I was going to do a blog on how overpriced drafting tools are on ebay, and bitch about people thinking anything old is automatically 20.00 and the price should climb from there based on them adding the word “antique” even if it’s not an antique. I had a whole vile, obscenity, venom filled rant but it requires pictures and my laptop seems to have given up the ghost, and I can’t screen capture on my desktop….or if I can I don’t know how. So…what else is going on?
We could talk about the presidential election, wanna do that? me neither.
Con season is coming up and there has been a strange turn of events. I have been invited back to MCBA Spring con…I would have lost that bet. They contacted my rep at Comic Art House, and are ponying up the …incrementals…I require, thus matching Wizard World. I had decided not to do WW St.Paul this year, it would just too much of a dick move, even thought it would be unintentionally dickish. So that makes it a simple yes or no decision.
So…the positives are, I go to a show that many fans come to see me at, and get to hang out with my friends. The negatives…well, if you recall , I was less than thrilled with one of the new operators ( to say the least) and not overly impressed by the direction of the show under it’s new management. I take this more personally than I would some other show…there’s a whole blog here about it. My knee jerk reaction is to tell them to go hang. There is also a double edged sword negative in that I might be going to a show that is going downhill and be poorly attended (as I warned would happen if the ship wasn’t righted and I heard mixed reviews about the fall show they put on) , OR…it could be well attended and I would no doubt hear a bunch of I told you so’s and crowing (that’s what I’d do haha). There is also the element that my being at this particular show could be the boost it needs to keep the wheels moving, and If I stayed out of it the decay would be more apparent and things might change for the better quicker. Think about it like a sports team that is going downhill, it’s better to have a total collapse and clean house and start over, than to just wallow around the .500 mark for decades.
Imagine you are an all start first baseman, a substantial part of a team, maybe not so much as an all start reliever, or shortstop, but substantial. You could stay on a team that’s struggling to stay at .500 and your participation would keep them there, or you could go to some other team. The coach/gm that brought you up from the minor leagues you is gone so you have no loyalty to the management, but perhaps some to the fans, and your fellow players? There’s also the residual effects of my efforts from last year in the form of a bunch of guests going that wouldn’t have sniffed at this show if I didn’t put the bug in their ear. So this show is going to benefit from me, this year, whether I am there or not. So me not going, this year, would not be as big a jolt to the pro line up. It’s like training someone to replace you before you quit, just not a satisfying somehow..
There is also the possibility that they have learned from last year and are making progress. (shrug) It’s possible. Although looking at the website doesn’t fill me with confidence…is this a site for a comic-con or a Knights Of Columbus corporate picnic? I know a real estate agent who’s website looks less dry. I mean look that thing, and then look at this one for Baltimore Comic-con. I explained to them in detail a year ago that this is 2015 and how you are perceived on the internet is how you are perceived PERIOD. This looks like the home page for a pharmaceutical company , not a two day comic book convention filled with national and international comic books pros, fun times , and once in a lifetime moments worth traveling to.
To be fair, their website always sucked , but in the past they had the magnetic Charm and charisma of Nick to snowball effort from all the pros, exhibitors, and attendees online. I don’t know that these guys command that kind of effort. Who knows.
Looking at it from a pragmatic standpoint, and separating nostalgia…I do well at this show, my rep worked everything out already and recommends I go. If I’m not going to take input form my rep, on his area of expertise, then why did I take on a rep? The guy knows his stuff and says I should go. What does the rest of this B.S. have to do with me selling comic books anyway? The man, my friend, who founded that show is gone…the show is in different hands and thus is a different show. I should just look at it like any other show. Right? If this were any other show, and one guy out of three pissed me off, I would likely go back because you can’t denounce a whole show because of one goof. He’s not the head goof, he’s one of three people running it.
Does it seem like this decision is bothering me? Because it is. Feel free to give your input if you want.
anyhow…here’s a few Con announcements! There will be more to come, and If I have gone to your con in the past, email me, I’ve been busy as hell and might forget to touch base before it’s too late.
Madison April 8-9-10
http://wizardworld.com/comiccon/madison/douglaspaszkiewicz.html
St.Louis April 1-2-3
http://wizardworld.com/comiccon/stlouis
Brazos Valley Texas! Nov.5-6th
you can always find me here
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