Conventions

November 29 & 30

Report: MID-OHIO-CON '97

On November 29 & 30, 1997, R.A.P. Productions organized the 18th annual MID-OHIO-CON. The convention was held in the beautiful new Adam's Mark Hotel in downtown Columbus, OH. This year's show was a very special one for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. First and foremost, convention organizer Roger Price designated the CBLDF as the beneficiary of this year's charity auction. Second, with the position of Executive Director vacant at that time, the CBLDF couldn't afford to send any of its employees or board members to represent it at the show. Fortunately, Steve Snyder of Central City Comics in Columbus offered the services of himself and his employees as our convention reps, and they all did a magnificent job.

Steve sent us back a report on the convention, so here's what the man on the spot had to say: "The convention changed venues in '97, leaving the Ohio Center Hyatt complex for the downtown Adams Mark Hotel. The change didn't seem to affect attendance. Another big change this year was the CBLDF benefiting from the con's Saturday charity auction for the first time. (Previous beneficiaries have been the March of Dimes and Ronald McDonald House.). . . . By far the top item [at the auction] was the Alex Ross "Justice Society" print artist's proof, donated by the Beaderstadts and Alex himself. James Miller and his wife orchestrated the collection of auction items and organized them in a very professional manner. (Funds were collected by Central City Comics; cash, checks, Visa, and MasterCard were accepted.) John Byrne served again as the guest auctioneer and once again did a fabulous job. The auction brought in just over $3000!

The CBLDF booth was manned by employees of Central City Comics, primarily myself [Steve Snyder, president of Central City Comics] who was either joined by or relieved by Brent Bowman, Todd Shkolnik, Patrick Watson and Randy Meredith. The booth brought in just over $1,000, with over 20 t-shirts selling (popular designs were the Groo: Thought Patrol by Sergio Aragones, the Save Smut image by Brian Capullo, and the Fight Censorship design by Chester Brown). Most people liked the option of only donating a couple of bucks and picking up a pin or a sticker, and quite a few people signed up for the newsletter. Terry Moore's Rights? Rights?!! I got your stinkin' rights! print was by far the most popular, mostly due to the fact that Terry himself was at the show, attending his first MID-OHIO-CON. With receipts at the booth of just over $800 as the show closed, we were most happy when Brent Anderson and his sponsors The Laughing Ogre Comics Shoppe stopped by the booth on their way out. Brent donated $100 he had made at the show, and, as always, the Ogre guys matched it, pushing our total over $1,000.

This was our best year for the show, not only because we benefited from the auction, but also because we had plenty of materials to run the booth, such as a banner and leaflets to hand out to passers-by. Extra thanks to Michael Dow for his forethought and effort in putting together a turn-key booth set up."

This $4,000-plus total does not include all profits from the sale of Mid-Ohio-Con T-shirts, as well as a sizable personal check, donated by convention organizer Roger Price. Altogether, the CBLDF brought in more than $4,500 from the Mid-Ohio-Con. In fact, due to the generosity of Roger Price, R.A.P. Productions, Steve Snyder and everyone at Central City Comics, everyone else who helped organize the show (we're sorry if we have omitted any names--it's accidental), and, of course, the hundreds of fans who attended and donated, this show had by far the lowest overhead of any show the CBLDF did last year. Incoming Executive Director Chris Oarr hopes to do even better when he attends the next Mid-Ohio-Con on November 28 & 29, 1998.

If you wish to learn more about the Mid-Ohio-Con, e-mail R.A.P. Productions.
Central City Comics is located at:
1460 Bethel Rd.
Columbus, OH 43220
phone: 614-459-5045
e-mail: steve13777@aol.com

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund was founded in 1986 as a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of First Amendment rights for members of the comics community. Donations and inquiries should be directed to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

For additional information, call 413-268-7776 or e-mail the CBLDF staff.

271 Madison Avenue, Suite 1400
New York, NY 10016
800-99-CBLDF
info@cbldf.org

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