Ralph DiBernardo of Jetpack Comics LLC in Rochester, New Hampshire read Kendall Swafford's recent column on the ComicsPro annual meeting (see "Talk the Talk, Walk the Walk--Dateline: Dallas") and had this to say.

By now I would think someone at ComicsPro would have put a lid on insulting other members of the comic retailing community.  It just shows me how little they can accomplish among their own ranks.  Was your opening statement meant to help increase ComicsPro membership?  I don't understand the need for a ComicsPro member to belittle someone else's business.  How does that help ComicsPro?  How does that help educate anyone?  Just like some previous statements made by ComicsPro members, it simply screams elitist.

Referring to your peers as "the clueless ones with no business sense, largely made up of fanboys-turned-flea market dealers-turned store owners.  We'll call them 'amateurs.'" is not a great way to entice people to join a group.  While these retailers may not represent what you perceive a comic retailer to be, they serve a great purpose in keeping this failing industry afloat.  Many of us got our start that way and many of us have grown
ourselves into being "successful retailers."

Isolationist stores?  Your definition of isolationist is very skewed.  I am not a member of ComicsPro but I don't consider myself to be an isolationist (but I would accept antagonist).  Mile High Comics is not a member of Comics Pro and I would never consider Chuck to be an isolationist.  The number of your "isolationist stores" and "fan boy stores" far outweigh the number of ComicsPro member stores.

Categorizing another person's business in a derogatory fashion, because they are not a member of your chosen group is not a way to endear anyone to your organization!  I spend countless hours networking with my peers, of both the Comics Pro and Non-ComicsPro type.  I've assisted with launching the New England Retailer Alliance.  I'm not a ComicsPro member and I am far from being an isolationist.  I am also NOT a member of my local Chamber of Commerce but I do more to support my community than any other business of my size, in my town.  Many of us need to see true value in joining a group.

"I hope I've given some of you a sense of what it's like to be a part of something.  Something greater than the sum of its parts."  

Texas sounds like it was a wonderful time but your description isn't any different than a Diamond Retailer Summit but with less "clueless ones with no business sense, largely made up of fanboys-turned-flea market dealers-turned store owners."  You are part of the second largest organized comic retailer meeting that the country has to offer.  Of course publishers will pay big money to come to the meeting, hear what you have to say and give you trinkets and baubles.  I think that is awesome and I see that many of you have been able to sell those baubles for enough to cover the trip plus some.  Some of you got quite a few of those baubles.  I love free stuff but it's not enough to make me join a group and take a trip.  While you feel that you accomplished a lot, I feel I accomplish just as much with a well placed phone call or email.  Not wanting to join your group doesn't make me feel like less of a retailer.

I read and reread your article looking for that one bit of information that said, "and by the end of the meeting we had convinced "Publisher A" that ComicsPro was in support of "some important comic issue" and they agreed with us and made it policy!," but that line never comes.

I am certain that something was accomplished at the ComicsPro meeting, that will be directly or indirectly beneficial to all of us in the comic industry and I would love to hear about it.  These are the things that will swell the ComicsPro ranks.

And on a digital comics note.  You say, "about the threat (actually, the non-threat) of digital comics to our business." -- As small as our industry is, pretending that Digital Comics are not a threat to your business model is foolish.  Blockbuster didn't treat Netflix as a threat until it was too late.  Pretending that publishers selling the same content that you have, for less money, is like sticking your head in the sand.

The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.