We picked this one up from Johanna this morning, and it’s a little more kicking someone when they’re down, but…hey whoever said we were nice? It seems Rick Olney’s Mighty Mini-Con, slated to be held this weekend, has been canceled.

2006 Mighty Minicon Falls on Own Sword
For very obvious reasons, I don’t expect many people to accept this explanation; Truth is tough to own up to sometimes for us all.

I’ve been searching for the words to describe what my life has been like since late July when my mom died. Can’t find them.

Those of you that have been here for a while probably know what kind of summer I’ve had. Prior to July 27th, I wasthisclose to completing my negotiations to have a site for the MMC. Then my mom died and I was knocked off my center of reason. I took a couple weeks off, actually, as after experiencing the loss of a parent we then lost our 26 year old niece on August 8th unexpectedly. So tack on another week of being torn on what to do.


Well, you gotta feel for someone who has suffered a death in the family. But not having a venue for a con one week out might be construed as…well, poor planning, let’s say. Throw in the fact that Olney has a history of postponing and canceling his shows at the last minute and you might not want to plan your social calendar around Mighty Mini-Con doings. Certainly, we hope that headlining guest Chris Cross had other plans.

Normally we wouldn’t make such a fuss about a small-time con being cancelled after a family tragedy. It’s just that Olney has a history of being a real internet loudmouth. In fact, he recently hired Ronee Garcia Bourgeois to be a spokesman for his Tightlip Entertainment, and she moved her “What a Girl Wants” column over there.

UPDATE: Her latest column was called “Small shows screwing the fans?” and we would have been quite interested to read it except that you apparently have to register for the Mighty Mini-Con forum to read it, and we just don’t have time.and you can read it at the home page.

Truly the thing that has me puzzled is the fact that little conventions either get ignored, or lose out due to fighting with each other. I just don’t get that. This is not a new revelation to me or anything… I have seen it for years now. The big shows win out and the little shows fight tooth and nail to survive year by year.

It’s ridiculous stuff too… rumors and gossip and going behind each others backs to “set the record straight” or other such nonsensical crap thinking in the end they will ruin the other and reign supreme over that geographical area when all they are really doing is forgetting the fans.


Oops.

All of this does make Bourgeois’s past column at Pop Syndicate about how no one ran her press release about her joining Tightlip just a little more ironic.

1 COMMENT

  1. Heidi,

    The Ronee Garcia Bourgeois column is right there on the front page. I’m really not sure what to make of it.

    And as someone who ran a small show (and failed at it miserably), it just seems shocking to me that Rick has yet again cancelled this con. What’s more surprising, though, is that there were people who were willing to send him money upfront for tables and admission, when he had done this in the past. While my own business plan for my con was flawed, I still budgeted for actually paying for the space.

    I admire him trying to do this, but I always thought that his eyes were bigger than his stomach, and that a two-day, out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere convention with hefty admission was never going to work out.

  2. Yep I’ve fixed the post, but the first link I found to the column does go to a forum registation page. To comment you must register, a reasonable request.

  3. This guy has canceled at least 6 cons in less than 4 years. He has stolen table money from vendors for years. The fact that he never secured a venue for this event speaks volumes.
    He has given the Central NY region a black eye and has damaged it’s reputation to creators, retailers, and fans.
    Rick is clearly bad news for comic book related events and the sooner everyone sees through that, the better.

  4. We’ll always welcome you at the MidJersey Comicon- a small but growing con in central New Jersey run by a librarian (me) and a pulp collector and publisher (boldventurepress.com). We work really hard to put on a show where the dealer table rates are low, the guests are respected and promoted, and the venue is booked and paid for!
    Next show: March 24, 2004
    midjerseycomicon.com

  5. Hey! Do you guys want to hear a joke?
    Ok.
    Here you go:

    Mighty Mini-Con #7
    June
    Saturday, 10am – 6pm
    Sunday, 10am – 5pm
    JOIN US IN JUNE 2007 FOR ANOTHER
    MIGHTY MINICON! DETAILS TO FOLLOW
    SHORTLY. JOIN THE MMC NEWSLETTER
    MAILING LIST FOR DETAILS ON
    OUR COMMUNITY PAGE. THANK YOU.

    Now, as soon as you peel yourself off of the floor because you were laughing so hard, consider the new round of guests, creators, fans, vendors, and retailers that may be taken in by this.
    Not so funny, anymore.
    Rick from Tightlip puts the CON in convention and the fact that he has erased all traces of his cancelled events and replaced it with a one woman PR firm so soon, speaks volumes about his intentions, and his level of integrity.
    Here’s to hoping that he never screws another person out of their money, time or effort!

  6. Well, all I can do is try to explain to satisfy those few of you that have open minds and not the obvious agenda of hatred that I read in what “Four Color Wonder Boy” espouses. And, as was stated, ”

    To date, since my heart attack in 2004, I have had to cancel two Mighty Mini-Con’s 2004 and 2006 and a horror event originally billed as “The Spooky” (2003) and that has since been turned into an upstate horror attraction.

    Since 1996, I have had 5 properious Mighty Minicon’s and a ORCon ’96. I’ve also, with the help of members of Organized Readers of Comics Associated (ORCA) since 1993 have held local monthly meetings in a formal library setting to encourage fandom and younger reader participation backed by parental support.

    This last Mighty Minicon was cancelled after we experienced two deaths in our immediate family. Nobody has been cheated in any way. And I’d advise that this sort of remark have much clearer and distinct details to keep it out of the area of culpability. That is, unless culpability and smear is what was the goal with this article. Things must be boring elsewhere on the industry front, eh? I mean, reading, “Normally we wouldn’t make such a fuss about a small-time con being cancelled after a family tragedy. It’s just that Olney has a history of being a real internet loudmouth. In fact, he recently hired Ronee Garcia Bourgeois to be a spokesman for his Tightlip Entertainment, and she moved her “What a Girl Wantsâ€? column over there.” must really motivate your bowels. Contray to your descriptive of me, I thought my days as being pegged by a select few as “a real internet loudmouth” were over. If you check any search engine, my posts have been almost non-existent elsewhere other than my own message board forums. But I leave more intelligent people to see beyond what is sadly implied here.

    Heidi, you graciously came to one of my Mighty Minicon’s back in 2003. We enjoyed having you there, and yes, it was a small con. But I thought you knew that.

    To Mr. Four Color Wonder Boy:
    I doubt, sir, that you are worth much more than your screen name implies. But I invite you to join the MMC forums using your same screen name and allow the folks there to read and respond to your idiotic banter. Beyond that, I’ll be providing a copy of this blog to my attorney for further examination.

    I guess things must really be slow for so many mistruths to be generated here. Oh well, you are what you read.

  7. Whoa.
    Sorry folks.
    It is difficult to keep things straight through all that smoke and all those mirrors that Rick keeps providing.

    Well damn, Rick!
    I guess the whole world is wrong and you are right. My mistake.
    You are obviously correct sir, a series of cancellations and disruptions to possible thousands of people’s lives over the years, is small potatoes.
    Not news worthy, right?

    Wrong.
    People have been treated poorly by you for too long.
    Be it, with your:
    -threats, intimidation, and menacing via the internet.
    -routine destruction of events in New York state.
    -theft of money and products from numerous retailers and dealers.
    -numerous lies and rumors.
    and not to mention,
    -vile treatment of comic book writers, artists, and legendary creators.

    You sir, are an opponent to the progress of this industry. Period. Call my “banter” “idiotic” all day, for all I care. It is the only bullet in your gun of bullshit and excuses. Play the lawyer card. Threaten people on a public forum. Go ahead.

    Do you really think that the people on this, or any messageboard anywhere, will really fail to notice that the emperor is skipping through the streets, naked as the day he was born? Don’t insult our intelligence.

    You are destructive to what is being built in the comic books community and the industry as a whole, and that is the bottom line. Your smoke and mirrors don’t change that. YOU NEVER BOOKED A VENUE! Can you really expect people to overlook that? Seriously. Can you?

    One of the first messages on mightminicon.com was from you, and it said:
    “We’ve booked space…” and it was a lie. You have lied to us all, and you have been caught. Now you are critical of this site, and any other site that reports on your misconduct and you dismiss it as things being “slow”. You also claim there are mistruths. Where, Rick? Name a single lie on this board. One. And then, clarify it. I challenge you to do that.

    I challenge you to provide the following information as well:
    -Flight info for your guests. They needed to get here, and since you worked so dilligently on the event, I assume that was taken care of. Show us where you had one hotel room or flight booked.
    -Vendors. How many vendor tables were actually sold?
    -Promotion. How, other than your tightly guarded messageboard, did you promote this event?

    My guess for all of those things are that you did none of it. Not a sliver. You never took those creators or fans seriously enough. Did you?

    To correct you again, Rick, you are not what you read. You are what you do. What you have done is lied and acted without responsibility. Don’t be shocked when you are called a liar and irresponsible.

    I suggest everyone get ready for more smoke and mirrors.

  8. I didn’t come here to argue with anyone hiding behind an Internet
    screen name.

    Nor do I have to justify or explain myself to you or anyone, FCWB. Simply put, go find another comic book corner to jerk off in.

    Anyone smart enough to use google, ask, or any Internet search engine can get to the truth of the matter and learn that what I stated earlier is true. And if anything else is wrong in comics, you be sure put on your cape and boots and correct it. Feh.

    Comic book events should never be about trying only to entertain the overzealous reader, such as yourself. And, while I know you won’t accept this as I mean it; I’m really sorry that you suffered such disappointment at the cancellation of one of my events. We’ll try to make 2007 that much more special for readers like you.

  9. Exactly what I thought. Self-rightousness and ego followed by some profanity. No explanation. No accepting the simple and reasonable challenges. You challenge people to go to a search engine.
    HA!
    How do you think I found this very forum? They all say the similar things about you. If you were really sorry, you would stop the charade, swallow your pride and admit that you failed, and that your assortment of failures has been costly to many. Special for me? First, try not lying to my face, and the face of everyone who checks out your site. Then book a con center or something before you announce the event. We’ll deal with ‘special’ down the road a bit. Drop the indignant tough guy persona and finger pointing for the time being. When you’ve grown up and are done defrauding everyone, seek me out. I am easy to find. I am the person who loves comic books and wants people to keep promises. I am reasonable. I am everyone who would go to a convention or event.

  10. “Profanity?” What by implying that you should go back to your corner? Anyone can see that you’re agnst ridden by missing the Mighty Minicon at one time or another. I apologized to you. Beyond that, you are also just slightly full of fecal matter. Anyone not so full of angst and bile, as yourself (and full of one’s self too, I might add you appear to be) would’ve realized that in my needing to cancel Mighty Minicon 2004 & 2006 … that denoted failure on my part.

    And let’s examine reasoning: April 2004 was a series of chest pains experienced at the Pittsburgh Comicon. My family removed my option to try and hold the MMC that June while I recovered. Later part of July (27th) 2006 I lost my Mom to unexpected death, followed by the death of my 26 year old niece on August 8th. Again, I don’t have to justify anything to you or anyone.

    But, in mulling this all over … more to the truth … you are a simple troll that seemingly haunts various message board forums (by your own admission) and comics related blogs looking to chew on rotting flesh and anything that fills that empty life you lead. But what the hell, every bridge needs one! And from the degree of your posts here, you may have a lil stalker in you, cupcake. Feel free to search me out at any of my future events. I’ll see that you get any answers you’re seeking in person. And, again, thank you for your previous and future support of the Mighty Minicon.

  11. :::ATCHOOO:::
    Sorry.
    I’m allergic to bullshit.
    Let me put my long boots on and I’ll continue the discussion.
    I’ll come back when you address the whole ‘Rick Olney got caught in a lie’ thing.
    Why did you say you had space booked, when it was clearly a lie?
    Quit being a politician.
    Answer the question.
    Why did you lie?

  12. I suppose that I could ask you why you lied in stating:

    “This guy has canceled at least 6 cons in less than 4 years. He has stolen table money from vendors for years. The fact that he never secured a venue for this event speaks volumes. He has given the Central NY region a black eye and has damaged it’s reputation to creators, retailers, and fans. Rick is clearly bad news for comic book related events and the sooner everyone sees through that, the better.”

    Again, I canceled 2 Mighty Minicon events since spring of 2004. One was due to a heart ailment, and the other just a few weeks back in between deaths in my immediate family.

    No table monies were stolen, as you stated falsely. The venue was being in the midst of being decided upon based on ongoing negotiations with two hotel chains during late June through the 4th of July holiday. We then heard from another resource. So the decision was held off until what we had been told could be confirmed and acted upon. Then my mom got ill on July 25th and subsequently, died on July 27th. As my parents live within my home with myself and my family… this was an especially difficult time. People were informed. Some a little later than others. I had nothing to do with that aspect of the informaton provided.

    I was still offline dealing with family matters, when on August 8th, our 26 year old niece died suddenly. It was at that time that I contacted a national hosting company to turn the remaining prep and venue securing over to them. Unfortunately, I was unaware that a national cheerleading competition was also in town on that target weekend and my earlier venue spots were now gone and hotel rooms were more unavailable. We gave the hosting company up until a week prior before pulling the plug.

    So did I lie?

    I don’t think I did.

    No, instead, I was checking something online and stumbled upon Heidi’s blog which sperm jumped from Johanna Draper Carlson’s blog. Both contained lies, so I set out to try and correct those lies with the truth of the matter.
    Certainly, I don’t know who you are. I just know that you are impassioned, and that’s fine as long as you’re not compounding lies. I’ve tagged you a troll simply because you act and smell like one. You could be the guy next door … looking forward to the convention … only to be really upset and disappointed at its demise this year. So I tried to explain.

    So now I ask you, Why did you lie?