For 20 years, Jeff Mach ran an event company that drew more than 10,000 people annually to its fandom gatherings. Jeff Mach Events organized the Steampunk World's Fair, the largest event of its kind ever created, held annually in Piscataway, New Jersey.
Steampunk is a genre of fiction, a personal aesthetic, and a fandom all its own. The term refers to a kind of speculative fiction that takes place in an alternative Victorian era. In a steampunk setting, the social conventions and fashion are still very much rooted in Victorian aesthetics. The steam-powered machinery, however, has evolved to the point that its capabilities rival our own.
The genre arose in the late 1980s as an alternative to cyberpunk, which had a much more futuristic aesthetic. Steampunk more closely resembles the worlds created by H. G. Wells and Jules Verne with its dirigibles, clockwork machines, and stylized industry.
Steampunk is often set in Victorian England, but it has its manifestations in countries and cultures across the world. For some, it is an escape from reality and a cosplay (“costume play”) opportunity that sparks their creativity. For others, it is a full-time personal aesthetic.
Many people find Steampunk to be an appealing alternative to the plastic-based and largely disposable aesthetic of the 21st century. The Industrial Revolution and the Victorian and Edwardian eras combine with the individualism of today to offer a unique world that one can imagine, join, and inhabit.
