Hello Folks! This is Craig A. Hilpert, owner and operator of the Boise Comic Book Company, and Id like a few minutes of your time to discuss the Tree City Comic Con that is currently in the works. As a businessman who loves and supports our local comic culture, I try to stay neutral in the face of controversy, in the hopes of better serving our customers and the larger community. We are concerned and sensitive about voicing an opinion that might alienate people; we want everybody to feel welcome in our shop and on our FB page. However, there are several points of contention brewing regarding the Tree City Comic Con that I feel need to be addressed, because its giving me serious misgivings about dealing with the people chairing this event. Honestly, Right now Im on the fence about attending as a vendor or a guest, and I am contemplating pulling my support for this convention altogether. I feel like I need to discuss this with people, if only to clarify and inform my own course of action. And so Im inviting all of you to engage in this discussion with me, and each other. I would have conducted this discussion on the TCCC page, but theyve made it clear they dont want people with potentially negative opinions voicing them anywhere near their con- a massive red flag, in my book. I have concerns about the validity of this convention. The fact that this is supposed to be a comic convention but has yet to book a single comic industry guest is another huge red flag to me. For the record, I voiced this concern to more than one person in their organization, and their response was that they had people booked already and would be announcing them soon. That was several weeks ago. Not only are they yet to book a single comic-related guest, they have actually removed that category of comics from the guest tab on their own website! Its like their conceding that they dont have, and dont intend to have any comic book guests at their event. Additionally, since the time they told me they already had comic folks booked, they have come to us to ask us for help booking comic guests! This raises serious questions with me. It leads me to believe that they either A) lied to us about having guests booked, and/or B) dont have the first clue about what it takes to operate a successful comic con, their connection to the SLCCC notwithstanding (again, this is my opinion based on what Ive read, seen, and their communications with us and other people). Furthermore, weve spoken to local comic artists, publishers, and writers who were approached by the TCCC folks for their opinions and input. These folks gave the opinion that they should pursue going local- get more involved with and celebrate local comic artists and writers. Boise is famous for our love of supporting local community businesses, artists, and culture, which I believe is evidenced in endeavors like Radio Boise and the Treefort Music Festival. This opinion was reportedly met with dismissive ambivalence, which is reflected in the fact that they are still adding decades-old TV stars in lieu of comic-industry guests or local artists and writers. Also- with the guests they do have booked, it has been brought up that many of these guests are double-booked at other events for the same weekend in other states, meaning that there is potentially a large number of announced guests that will be dropping out of the event. The convention people are selling non-refundable tickets, so if this happens- if the entire con is cancelled- they do not have to give anybody a refund. Along these same lines, the fact that they are charging quite a bit more than many other regional conventions for table space for vendors, artist tables, and admission is disconcerting. This point, along with their higher-than-average, non-refundable tickets and fees for guests and vendors, and the fact that they have a convicted embezzler involved with the management of this con, is raising more red flags. But whats got me most concerned is the reaction of the conventions chairpersons and advisers here on Facebook to these understandable and valid concerns.The dissenters vocalizing and raising awareness of these issues are decidedly acerbic, but they have some valid concerns that are being met with open hostility, censorship, bullying, and threats by the advisers and organizers of this comic convention. You can read the comments here to see what Im talking about for yourselves: https://facebook/leif.t.celusta/activity/10203716249408585. To summarize: I feel like the organizers are not interested in building a legitimate, enduring comic convention to celebrate comic culture in Boise, ID. It seems to me that they are throwing together a haphazard event to cash in on the popularity of geek culture to make a quick buck. I feel like they are getting in over there heads- they are making mistakes, and instead of owning up to them and engaging in a rational discourse about it with their target audience, they are bullying, censoring, and attempting to hush-up any dissenters in a suspiciously aggressive effort to protect their bottom line. Id like to be clear- I want a successful comic con in Boise. It suits my personal and business interests for our community to have a successful comic convention. However, Im not so desperate to have any convention that I will stand by and let a poorly planned and executed convention poison the well for years to come. This is not a call to action- I have not made a final decision where I stand yet regarding participating or attending the con. In truth, we dont want to miss an opportunity to get in on the convention if it turns out to be a big success, something simply having this conversation risks, as the TCCC people have made it abundantly clear that they will ban anybody they decide is being negative or disparaging towards their event from participating. However, I feel like there is a legitimate case that could be made that the details and planning of this event is sketchy at best, and the people running it do not have the best interests of our community, and comic culture in general, behind their motives. I genuinely want to hear what you all make of this situation, so please- if you have an opinion, you are free to vocalize it here without fear of censorship or reprisal. And whether you have an opinion or not, please share this conversation with your local friends anyway, if for no other reason but to help them make an informed decision on whether or not they want to support this convention themselves. Thank you for your time.
Posted on: Fri, 04 Jul 2014 03:18:57 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015