The event is from 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., plus networking session, Monday, October 7, 2019 (the day after New York Comic Con) at the Bianco Room, Pace University, 3 Spruce Street, New York City.
Schedule
9:30 – 10:00 a.m.: Check-in
10:00 a.m.: The Analytics Hour
Analytics are the key to making good decisions, and these three presentations can advance your understanding of the comics and graphic novel market in unique ways:
ICv2 White Paper
ICv2 CEO Milton Griepp will present the ICv2 White Paper, with the charts and graphs that show the history and direction of comics and graphic novel content, format, and channels, and the trends that are driving change.
Griepp is the founder and CEO of ICV2, which covers the Business of Geek Culture, and consults on geek culture business topics. He was previously CEO of e-commerce retailer NextPlanetOver, and was co-founder and CEO of Capital City Distribution, one of the largest distributors of comics and pop culture products in the early days of the direct sales market. He’s served on the boards of directors of comiXology and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
ComicHub Opens the Black Box
For nearly 20 years, ICv2 has been publishing numbers that show the actual sales of comics and graphic novels by Diamond Comic Distributors to comic stores. Now, for the first time, attendees will get information on the sales of comics and graphic novels by comic stores. ComicHub Vice President Atom! Freeman will be sharing sell-through information from an initial cohort of stores using its services, showing actual comic store bestsellers and other info using POS data. The black box is opening.
Freeman is a comics retailer and longtime sales and marketing consultant in the comics field, with tenures at Top Cow Productions and Valiant Entertainment. He’s now Vice President at ComicHub.
Case Studies on Comics and Streaming
Today's comics fans have access to more content, more quickly than ever before, and streaming platforms are looking to distinguish themselves by acquiring content that they know will appeal to passionate fan communities. While this can be a successful strategy in today’s 24/7 multiverse, it’s not without its challenges and pitfalls. Join NPD Executive Director of Business Development at the NPD Books practice Kristen McLean as she uses NPD’s POS and SVOD streaming data to examine some recent examples of comic content making the leap to the screen, how viewers have reacted, and how these case studies can help us understand what it takes to be successful in the rapidly evolving cross-platform future.
Kristen McLean is the Executive Director of Business Development at the NPD Books practice, the team behind NPD BookScan. Kristen is the primary Books Analyst within NPD’s larger Entertainment practice, and she has been a major driver in expanding NPD BookScan’s coverage of the comic and graphic novel market. A twenty five year veteran of the publishing industry, Kristen speaks broadly to entertainment industry leaders about trends in books, media, and retail culture, and she is deeply interested in the confluence of emerging consumer behavior, technology, literacy, and generational shift in the Digital Age.
11:00 a.m.: The Future of Kids Comics
America's largest and fastest-growing graphic novel publisher is Scholastic's Graphix imprint, publisher of bestsellers for younger readers by Dav Pilkey, Raina Telgemeier, Jeff Smith, Kaizu Kabuishi, and Jarrett J. Krosoczka. Scholastic Inc. Vice President and Creative Director David Saylor, the founder and publisher at Graphix, and Publisher’s Weekly Senior News Editor Calvin Reid will drill down on the explosive growth of kids graphic novel sales and where the market’s headed next.
David Saylor, Vice President and Creative Director at Scholastic Inc., is the founder and publisher of Graphix, Scholastic’s groundbreaking graphic novel imprint. In this first-of-its-kind imprint, Graphix has published books by Dav Pilkey, Raina Telgemeier, Jeff Smith, Kazu Kibuishi, and Jarrett J. Krosoczka.
Calvin Reid is Senior News Editor at Publishers Weekly with responsibility for comics and graphic novel coverage. He is also co-editor of PW Comics World, the magazine's e-mail comics newsletter.
11:30 a.m.: The Future of Comic Retail
In this discussion between ICv2 CEO Milton Griepp and Geppi Family Enterprises Chief Relationship Officer Chris Powell, the two will talk about the future of comic stores in the changing retail environment for comics and graphic novels, and the role of Diamond Comic Distributors, the world’s largest distributor of English-language comics and graphic novels, in that future.
Powell was previously Diamond Comic Distributors Vice President of Retailer Services, a position he took in 2013 after a shorter stint as Executive Director of Business Development. Prior to his time at Diamond, Powell was General Manager and CRO of Lone Star Comics and mycomicshop.com.
12:00 Noon: Digital and the Future of Comics
David Steinberger, comiXology co-founder and CEO and Head of Digital Comics Worldwide at Amazon, and writer Rob Salkowitz talk about where the comics market is, where it's going, and the role of digital.
David Steinberger is the co-founder of comiXology and CEO and Head of Digital Comics Worldwide at Amazon.
Rob Salkowitz (@robsalk) is a futurist and consultant specializing the impact of digital technology in business and culture. He’s the author of Comic-Con and the Business of Pop Culture, contributor to Forbes and ICv2, on the communications faculty at the University of Washington, and does research and analysis for industry clients.
12:30 p.m.: Networking Time
Publishers of the Journal of Comics & Culture. Founded as a one-room accounting school in 1906, Pace has grown to three campuses in New York City and Westchester County, New York, and enrolls more than 13,000 students in bachelor's, master's, and doctoral programs in more than 150 majors and programs. Its six schools and colleges—the College of Health Professions, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, Elisabeth Haub School of Law, Lubin School of Business, School of Education, and Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems—offer a variety of courses in business, health care, computer science, humanities, education, science, law, the arts, and more.
ComiXology, Amazon's premier digital comics service, provides an unrivaled library of comic books, graphic novels, manga and bandes dessinées. The company’s first-in-class innovations include the exclusive Guided View technology which provides an immersive and cinematic reading experience and a monthly subscription service.
Welcome home, hero. New York Comic Con is your event where you can experience the best in pop culture because no matter what fandom you’re passionate about, we have it waiting here for you. Be inspired by award-winning comic artists and anime creators. Get star struck over your favorite TV and film idols. Treat yourself to exclusive fandom gear and unique artwork. Because this event is for you. To embrace your inner hero or root for the villain. To celebrate a weekend you’ll never forget.
