Paul Stock of Librairie Astro in Montreal, Quebec saw the comments on the location of the Diamond seminars (see 'Dan Barnett of Walt's Cards on Diamond Seminars') and recalls that there used to be seminars at various locations:

A bit of history might be in order:

At one time, as I recall, the Diamond Baltimore seminar did travel.  Certainly, before The Fall, the 'Spring Flings' and such were held all over the country.

Several years ago, the seminar was to be held a week after a comics convention (The Extrosion) in Las Vegas.  Robert Scott, of Comikaze in San Diego, convinced Diamond that it would be a good idea to move their date, having the seminar the days of/after the convention, thus enabling retailers and exhibitors attending both to save on travel expense and time.

After the date change was made, I made the case to Diamond that it would be a good idea to tie the seminar to a major convention every year--the same savings would be affected, but by moving the seminar from show to show, different mixes of retailers could attend.  The following year, the seminar was announced as tying to the Baltimore Comic-Con and it looked like my small addition to Robert's excellent idea might go forward.  But in Baltimore it has stayed, probably saving Diamond boatloads of money in travel and hotel expenses.

Quite frankly, I don't really see the problem.  I've never been to a Diamond seminar, but I attended a few of these things given by Andromeda back in the early nineties, and of course the DC meetings, although those are a bit more constructive.  From what I gather from current attendees, the Diamond events, like Andromeda's, are less 'seminars' for exchange of ideas, than they are dog and pony shows where products are trotted out, sales pitches are made, and a brief Q&A follows.  The value to retailers lies in the 'bar

con'--networking outside the official events.

Well, we have other networking venues, principally through the CBIA, but also via the plethora of cons held throughout the country (and world!).

Diamond itself often has retailer dinners, where contact with their staff is made.  I believe they sponsor dinners at Toronto, San Diego, and possibly New York and Chicago.  Of course it's always possible to buttonhole any Diamond rep at any show they attend, and there's the day-to-day phone calls and e-mails. Exactly how much face time do we NEED with these folks?

In any event, I feel the time for these seminars has passed.  At one time they were expeditious in disseminating information, but since the advent of the net and e-mail, their value has decreased while the world around us (from the TSA to diminished airline services and increased fuel costs) has made attendance increasingly costly and inconvenient.

I don't see an imminent demise of the Diamond seminars.  I presume they make a profit on them, but I can foresee a time in the not too distant future when someone at Diamond takes a hard look at the seminars, decides they're simply no longer worth the effort, and pulls the plug.

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