A good friend of mine is doing a little bit of a research project. I offered to post her questions here since this is such a good scifi heavy fan base. I hope it is ok to post this here.

This is based around going to conventions and such. Here are her questions:

As a fan what are your three biggest problems connecting with celebrities?

How do you solve those problems currently?

Do you think other fans have the same problems?

How much do you spend a year being a fan (Think merchandise, conventions, flights, hotels, etc.)? Why?

Thanks in advance for any answers you give. I really appreciate it.

I think those questions are a little too vague and open to interpretation. Your friend may not get the kind of answers she wants without making it more specific, but here goes . .

3 biggest problems would be logistics, cost and access.

Not really solvable, either you can do it or you can't. Either you're willing to go to the trouble or you're not.

Yes, everyone probably has the same problems.

I wouldn't go traveling after anyone, if that's what she means. No flights or hotels. I have bought merchandise, DVDs, gone to films, autograph cards, figures/models, seen plays, stuff like that for certain favorite people. Theatre tickets and in-person signings are probably the most expensive items, but it's rare for me rather than being any annual events, so I couldn't really answer that one. Any one thing that crosses the hundred dollar mark will get my attention, over $200 I have to have a great reason.

In terms of conventions, the big one around me is NYC ComicCon and I haven't gone in years. Autograph prices are very high and the lines are massive. There are only a couple of people I can think of who I would like to see enough to brave a Con and they have been to SDCC, but not come here.

Hope that is not too off base from what she's looking for.

Thanks for your answers Raven.

When I gave her my answers, I started out as giving general answers, but then she asked me as a superfan (for example, of Xena). Maybe I should have put that in there. Because if Lucy Lawless or Renee O'Connor were at a con, it would be a very different story of how much I would spend or the lengths I would go to get there.

So, I guess the questions would be if you are a superfan or a big fan of someone in particular?

Sorry for not pointing that out in my original post.

For example, here are my answers (as I remember them, as I don't have the written down answers):

As a fan what are your three biggest problems connecting with celebrities? Getting the celebrities to come to conventions, getting to the conventions, and long lines.

How do you solve those problems currently? Send the convention organizer emails/messages/etc. about that particular guest as a suggestion for next con. Getting to the cons, well, it depends on money - I save up all year. Long lines, well, we all know how that goes. If the line is too long I will evaluate who it is and how important it is that I meet that person (I can't stand for very long, although I do have a walker with a seat which helps).

Do you think other fans have the same problems? Absolutely.

How much do you spend a year being a fan (Think merchandise, conventions, flights, hotels, etc.)? Why? I'm going to leave my answer out because it is embarrassing LOL!! I included how much I spend on cards too, I didn't realize how much I spend LOL! But I will put how much my hubby and I spent going to AwesomeCon DC this year. We actually stayed this year down there. It was about $1,000 for the hotel for the weekend. We got VIP passes for $200 each. Then food at DC prices, gas to get down there, and luckily parking and valet were included in the hotel price. Then what I spent. I spent about $100 on autos because there were only a couple of celebrities that I wanted to see. I spent maybe a few hundred on stuff from the merch floor (for example, prints, action figures, etc). I think that's it.

Thanks guys!!

I don't think I'm the type of fan that she is looking for, but here goes:

As a fan what are your three biggest problems connecting with celebrities?

Only 2 problems: Cost and Time Commitment.

How do you solve those problems currently?

I don't attempt to connect with celebrities with long lines and high costs.

Do you think other fans have the same problems?

Given the lengths of the lines, no I don't think people have those problems.

How much do you spend a year being a fan (Think merchandise, conventions, flights, hotels, etc.)? Why?

Too vague of a question (is this conventions only, or collecting), but I'd rather not answer.