Announcing: Signature Services, SSD for all your Signature Series needs!

[joeypost]

and it shoudl also be noted on why your actually waiting four months, there could be different reasons which would justify your annoyance with it, if the artist is taking 4 months to do it, thats not too bad but if its been with someone and they just havnt subbed it yet or havnt shipped it yet thats another thing

 

I did not keep a time line. Next time I will.

[spideyfan88]

and it varies from artist to artist, it doesnt me off as much if they're really busy and have tons of deadlines for their published work but sometimes they just forget about you and that you paid them already which is a real slap in the crouch

[comix4fun]

from 9 to 7 in less than an hour, who will go next you ask! who knows, stay tuned and find out

 

 

 

Really?

 

I give Kudos to anyone and everyone who undertakes to provide this type of service. In the past it was easier than it is now. And frankly, if it was as simple as "I wait in line and then call a CAW over to witness the signing" then we would not be having this conversation.

 

Of course, it doesn't help to have someone in your Cheerios while you are trying to help them out for very little personal return. The least they should get in return is constructive and positive reinforcement.

 

Everyone should just ask themselves if deriding good people, who would help them to get books signed, until they aren't interested in doing it any more is going to make signatures easier or more difficult to acquire in the long run.

 

 

[spideyfan88]

im not happy any of this is happening i just cant believe it is

[comix4fun]

im not happy any of this is happening i just cant believe it is

 

 

 

FYI (not just for you...for everyone),

People don't have to be actively taking subs from the public in order to assist in having books signed, and to operate as a CAW for CGC. We should not read too much into someone not wanting to be on point taking subs from the public as something more than it is. Jon has already said he's willing to help with attaining signatures and taking care of business with us. Anyone who knows Jon knows he's one of the best there is at this.

 

Given the way some people react to the public point person I don't blame the guys that don't want to take public subs. When someone busts their stones to get books signed and is limited by an artist to something like 2 signatures per person and they still manage to get 4 or 5 signed people are more likely to complain about the 2-3 books NOT signed than they are to applaud the books that DID get signed.

 

I know that when I have subbed books to other witnesses and facilitators to get signed I am EXTREMELY appreciative that I didn't have the added expense of plane tickets, hotels rooms, convention passes etc. etc. that it would have taken me to get the signatures myself. I take that into account and if a witness could not get a book signed or had some other difficulty I would not take it out on them, I would thank them for the effort and allowing me to avoid a massive expense to attempt the same on my own.

 

Best,

Chris

 

 

 

 

[bryan91]

im not happy any of this is happening i just cant believe it is

 

+1

 

Why is it that the only 2 on here complaining are guys that can supposedly get these done so easily themselves?

 

If you don't like the services being offered than don't use SSD. Nothing is guaranteed but you still have a shot at it at least. That is better than no chance.

 

That leaves all of us others who can't really make it to shows left in the dust to have a shot at getting some cool SS books.

 

I was really looking forward to using the SSD service since I don't have easy access or the funds to buy plane tickets everywhere.

 

I am just sad to see that all of these problems are being pushed on these guys before it really even had a chance to get started.

[spideyfan88]

well said

[jeBailey]

ECCC was difficult for me, personally, because of the floorplan, the creators and the crowds.

 

I flew all the way from MD to Seattle to get Stan Lee, Nimoy, Val Mayerik, Paul Gulacy, Brian Azzerello, Ed Brubaker. Those were at the top of my want list.

 

Gulacy cancelled, Mayerik didn't show up on Sunday at all (had I known he was only doing one day, he'd have been THE first guy I went to).

 

The creators were scattered like salt and pepper on the floor, which meant a lot of running around. NOT counting my books, I got almost all of my clients books signed. And yes, this meant not getting many of my own done as well.

 

A plan of attack with my CAW for Sunday to maximize sigs was in play...3 heavy hitters we needed were together at the same booth.

Bendis, Quesada, Brubaker.

Show opened at 10 AM to the public.

Line formed instantly.

Brubaker and Bendis each had EASY 200 people in line. It went to the back of the hall almost, from where we were standing.

Joel Elad was in front of Bendis line, my CAW and I were 10 to 15 people back from the front of Ed Brubaker.

Brubaker showed up finally just shy of 11 AM.

Shortly before that, I call was made to their handler that something came up and Bendis would not be around till 1 PM.

Quesada came late too, but I didn't notice how late...I can say it was after Brubaker showed up.

Brubaker likes to TALK.

And his fans like to monopolize his time.

He must have had a 10 to 15 min. conversation EASY with the 3 people that were in front of us. Never once noticing that the other 200 people were getting antsy.

At 11:45 we finally got our books done and walked away. Almost 2 hrs. wasted that we could have got other books done.

We used that time filling out paperwork for the submissions and trying to figure out what was the deal with Vasquez (thanks to Jessie Fingerprintink for being a placeholder sir!)

 

The crowds were almost as bad as SDCC.

Creators, by the way, some were even on the floor drunk.

Michale Golden's handler/art agent, Renee, was completely rude to our one CAW who had just ONE book he needed signed for a client.

ONE.

Because Golden was sketching, he was rudely dismissed and told to come back in an hour.

ONE.

BOOK.

And that book didn't get signed because we had to finish paperwork.

Same thing happened with Barry Kitson.

We got LUCKY that we caught him in between sketches, and he signed two books for a client. I went back 15 min. later with my own book, and he couldn't be bothered, he was sketching again.

 

I had to bribe people in lines with cash to either get give them books while my CAW watched, or give them money to allow me to be "last in line" as was the case with Tim Sale.

 

Not having done ECCC before, this was an entirely different animal to me.

I had my CAW all weekend, and we had probably 300 books that needed to get done. We got a healthy chunk done, but it wasn't easy.

 

Vasquez's handler was adament that there was a two book limit per person...I was lucky I was able to sneak in 4 books. There was no way in hell I was getting into that line to wait, you'd think it was for Stan Lee.

Stan was the easiest of them all. We were 2nd in line on Sat. AM.

 

But what works against you is the crowd, the lines, having to run back and forth trying to catch someone when they're either --

 

A) Not at a panel

B) Not eating lunch

C) Not sketching

D) Show up on time

E) Show up at ALL

F) Leave early

 

Make no mistake about it, this is WORK. And it's not easy work.

It's frustrating :frustrating: at best, and you do have a responsibility to try and hit the clients books before your own.

 

There's too many people jumping and shouting about books not getting done, I suggest you go to a show and do it yourself, see how easy this is.

 

We at SSD will try our absolute BEST to get your books done, but you have to understand that if your book DIDNT get done, it's not for lack of effort.

We did 50 books for Busiek, probably 70....25 for Mark Waid, something like 30 each for Tim Sale, Bendis, Quesada, Matt Fraction, Quesada...probably double that for Bendis and Quesada, actually.

25 to 30 for Ed Brubaker...and there were probably another 20 creators that we had to hit that is too long a list ot mention.

We did well for 300+ books in tow, my CAW and I...and we did our best.

 

I dont want to look at another book for 3 weeks.

 

I know Rich worked his tail off at the show. The only time I saw him stay in one place for over a couple minutes was @ the forum dinner.

 

John B.

[GACollectibles]

 

I am just sad to see that all of these problems are being pushed on these guys before it really even had a chance to get started.

 

I think people are a little frustrated right now with the program from both ex-Witness & customer points of view and there certainly are some issues to be worked out. The general goal is still the same, providing & enjoying the SS product and we can all work through the bumps together with a little patience!

[Kevin Boyd]

Hey, I'm only advisor to this group, willing to help out when and where I can, but I'm borderline retired (and not unhappy about it either!).

 

Here's the sitch from my p.o.v.... these are a great bunch of guys who many of you know at least one of -- they are trying to ascertain how this will work in the field before going hog wild and accepting submissions willy-nilly from the boards. No one could accurately predict how things were going to work in the field and they waited until the first show weekend to make an evaluation. Now that some of the SSD facilitators have that first con under their belt they are reporting back (to us and to you) on how things went and the group has wisely re-evaluated the situation to be a lot more cautious.

 

Now it's probably no surprise to me or to most of you that a small show with few guests = doable for SS (which is common sense), and a bigger show with lots of guests = a logistical nightmare with the facilitator/CAW/employee situation, and the huge shows will be even worse. At least there's a show or three before C2E2 where things can be tested further and tried.

 

I'm just surprised and disappointed to see people jumping down their throats, but I guess people smell blood in the water.

 

 

 

[Pirate]

Hey, I'm only advisor to this group, willing to help out when and where I can, but I'm borderline retired (and not unhappy about it either!).

 

Here's the sitch from my p.o.v.... these are a great bunch of guys who many of you know at least one of -- they are trying to ascertain how this will work in the field before going hog wild and accepting submissions willy-nilly from the boards. No one could accurately predict how things were going to work in the field and they waited until the first show weekend to make an evaluation. Now that some of the SSD facilitators have that first con under their belt they are reporting back (to us and to you) on how things went and the group has wisely re-evaluated the situation to be a lot more cautious.

 

Now it's probably no surprise to me or to most of you that a small show with few guests = doable for SS (which is common sense), and a bigger show with lots of guests = a logistical nightmare with the facilitator/CAW/employee situation, and the huge shows will be even worse. At least there's a show or three before C2E2 where things can be tested further and tried.

 

I'm just surprised and disappointed to see people jumping down their throats, but I guess people smell blood in the water.

 

Looking forward to seeing you at c2e2 Kev and hopefully at Motor City.

[mschmidt]

Hey, I'm only advisor to this group, willing to help out when and where I can, but I'm borderline retired (and not unhappy about it either!).

 

Here's the sitch from my p.o.v.... these are a great bunch of guys who many of you know at least one of -- they are trying to ascertain how this will work in the field before going hog wild and accepting submissions willy-nilly from the boards. No one could accurately predict how things were going to work in the field and they waited until the first show weekend to make an evaluation. Now that some of the SSD facilitators have that first con under their belt they are reporting back (to us and to you) on how things went and the group has wisely re-evaluated the situation to be a lot more cautious.

 

Now it's probably no surprise to me or to most of you that a small show with few guests = doable for SS (which is common sense), and a big show with lots of guests = a logistical nightmare with the facilitator/CAW/employee situation. At least there's a show or two before C2E2 where things can be tested further and tried.

 

I'm just surprised and disappointed to see people jumping down their throats, but I guess people smell blood in the water.

 

I can only speak for myself, but I don't feel like I've jumped down anyone's throat.

 

I merely wanted to know who was taking submissions for the "confirmed" shows that SSD has listed, and was puzzled at the lack of communication from SSD's side on this matter. Being told that "$5 is not worth the headache" was a surprise, though.

[DrWatson]

I do need to apologize to Jon. I consider him a friend and I am having a bad day for personal reasons. I guess he took the brunt of that. I know none of this is easy especially when one has to balance work for several individuals. I only have myself to be concerned with, so it will be simpler by default.

 

Again, Jon, I apologize for being a .

[Kevin Boyd]

I get it Michael, I didn't name any names or mean to imply that it was you who was doing the blood smelling... .

 

If there are facilitators from this SSD group taking submissions from the public from those shows they will speak up and let people know. That's been stated on a few occasions. "Confirmed" in this case seems to have meant "someone is going".

[DrWatson]

How's "retirement" treating you, Kevin?

[bryan91]

Know what, I have done it myself, and moving forward it seems doing it yourself is the way to go.

 

Out of context candidate? I think so.

[Kevin Boyd]

Not bad actually, it's given me more time to concentrate on my new job during the day (I'm the clinical data coordinator on a lung cancer study). As well as get a lot more work done on other things - like the Shuster Awards stuff. I'm looking forward to talking with Joe next week when he's in Toronto and seeing how things have been working out for him.

[joeypost]

Know what, I have done it myself, and moving forward it seems doing it yourself is the way to go.

 

Out of context candidate? I think so.

 

Yeah, but it is a good one.

[MutantKeys]

Some people never cease to amaze me.

[MutantKeys]

I, also, will not be taking subs this year. Too much going on; I think I'm even much busier than Jespersen with stuff.