HSM strikes again

[Silver]

The show at Mandelay Bay was a disaster.

 

True, for sellers. For me it was great. Short or no lines to get sigs and sketches from creators and dealers were taking lowball offers on just about anything I wanted.

 

Which leads those people to not come back again ...

[comicwiz]

No one, INCLUDING ME, wants to see any of those shows go away. Even the HSM show.

 

Alex

 

That's where you and I differ Alex. Brian's comments, appear naive. I'd even go as far as saying that its bordering a level of politeness, as to not disturb the waters that might see Bendis' ship sail away.

 

What Brian and dealers like John fail to understand is that Aman isn't capable of understanding the basic principles of coordinating an event for the betterment of the hobby.

 

Aman only understands what needs to be done to maximize his profits, year after year. A shark-circler, and nothing more.

 

His game is to turnover as much profit, and scarf down as much revenue in one sitting. He cares nothing about the artists. He cares nothing about the retailers. And he certainly cares nothing about what you, Brian or I think about him and his monopolistic practices.

 

He'd sooner continue using the predatory practices he has been using for years than adopt a new and improved strategy for a non-competitive environment.

 

And for those of you ready to jump on the lapdog bandwagon, I'll make my bias perfectly clear. I have nothing but disdain for Aman, and Hobbystar. This view is rooted in the fact that his marketing machine was not capable of understanding I no longer wanted to be contacted by them for any reason, and my repeated requests to be removed from their mailing lists were overlooked for several years.

 

When I repeatedly contacted HSM to stop mailing me flyers to his bogus events, it actually took a few years, and finally a complaint to the Ombudsman to get Hobbystar to get me removed from the list.

 

And of course dealers like John are going to defend Aman. No surprise there.

 

He's a perfect example of the kind of dealer that wants to have their cake and eat it too.

[awe4one]

The way I see it is the more shows an area has the better though I really have issues on making local dealers pick one or the other to set up at.

 

Bottomline...the dealers are going to migrate to the show that makes them the most money. If it turns out to be Hobbystar then that's that. Really doesn't matter who has the best interests of the hobby in mind...collectors still get to attend a show whether it's Hobbystar or Paradise...

 

Jim

[comicwiz]

The way I see it is the more shows an area has the better though I really have issues on making local dealers pick one or the other to set up at.

 

Bottomline...the dealers are going to migrate to the show that makes them the most money. If it turns out to be Hobbystar then that's that. Really doesn't matter who has the best interests of the hobby in mind...collectors still get to attend a show whether it's Hobbystar or Paradise...

 

Jim

 

All it would take is one Hobbystar show. If you didn't go into dry-heaves after that experience, then your intestinal fortitude alone would leave no doubt in my mind that you were born to do nothing more than carry a crate of bombs an some napalm into Vietnam.

[CycloneComics]

As someone who has seen alot in the the comic business in regards to the way show promoters operate. After reading what happened to 3rd Quadrant.I have seen it all now. I operate my business with the ehtics my Father taught me as a young boy. I would not do a hobbystar show now if it was the only one in Toronto.I will support Peter and Kevin`s efforts until they don`t put on shows anymore even if it meant I didn`t make a cent setting up at a Paradise show. At least Paradise operates with ethical principals of a free market not telling you" if you setup at his you can`t set up at mine".

 

John

[CGCMINT]

Alex,

 

All you do is attack Aman and as for you spreading rumours, even your so called friends admit it to me in private.

 

So put me on "ignore", I couldn't care less.

 

Cheers,

 

John

[skinny_white_boy]

Alex,

 

All you do is attack Aman and as for you spreading rumours, even your so called friends admit it to me in private.

 

So put me on "ignore", I couldn't care less.

 

Cheers,

 

John

[THE_BEYONDER]

 

All you do is attack Aman and as for you spreading rumours, even your so called friends admit it to me in private.

 

Care to elaborate?

[CGCMINT]

"And of course dealers like John are going to defend Aman. No surprise there.

 

He's a perfect example of the kind of dealer that wants to have their cake and eat it too."

 

Actually I'm not defending Aman. I'm not into your "Love Paradise" and "Hate HobbyStar" debates like the rest of you are, you guys seem so obsessed into bashing him 24/7.

 

I've been a dealer at Kevin's and Aman's show, both of them seem to be the same and both are into making money and that's the bottom line.

 

John

[Kevin Boyd]

Mods: staying out of this except to say:

 

After four years of promoting I can still see right thru the donut - the big zero that makes up the sum of the money I've made promoting the 3 day convention here in TO... oh yeah, I'm ALL about making the phat convention dough.

 

Can anyone else think of a job that's all about "making money and the bottom line" where you don't get paid for four frickin' years?

[drice6900]

Mods: staying out of this except to say:

 

After four years of promoting I can still see right thru the donut - the big zero that makes up the sum of the money I've made promoting the 3 day convention here in TO... oh yeah, I'm ALL about making the phat convention dough.

 

Can anyone else think of a job that's all about "making money and the bottom line" where you don't get paid for four frickin' years?

 

Kev - not trying to stir the pot or make anyone mad here, but I am curious to know: why?

[Kevin Boyd]

Comic book conventions of this size and scope are not cheap to put on, and by keeping the focus on comic books, and pretty much only on comic books we just don't get the "gate" that one would normally see at a pop culture event where celebrities "draw" in people who are not interested in comics. We were told by other comic book show promoters when we launched to be prepared to go five years without seeing a profit and they were right. Like any business there are start up costs, overhead, promotional costs, etc. that take years to pay off. I know of other comic book conventions that have been around longer and have yet to make any money. Usually these shows survive because the people running them have other means of making a living.

 

For Peter it's running his store. For me, it's my regular day job. Neither of us depends on the convention to make a living, we do it because we're committed to the idea and because people are depending on us.

[awe4one]

Mods: staying out of this except to say:

 

After four years of promoting I can still see right thru the donut - the big zero that makes up the sum of the money I've made promoting the 3 day convention here in TO... oh yeah, I'm ALL about making the phat convention dough.

 

Can anyone else think of a job that's all about "making money and the bottom line" where you don't get paid for four frickin' years?

 

Kevin...I think it's irrelevent the amount of money you make on cons. It's about competing events and who will draw the most dealers. If your con brings in paying collectors then the dealers will follow. Same for Hobbystar...

 

Jim

[Kevin Boyd]

Kevin...I think it's irrelevent the amount of money you make on cons. It's about competing events and who will draw the most dealers. If your con brings in paying collectors then the dealers will follow. Same for Hobbystar...

 

Jim

 

Irrelevant to YOU maybe. My creditors have much interest in how much money I do or don't make promoting cons.

 

Personally, we have had no problems attracting either paying collectors or dealers. Period.

 

---

 

Jim you present a very dealer-centric pov.

 

General formula I apply is this = space rented to dealers and artists alley covers show costs. The promoter profits from volume of paying attendees to the event, they make no money off of individual transactions that occur at the event between customer and dealer.

 

Dealers rely on the promoter attracting buyers to the event, but since most dealers do not rely on a "1 unit sale per attendee sales plan" a small number of paying customers could make a strong show for dealers, but a small number of deep pocket buyers = small gate receipts and little profit for the promoter.

 

Word of mouth may increase dealer interest for the next year which leads to faster sellouts, but the promoter often has a set amount of space he can sell, so he has a choice - he must either cap the tables at a specific number and turn away business (leading to increased demand) or he must acquire more space to house more dealers (raising costs significantly), but more dealers does not equal more buyers and without a relative increase in attendance, consumer dollars are spread thinner = less sales for dealers who don't want to return.

 

A collector's show may court big buyers by providing incentives such as free or discounted admission, but the promoter does not "profit" directly from these customers except by keeping dealer satisfaction. The promoter could raise dealer table prices to more than cover show costs, but that's something which is generally not tolerated, especially in a competitive environment.

 

---

 

I responded to a specific assumption and a direct question, now I am retiring from this conversation before I incur a strike.

[drice6900]

Thanks for your reply, Kev. Very enlightening, and I wish nothing but success for you and the Paradise-sponsored shows

[AlexH]

*** You are ignoring this user ***

 

[AlexH]

 

All you do is attack Aman and as for you spreading rumours, even your so called friends admit it to me in private.

 

Care to elaborate?

 

Considering I don't talk about Aman in public, I can't see how this comment can be true. Nice try though John. Woof!

[CGCMINT]

Your so-called friends know that your lips are flappin' in the breeze. Sit Ubu, sit, good dog.

 

John

[racnek63]

People will vote on this with their wallets. For instance, I'm going to the Paradise show, but not to the Hobbystar show. Maybe some think I'm right, maybe some think I'm wrong, but Paradise will be getting my business and Hobbystar won't.

[AlexH]

*** You are ignoring this twit ***