Tim Seeley signs at DCBS on Wednesday, January 4th, 2012!

DCBS
10202 Coldwater Road Suite C, Ft. Wayne, IN 46825
Phone: 260-489-1787

Gen Con Indy 2011 Shatters All Previous Attendance Records

INDIANAPOLIS (August 11, 2011) – Gen Con Indy, the nation’s largest annual consumer fantasy, sci-fi and adventure gaming convention experienced stunning growth this year. Turnstile attendance was over 119,707 with 36,733 unique attendees present for 96 hours of gaming, cosplay, music, shopping and more. This positive spike in turnout represents a greater than 20% increase in a single year. Game event participation grew even more steeply, with over 250,000 event tickets yielding an over 26% expansion throughout the Best Four Days In Gaming!

“Gen Con Indy 2011 was simply the best Gen Con ever for us,” said Adrian Swartout, CEO of Gen Con LLC. “We had such incredible support from our exhibitors, sponsors, event organizers and volunteers, and of course, the amazing businesses and people of Indianapolis. We are so thankful to have their partnership in crafting the world’s finest experience in gaming. Next year, Gen Con has its 45th anniversary. We are too excited for words at the amount of fun we are already planning for next August.”

Family Fun & Sunday Attendance
The Family Fun Pavilion continues to be popular with the next generation of game players and their parents. Companies with all-ages entertainment products were swarmed with children, grandparents, educators and librarians looking for games for upcoming birthdays, holidays and back-to-school. Between family fun and regular Sunday badges, nearly 3,000 additional people joined Gen Con Sunday – adding considerable traffic to the show and helping exhibitors reach new fans.

Charity
Over the years, Gen Con has maintained its efforts in helping children and benefiting educational programs through its charity events. This year to keep up the tradition, Gen Con chose School on Wheels, which enhances and enriches educational opportunities for school-aged homeless children as the recipient of the charity fundraising. 100% of the proceeds from the following charity events were donated to the cause: Ace of Aces VIII– Charity Speed Paint and Auction, Cardhalla, and Charity Auction, Fandom United Jail-n-Bail. In total over $18,000 was raised from all the different charity events at Gen Con.

Future Gen Con Indy Show Dates
Gen Con has been in Indianapolis since 2003 and has signed a five-year extension with the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association (ICVA) for 2011-2015. Below are the upcoming show dates.
August 16-19, 2012
August 15-18, 2013
August 14-17, 2014
July 30 – August 2, 2015

About Gen Con

Gen Con, LLC produces the largest consumer hobby, fantasy, sci-fi and adventure game convention in North America. It was acquired in 2002 by former CEO and founder of Wizards of the Coast Peter Adkison, who owns the company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Gen Con is a consumer and trade experience dedicated to gaming culture and community. For more information visit the website at www.gencon.com. For up-to-the minute details, find us at www.facebook.com/genconindy and at www.twitter.com/gen_con

Jim Zubkavich signs at Downtown Comics in Indianapolis, Indiana on Wednesday August 3rd from 6-8pm for a special Pre-Gen Con signing event.

Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin has announced his signing tour dates for his new novel A Dance with Dragons, the fifth book in the Song of Ice and Fire series.

July 12, 7:00 p.m.            BOSTON – Barnes & Noble, 98 Middlesex Turnpike, Burlington, MA 01803

July 14, 7:00 p.m.            NEW YORK CITY – Barnes & Noble, Union Square, 33 East 17th Street, New York, NY 10003

July 16, 2:00 p.m.            INDIANAPOLIS – Barnes & Noble, 14709 US Hwy 31 North, Carmel, IN 46032

July 21-24, 2011             San Diego Comicon, San Diego, California, USA

July 24, 2:00 p.m.            SAN DIEGO – Mysterious Galaxy, 7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., San Diego, CA 92111

July 26, 7:00 p.m.            LOS ANGELES – Barnes & Noble, 189 The Grove Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90036

July 27, 7:00 p.m.            REDWOOD CITY – Fox Theatre, 2215 Broadway Street, Redwood City, CA 94063
event hosted by Kepler’s

July 29, 7:30 p.m.           SEATTLE – Town Hall, 1119 8th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101
event hosted by University Bookstore

July 31, 2:00 p.m.           DENVER – Tattered Cover LoDo, 1628 16th Street, Denver, CO 80202

August 2, 7:00 p.m.        LEXINGTON – Joseph-Beth Booksellers, 161 Lexington Green Cir., Lexington, KY 40503

Director Kevin Smith brings his new horror movie on a special advance screening tour before the official release date on October 19, 2011. Each show will include a Q&A with Smith and special appearances by stars like Michael Parks are scheduled at stops along the way. Who knows what other surprises might be coming to your hometown??

Click here to purchase tickets

Scott Elliot, Senior Director of Sales for Gen Con, gives an update for Exhibitors at Gen Con Indy. Rebooking opens November 1st and closes January 26th, 2011.

Click here to view the embedded video.

With thirty-five years of experience in the comic book industry, Stern has written hundreds of stories about such diverse characters as Superman, the Justice League, Starman, and the Atom for DC Comics, and Spider-Man, the Avengers, Ghost Rider, and Iron Man for Marvel.

He is the New York Times best-selling author of The Death and Life of Superman, and his comics stories have been collected in dozens of editions, including X-Men vs. Avengers, Essential Doctor Strange Volume 4, Darkman vs. the Army of Darkness, and Captain America: War & Remembrance. He has also written several graphic novels, including Superman: A Nation Divided, Doctor Strange & Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment, and The Incredible Hulk vs. Superman.

Stern’s second prose novel, Smallville: Strange Visitors, was a new, original story based on the characters from the hit television series. His third prose novel, Superman: The Never-Ending Battle, was also adapted as an audio book by Graphic Audio.

His recent comics work includes Marvels: Eye of the Camera, Amazing Spider-Man, and the upcoming Captain America: Forever Allies miniseries and Avengers: Under Siege Premiere Hardcover.

Downtown Comics is one of the largest comic book chains in the Midwest, with four locations serving greater Indianapolis. Voted the #1 comic book store in Indianapolis by NUVO, Downtown Comics carries a full line of new and used comic books, action figures, posters, and memorabilia related to comics and other media. For more information, check the store website.

Alex Ross signs on June 26th from 1-4pm at BuyMeToys.Com. Alex will be signing his new art book “Rough Justice” along with his many other works. Please contact the store at 574-271-8697 for more information and event details. BuyMeToys.Com is located in South Bend, IN within driving distance of Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit and Toledo.

BuyMeToys.Com, 6327 University Commons, South Bend, IN 46635

(BALTIMORE, MD) – (December 4, 2009) – After successful events in Baltimore, MD; Ft. Wayne, IN; Las Vegas, NV and elsewhere, Diamond “takes the show on the road” to the Windy City when a new version of the Diamond Retailer Summit berths at one of the industry’s most anticipated events: C2E2, a.k.a. the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo.

“After a great show in Las Vegas in 2008 and in Baltimore 2009, we recognize the need to bring the Summit and its retailer programming to other parts of the country,” said Diamond’s VP-Marketing, Roger Fletcher. “This allows us to see more of our retailer accounts and interact with them on a professional level. And we can’t think of a better venue than Reed Exhibition’s new C2E2 show in Chicago.”

While many details are still being developed, Diamond Summit2: Focus On Retailing will kick off with an Opening Night Reception on Wednesday, April 14, with a full day of Better Retailing Workshops and Presentations planned for Thursday, April 15. Marking a different direction for the 2010 Retailer Summit, retailers can expect targeted, supplier focus groups throughout the day and keynote speeches from industry leaders at each meal time event.

Retailers will also enjoy complimentary admission to the Professional Only Preview of the C2E2 Show on Friday, April 16 from 10am to 1pm and will receive a valuable “coupon book” good for limited edition items, raffles, and sales-all redeemable by visiting select suppliers on the show floor.

C2E2, which will run from April 16 – 18 at McCormick Place Convention Center on the shore of Lake Michigan, will be structured in the spirit of New York Comic Con (NYCC), the fastest growing pop culture event in the U.S. NYCC is also organized by Reed Exhibitions.

“New York Comic Con has always provided a quality business to business environment in addition to entertainment,” notes Lance Fensterman, Vice President of Reed’s Pop Culture Group. “This has been a major objective for us and it is what separates us from other comic conventions. We are more than simply a major fan and media event and our mission has always been to grow the business to business side of our con by providing substantive value. The affiliation that we are now establishing with the Diamond Retailer Summit at C2E2 will provide even more value to our customers and it is a terrific show of support on the part of Diamond.”

ADDITIONAL TRADE EVENTS

“In addition to our commitment to a Chicago Summit, Diamond plans to keep a busy trade show schedule at other events to meet retailers,” added Fletcher. “It’s our goal to interact with all of our retailers who attend both trade and comic convention events.”

ComicsPRO Annual Meeting (March 25-27, 2010)-An annual sponsor, Diamond will be on hand to meet retailers and present to the retailer members of ComicsPRO.

Baltimore Comic-Con (August 28-29, 2010)-Diamond will host a Retailer Breakfast and will be on the show floor with its PREVIEWSworld booth.

San Diego Comic-Con (July 22-25, 2010)-Diamond will be set up with its PREVIEWSworld booth as well as host a trade only retailer event during the show.

Alliance Open House (October 8-9, 2010)-Diamond’s sister company, Alliance Game Distributors, will hold its Traditional Open House event for game shop specialty retailers at the Grand Wayne Center in Ft Wayne, IN.

New York Comic-Con (October 8 – 10, 2010)-Diamond’s annual Retailer Breakfast will kick off the show before the opening of the professional hours. Diamond will also be exhibiting with its PREVIEWSworld booth during the show.

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ABOUT DIAMOND COMIC DISTRIBUTORS-The world’s largest distributor of English-language comic books and pop-culture related merchandise, Diamond is based in Baltimore, MD, and services more than 4,000 specialty retailers worldwide. For more information, visit Diamond on the web at www.diamondcomics.com.

ABOUT REED EXHIBITIONS-The New York Comic Con is operated by Reed Exhibitions, the world’s leading events organizer. In 2007, Reed brought together over six million industry professionals from around the world generating billions of dollars in business. Today, Reed events are held in 38 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia and organized by 39 fully staffed offices. Reed Exhibitions is part of Reed Elsevier Group plc, a FTSE-100 company and world-leading publisher and information provider. In 2006, Reed Elsevier made adjusted profit before taxation of £1,052 million on turnover of £5,398 million.
© 2009 Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. All rights reserved. Diamond, the Diamond logo, Diamond Books logo, and PREVIEWS are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Diamond Comic Distributors in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective copyright owners.