Do you know what goes on at comic conventions?
Our family enjoys going to comic conventions; we go often! My husband is a photographer and he takes pictures of all the people there in cosplay. It is an activity that our family has the opportunity to do together and it’s been wonderful to see everyone’s creativity at these events.
And I got to thinking – there are indeed similarities between comic convention aficionados and family history enthusiasts – here are three similarities that stood out to me:
1) Research – as a family history enthusiast yourself you know very well how much time and energy you spend doing the meticulous research that’s necessary in order to figure out the lines of your family tree. You use multiple sources to do this and it helps you as you put together those puzzle pieces. Similarly, fans that partake in comic conventions, will get intricately detailed when it comes to the information that they are learning about characters they might portray. This too involves hours of research in order to best understand the history, the evolution, the characteristics, and the personalities of those characters.
2) Storytelling – just like family history enthusiasts do far more than just gather facts and information about our family members, we take the time to tell their stories. We pull together all of the information we’re learning so that we can craft a narrative that helps us better understand our person in context of history and place. Comic aficionados and fans do the same thing. When they’re dressing up in cosplay it’s more than just representing a character, in many cases they are using that as a vehicle to tell the character’s story and a person’s customizations to a character’s outfit can represent different facets of that character story. Storytelling is key.
3) Connection – comic conventions are an excellent opportunity to connect and network with others who are just as passionate when it comes to cosplay and affection for all things comic & pop culture. Having these connections are important because it helps them also fine tume what they’re doing and have the opportunity to share their knowledge with others to help them learn. Sound familiar? The same goes with family history and genealogy doesn’t it? We learn, educate, and inspire each other.
It’s fun to think about these connections! When it comes to connection, that is an aspect that I also enjoy as I connect with you all who read and interact with information I share.
So, I invite you to join me in my online community, Academy of Legacy Leaders, where we can all connect and engage with each other over our shared passion of family history. See you there!