1959

The principal avenue for fandom to be presented to the general public has been the stf prozines. Because of the necessity for keeping new recruits coming in, fandom has been eager to get publicity, but gagged at most of the mundane notices such as the infamous Time writeup of the 1939 convention, or the Toronto newspapers' reports of the Torcon, which make us out to be a lot of kids avidly interested in that crazy Buck Rogers stuff. Notices have been secured in various local papers when conventions were being held, and a few mentions of local club meetings have appeared in minor journals -- almost invariably with some inaccuracies. Posters have been put in windows announcing conventions; banners strung around the hall and fans parading down the street in costume have attracted notice of passers-by, tho many feel that such things only serve to confirm the misimpression given by Time-style writeups. One of the duties consistently allotted to general fan organizations when they've been planned is handling of public relations.

From Fancyclopedia 1, ca. 1944

The principal avenue for fandom to be presented to the general public has been the pro stf magazines. Because of the necessity for keeping new recruits coming in, fandom has been eager to get publicity, but has gagged at publicity such as the Time writeup of the 1939 convention, which makes it out to be a lot of kids avidly interested in the prozines. Notices have been secured in various local papers when conventions were being held, and a few mentions of local club meetings in minor journals, almost invariably with some inaccuracies. Posters have been put up in windows announcing conventions, banners strung around the hall, and fans parading down the street in costume have attracted notice of passersby, but many feel that that only serves to confirm the misimpressions given by the Time and New Yorker writeups. One of the duties consistently allotted to general fan organizations when they've been planned is handling of public relations. Favorable publicity in an unexpected medium was Anthony Boucher's detective story Rocket to the Morgue, with a background of stf authors and fans.