You Can Call Me

As a student of fandom, I find myself constantly thinking about fandom, fans, fan communities and everything that goes with.  Obviously, I feel like I know exactly what fandom is and how it is expressed.  I, especially, know how it is often expressed in our fan community.  Yet, I have realized that there are some parts of our fandom that I have ignored or left out, for the most part.  I don’t have much of an excuse for that other than there are some parts of our fan community that interest me more or that I have more of a connection to.  Now, though, I would like to take a deeper look at some expressions within our fandom.  What are these expressions I’m thinking of?  I am thinking first about the more creative expressions within our fandom.  The people I’m talking about are those fanfiction writers, the people who make new remixes from Duran songs, and the fan artists who create wallpapers/icons/other graphics.  I also wonder about those serious collectors out there along with those people who start or run webpages, message boards, and facebook groups.  So, how do I take the time to really look at these unexamined parts of our fandom?  Simple.  I would like to interview people.  These interviews won’t be long but enough so that I understand better their motivation to express their fandom in this way and then be able to share those motivations with others here on this blog.

On that note, then, I would to ask for volunteers.  I would send you some questions via email or some other format that would work well for you.  Then, you could answer the questions and send those answers back to me.  From there, I would showcase your answers as well as your creative works, if appropriate.  Again, I am looking for fans who define themselves in one of these ways:

*Fanfiction writer
*Remix maker from Duran or Duran related projects
*Fan artist
*Duran collector
*Duran webpage, message board, facebook group owner

Beyond our fandom, though, I want to see how the various elements of fandom that I have learned about functions in other fandoms.  Basically, I want to know what like is really like in other fandoms.  I know that there are elements that appear in every one.  For example, I know that all fandoms and  members of fandoms communicate with each other.  They reach out to talk to other fans.  Yet, I would love to know how and where these communications happen.  Back when I was involved in the fandom surrounding the old TV show, Roswell, our communications happened on message boards, specifically fan fiction message boards and a general fandom message board that had an area on it dedicated to the show.  Therefore, I would to interviews fans in other fandoms and it doesn’t matter if those fandoms are music fandoms or not.  In fact, I would like to interview fans in a variety of fandoms (music, TV, movies, sports, etc.).  Thus, if you are a member of another fandom and would like to do an interview with me, please contact me.  Like the non-focused on fans I referred to above, I would send you some questions and once you send me back your answers, I’ll post them.

If you are interested in helping me with either or both of my causes above, please go ahead and send me an email at dailyduranie@gmail.com.  I can also be found through our facebook or through our twitter.  I’m hoping to learn some things and share what I learn with all of you!

-A