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Fan conventions)
A fan convention, or con, is an event in which the fans of a particular TV show, comic book, or actor, or an entire style of entertainment such as science fiction or anime, gather together to meet famous personalities (and each other) face-to-face.
The actors often give out free autographs to the fans, perhaps in exchange for a flat appearance fee, and sometimes may performs songs that have no relevance to the shows so as to entertain the fans. Such conventions are usually quite expensive and are hosted in hotels. There are often tight security for the celebrities to protect against potentially fanatic fans.
Science fiction conventions are a very popular type of convention, the biggest of which is Worldcon. From such cons has arisen the widespread stereotype of the fans' tendency to dress up as their favorite characters in elaborate costumes that are time-consuming and/or expensive to assemble. Fans may also speak in fictional languages relevant to the theme of the convention. Other cons of note include Lunacon, Arisia and I-Con .
Since the late 1980s, Furry fandom conventions, starting with Confurence in 1989, have been a growing phenomenon. Fans of anthropomorphic animals (furries) usually gather there for exchange of artwork, attending art sales or auctions or showing their newest fursuit to the audience. Current furry conventions are Anthrocon in Philadelphia (to be moved to Pittsburgh in 2007), Further Confusion in San Jose and a number of smaller conventions throughout the United States, as well as Eurofurence in Western Europe.
