6Shelton Drum of Heroes Aren't Hard to Find in Charlotte, North Carolina saw our article on the new Wizard World Atlanta convention (see 'Wizard World Atlanta 2006') and immediately realized that it was the same dates as his long-running Heroes Convention:

 

I just wanted to let the industry know that the date announced for the first Wizard World Atlanta is the same date as my long-running (since 1982) Heroes Convention held in Charlotte, North Carolina.  HeroesCon has always been in the mid to late June time-frame, and I have always tried my best to avoid scheduling conflicts with other shows both major and regional.  I believe fans, dealers, publishers and pros want to support everything positive in the industry and attend as many conventions as are available to them that are affordable and work within their schedules.

 

Before Wizard World Philly this year I wrote to my contact at Wizard inquiring about their planned dates for 2006.  It is my policy to announce dates one year in advance at the HeroesCon every year.  Planning a show too close to a major East Coast event or to San Diego or Chicago would be suicide.  It is hard enough to get support from professionals and publishers as it is, as most will only do one show a month due to the time it takes to recover and get back to work after a convention.  The tentative date for Philly was June 2-4; San Diego dates for 2006 are July 19-23. June 30 - July 2 was available to me at the Charlotte Convention Center and was sandwiched perfectly between these two major shows with three weeks recovery time on either side.

 

As soon as I confirmed my dates I emailed Wizard, especially since I had heard the rumor coming out of Philly of the addition of a 6th WizardWorld, possibly to be held in Atlanta, possibly in the summer of 2006.  I offered my support of an Atlanta WizardWorld if it was held in a complementary time-frame to HeroesCon.  To be honest, I was excited by the prospect of having a big show in Atlanta; I sell comics too.
 
Scheduling over a well-established, well-liked, and one of the very few pure comic-book conventions left in the country can not be good for our industry.  I really don't see any expansion of the market with this announcement.  I have always been a supporter of Wizard magazine as well as their convention circuit and I hope that I can continue to be.
 
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