More details on ICv2’s Conference on Comics and Digital have been revealed, along with preliminary speakers. The Beat is co-sponsoring this conference, and all the topics being covered are MUST DOs as far as we’re concerned. The conference will be held the day before New York Comic-Con (that’s Wednesday)
ICv2 has announced that it will host the ICv2 Conference on Comics & Digital II at New York Comic Con, a special half day event where executives and thought leaders from the comics and digital realms will discuss the accelerating changes that are impacting the customers, the medium, and the business of comics and graphic novels. PR below:
“Digital comics is one of the destabilizing forces that are transforming comics and graphic novels, but it’s certainly not the only one,” ICv2 President Milton Griepp said. “Whether it’s the rapid changes in retail and libraries, in who the customer is, in how the business works, or in the art form of comics, it’s tough to find an aspect of the comics and graphic novel world that isn’t evolving rapidly. We thought it was important to offer an event that helps the industry adapt to those destabilizing forces at this critical juncture.”
The Conference, which will be held at the Javits Center on Wednesday, October 10th on the eve of New York Comic Con, will kick off with the ICv2 White Paper, which will focus on the industry’s changes in the last 18 months as these new forces have taken hold.
In “Kids–The Future of Everything,” panelists from the publishing, retail and library worlds will look at the fastest growing segment of graphic novel publishing, and how you can take advantage of this huge change in the audience for comics.
“Comics–The New Medium” brings together creators and entrepreneurs to discuss the forces changing the comics art form, and how the essence of sequential storytelling using words and pictures will change in the process.
And the panelists in “Comics–The Transforming Business Model” will talk about their visions of the future for the business of comics in a world in which digital is exploding, crowdfunding is producing a new source of financing, the retail and library channels are changing rapidly, and media exploitation of comics is now an important part of the business.
Speakers announced to date include Toon Books Publisher Françoise Mouly, Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons, comiXology CEO David Steinberger, Thrillbent’s Mark Waid, and Scholastic Book Fairs’ Ed Masessa, among others.
Moderators include Rob Salkowitz (Comic-Con and the Business of Pop Culture), Heidi MacDonald (The Beat), and Scott Robins (A Parent‘s Guide to the Best Kids Comics).
The initial sponsor roster includes New York Comic Con, Publishers Weekly and Heidi MacDonald’s The Beat.
“destabilizing”?
Huh?
Comics look a helluva lot more stable to me than they have at almost anytime recently. Did I somehow stumble into a parallel world this morning where “destabilizing” means “growing”?
-B
Any and all discussion of digital comics needs to be about publishers and digital platforms getting over the direct market and charging 99 cents or less for new books and bundling older runs/stories/100 issue chunks/other big collections on the cheap for $10-15.
I know part of it is that they want to protect the DM, but it’s frankly insulting that any of these groups thinks the public doesn’t realize that comics should be dirt cheap when they don’t have to pay for printing and distribution costs.