New and Improved Pulpcon
Jack
things
were finally going to change and Pulpcon would start reversing its
recent
losses. Now, nearly two months later, that feeling of hope is gone.
For a number of years, Jack Cullers, Barry Traylor, and I have been
pushing
for changes in the way that Pulpcon is run. For years, our pleas have
been
countered with "that's the way we've always done things." Following
two
lengthy committee meetings at the 2008 Pulpcon, Jack, Barry, and I
seemed to
get enough concessions out of the other committee members to feel that
the
convention was finally going to be run in new ways.
At the general business meeting held at this year's Pulpcon, one idea
that
was discussed was finding a new site for the convention. Most members
in
attendance seemed to favor remaining in Ohio, but in a city other than
Dayton.
About two weeks after returning from the convention, I took it upon
myself
to contact the cities of Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Columbus. All
three
municipalities responded, but Columbus was by and large the location
that
demonstrated the most interest in hosting our convention
Needing some information for Columbus to put together a proposal for
hosting
Pulpcon, I contacted Bob Gorton, the chairman of the Pulpcon
Committee. Bob
provided the required information, but also stated he felt that it was
time
to renew the contract that Pulpcon had with the Dayton Convention
Center.
I forwarded Bob's email to the rest of the Pulpcon Committee-Richard
Clear,
Jack Cullers, Don Ramlow, Mary Ramlow, and Barry Traylor. The result
of my
email was a vote to renew the contract with Dayton (with Jack, Barry,
and
myself dissenting) and a reprimand from Bob Gorton. He told me that he
was
unaware that I had made a motion to call for a vote whether or not to
stay
with the Dayton Convention Center. I was simply trying to get things
done
quickly and responsibly.
At this summer's committee meetings, Bob Gorton told us he is "not
very good
with email." He said that he "largely ignored most email." However, he
agreed to "meet" via email at least once a month. The committee
decided to
hold a meeting via email on the first weekend of every month. We could
contact each other via email at other times, but the monthly meetings
would
be required.
Our first email meeting was held over Labor Day weekend. To start our
discussion, I combed through the Pulpcon business meeting minutes and
the
minutes from our two committee meetings, and wrote what I thought
should be
done concerning a wide array of items. I asked the use of volunteers,
venues
in which to advertise, conventions where we should have flyers, links
to
other websites, an explanation addressed to the general pulp community
explaining why Pulpcon was returning to Dayton, changing the types of
material that can be sold at Pulpcon, showing movies at the
convention,
obtaining mailing lists, newsletter revisions, a survey of Pulpcon
attendees, and other things. I also suggested that with all the work
to be
done, we should be communicating more than once a month.
The responses to my queries and ideas were practically nil from
Gorton, Don
Ramlow, and Richard Clear (who was new to the Pulpcon Committee).
Since that first email meeting, Bob has been silent, not communicating
with
Jack, Barry, or me. I do not know if he is communicating with anyone
else.
Don has emailed a few suggestions, as well as Mary. Richard Clear has
likewise made a few comments. But for the most part-except for fairly
constant communications between Jack Cullers, Barry Traylor, and
myself-the
Pulpcon Committee has largely been silent. In fact, in a recent email
to the
entire committee, Don Ramlow wrote: "I know everyone has their own
responsibilities. However, my schedule is the busiest in the fall.
I'm
setting up 12 radio productions for my theatre group All Ears theatre,
teaching five colleges classes (one which is on-line requiring a lot
of
email contact), working with other people on other conventions, trying
to
find time to practice with my rock band "Chaos Theory" and finally
finish up
my 200,000 word reference book on OTR so I can submit it to the
publisher
yet this year. That, in addition to finding time to spend with Mary
and our
children and grandchildren. I realize that my schedule is not of
concern to
others and that you all have your own commitments. However, for me it
means
trying to budget time for all of them and the only way I can do that
is to
schedule accordingly."
When asked this week about preparing advertising flyers for Gary
Lovisi's
book show, Bouchercon, and Rich Harvey's Pulp Adventurecon, Gorton and
Don
Ramlow did not respond.
Given Bob Gorton's silence and Don Ramlow's suggested lack of time to
commit
to the work required to turn Pulpcon around, I asked them to resign
from the
committee. Both Jack Cullers and Barry Traylor seconded my motion.
Unfortunately, both Gorton and Ramlow have ignored my request.
Jack Cullers, Barry Traylor, and I have decided that if we want to
move the
convention forward, it is impossible to continue to work with Bob
Gorton and
Don Ramlow. They seem to feel that shortening the convention to three
days
will be enough to turn things around. They seem to think that by
creating a
few generic flyers that seem to be addressed to people who already
know
about Pulpcon, the convention's troubles will be over. They seem to
think
that they need to devote very little time and energy to turn Pulpcon
around.
They seem to think that communication is unnecessary.
Although it's time for Gorton and Ramlow to step aside so progress can
be
made, they do not appear to be willing to do so. Jack Cullers, Barry
Traylor, and I are willing to devote the time and energy needed to get
Pulpcon moving forward. However, we cannot do so with the obstructions
set
up by Gorton's inability to communicate and Ramlow's lack of time and
cooperation. We have therefore decided to break away from the Gorton/
Ramlow
convention and organize our own Pulpcon.
This past June, Jack Cullers learned that the Pulpcon service mark,
originally registered to Rusty Hevelin, had lapsed in 1989. So Jack
applied
to register the service mark in his own name. The United States Patent
and
Trademark Office is currently investigating Jack's claim to the
service
mark. Jack, who has been a member of the Pulpcon Committee for many
years,
believes there should be no difficulty in registering the service mark
in
his own name.
Jack, Barry, and I are currently investigating sites in Columbus, Ohio
for a
planned Pulpcon to be held in late July or early August, without the
obstructionists Gorton and Ramlow. We are also in discussions with
interested parties who are considering holding an East Coast pulp and
paper
convention, most likely in November 2009.
Whenever we hold the convention, we plan to publicize it and open it
up to a
wider array of material than has traditionally been allowed at
Pulpcon.
However, if we are to organize a successful convention, we will need
your
help. Please plan to support our convention in whatever month it is
held.
If you are a dealer and would be interested in selling at our show,
please
let us know as soon as possible. If you are interested in lending a
hand,
please drop us a line. More particulars will follow as our plans
become
better defined.
If you'd like to be added to the new Pulpcon mailing list,
please send your name and address to Mike Chomko at
michae...@rcn.com or
2217 W. Fairview Street, Allentown, PA 18104-6542 or Jack Cullers at
jass...@woh.rr.com or 1272 Cheatham Way, Bellbrook, OH 45305. Please
be
sure to include your email address if you have one. Thanks.
Mike Chomko
zeni...@gmail.com
generally was thinking a little to late, good luck. The competition
with the comic book conventions and the book fairs is going to make
this more difficult. It also sounds like an attempt to copy Windy
City.
My big question is can the market support having the normal Pulp Con
and then the New and Improved Pulp Con?