Dave Dorman Confidential: Why I Don’t Attend DragonCon
Dear Friends,
First, let me post my upcoming appearances, so it’s front and center:
* Detroit Fan Fare Days 9/23 – 9/25, 2011
* Dallas for Star Wars Fan Days 10/8 – 10/9, 2011
* SteamCon in Seattle 10/15 – 10/16
My longtime friend and award-winning sci-fi/horror writer Del Stone Jr. has held my secret for all of these years. As DragonCon started growing its attendance trajectory and publicity, more and more people have asked me if, when and why I don’t attend DragonCon. Only Del Stone Jr. and my wife knew the reasons why.
In this article, it proves that original founder Ed Kramer, for whom my distaste, disgust and anger knows no bounds, STILL earns money from the show. I REFUSE to help fund someone allegedly involved in pedophilia. Here is the Atlanta Journal Constitution article that proves Ed Kramer is still earning profits from DragonCon:
Here is the most recent article, describing how Ed Kramer was arrested recently, found in a Milford, Connecticut hotel with a 14-year-old boy:
You can draw your own conclusions. You can continue exhibiting at DragonCon. You can attend and support DragonCon. However, I will not be joining you there. The very idea of helping to fund Ed Kramer makes my skin crawl.
Ed Kramer gave me the creeps the first time I met him, and I relayed that to Del. When the allegations began to surface, I knew my creep radar needed no recalibrating.
Del sent me the most recent article via Facebook, which led me to read the other two related articles. My heart goes out to the two young men, now serving us proudly in the U.S. military, who allegedly endured those horrific encounters with the one-man creep show that is Ed Kramer.
I would think there must be some way DragonCon can prove Kramer’s association is damaging their brand and disengage from funding Ed Kramer. If they were smart they would have attached a morals clause by which he had to abide in order to profit from the show. Until I see evidence that he is no longer profiting, you won’t be seeing me there.
As always, thanks for reading,
Dave
P.S. Here are links to my contact info, in case you ever want to reach out:
FaceBook: http://facebook.com/davedormanartist
Twitter: http://twitter.com/davedorman
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/thedavedorman (I am an open networker on LI)
Publicist: Denise Dorman — denise@writebrainmedia.com
This entry was posted on September 18, 2011 at 3:31 pm and is filed under Chicago Comic Book Artists, Collectors, Comic Book Convention, DAVE DORMAN NEWS, Del Stone Jr., Denise Dorman, Facebook, Geek Culture, Illustration, LinkedIn, Military, Nerd Culture, Painting, Pop Culture, Social Activism, Social Commentary, Social Networking, Uncategorized, WriteBrain Media with tags Art, Del Stone Jr., Denise Dorman, DragonCon, Ed Kramer, FaceBook, Fantasy, Horror, Illustration, Pubicist, Science Fiction, Seattle, SteamCon, Steampunk, WriteBrain Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Dave Dorman 
September 18, 2011 at 3:37 pm
[…] Dear Friends, First, let me post my upcoming appearances, so it's front and center: * Detroit Fan Fare Days 9/23 – 9/25, 2011 * Dallas for Star Wars Fan Days 10/8 – 10/9, 2011 * SteamCon in Seattle 10/15 – 10/16 My longtime friend and award-winning sci-fi/horror writer Del Stone Jr. has held my secret for all of these years. As DragonCon started growing its attendance trajectory and publicity, more and more people have asked me if, when and why I … Read More […]
September 18, 2011 at 4:27 pm
I can appreciate your motivation for not attending DragonCon, but I feel that you are overlooking an issue here concerning the founder’s profiting from the event. It appears that Ed Kramer is still in possession of stocks for DragonCon, however, until he sells these alleged remaining stocks, he does not profit a single penny. It is possible that at the time Ed Kramer does sell his share of stocks, he can profit, but until that happens, he is not profiting.
I respect your stand, but it’s not founded on a “current” fact until EK sells.
September 18, 2011 at 8:13 pm
The stocks are, in effect, currency. Being partner and having stock in the company means the stockholder is making money while the stock is in his possession. The money is not “inert” while he owns the stock, and the stock is not only valuable when he cashes it in. He earns money as long as the company that produced the stock is making money. I’m sure he’s getting dividends yearly. To say that the stock has no value until he cashes it in is untrue. A stock is valuable once it’s issued, and the value of the stock depends on the value of the company that it’s issued from.
September 19, 2011 at 6:22 pm
True.
September 19, 2011 at 12:45 am
Thank you Dave. Not only have you made a choice that could concievable cost you sales and exposure to new fans in order to take a stand for your moral convictions, but you also have publicly stated your position. Both, the original choice of not attending and publicly stating your reasons takes courage. Not enough people have that type of courage these days. I am PROUD to call you my friend. Others may disagree, that is ok. Everyone has a right to their opinion, including you. Your choice is your choice and others need not approve. Love to you, Denise, and Jack. Darlene
September 19, 2011 at 1:21 am
Thank you for saying that. It means a lot. And you know how much you and your family mean to us! Say “hi” to Cheri for me, too!
September 19, 2011 at 12:56 am
Dave,
I am so thankful for you! Not only did you make a decision that may cost you financially in order to stand for your convictions, but you also stated it publicly. BOTH, choosing not to be involved in DragonCon and stating it publicly, take courage. That type of courage is not seen in this world enough.
Others may disagree, that is ok. Everyone has a right to their opinion, including you. Your choices are yours to make.
Myself… this blog makes me even MORE PROUD to call you my friend!
Darlene
September 19, 2011 at 7:09 pm
I agree.
September 19, 2011 at 12:58 am
PS My sister Cheri says “Hear, Hear! Go Dave! I support you 100%!”
PSS Our love to you Denise and my buddy, Jack! 🙂
September 19, 2011 at 1:55 am
Hiya Mr. Dave!
I’m awed by your art, firstly.
Kudos to you for taking a moral stand by your beliefs. Very few these days do. I will not try to change your mind about Mr. Kramer. If what he’s accused of is true, well – I have a pretty vivid imagination & I hear there are many levels of Hell.
I don’t work for Dragon*Con, they did not ask me to go to bat for them. Longtime attendee & guest.
Here is a statement from Pat Henry, chairman of Dragon*Con:
“Edward Kramer resigned from the Dragon Con Convention in the year 2000 after being indicted on felony charges in Gwinnett County. He has not had any role in Dragon Con planning or activities since that time.
Since 2000 the convention has been managed by three of the other founders. These men have been involved with the convention since the beginning. They are chairman Pat Henry, and board members Dave Cody and Robert Dennis. In that time the convention attendance has grown from less than 10,000 to over 46,000 this past Labor Day.
Pat Henry
Chairman
Dragon Con / ACE Inc”
***
We can’t choose where we come from, but we can certainly choose where we go, & who we go forward with.
I don’t know what the end of the legal wrangling between Kramer & Dragon*Con will be, but I think the show has actively tried to separate themselves from him for a long time, & that should be considered.
Interesting that for his *criminal case* Kramer is too unhealthy to stand trial, but for his *civil* case – the one where he’s going after Dragon*con – he demands a jury trial. Yuck.
If Dragon*Con could disengage Kramer from his shares, I’m sure they would have by now. That legal battle isn’t over yet, & the article you link to about it is from 2009. I dunno how the shares of convicted felons are treated.
But Kramer hasn’t been involved in Dragon*con for 11 years.
May justice be served….
— Eva H.
co-creator, Dark Ivory
September 19, 2011 at 7:58 pm
Love this statement….We can’t choose where we come from, but we can certainly choose where we go, & who we go forward with. Pure Awesomeness!
About Ed being too sick….Eh, the newest news from CNN I was informed from a friend that lead me to this site blog told me was that Ed while filming a movie or something was hiking without his breathing or re-breathing machine or hose and without assistance from a prop like a cane or walker, etc…
So, the “creep Chester molester is also a liar. No surprise there, eh? My friend had only seconds to share so the details came at me fast. However, Google CNN Ed Cranmer and it will show up he told me. I am too busy to read more long articles other than this blogging stream. There were witnesses to the hills on the hiking trip he took. “Yuck” indeed.
I do consider DC trying to flee from Ed. I can say I will go for free to help a friend promote another convention, but I will never, never, never PAY to go to DC again. I last went in 94 or 95. I returned to sale autographs and swords before the prices dropped any further in value and only paid $30 out of the $50.oo price for the badge and even that will never happen again. A friend gave me the $20.oo I needed from a photo opp I got paid for. Going back sickened me but I had to since there I could sale the items I had for what they were worth. The convention go-ers smelled of bad hygiene from all the sweating and the crowds were too over the top but otherwise, it was alright there. I was only there for 6 or 8 hours on a Saturday.
If they could disengage from him….Really? How long have they known and done nothing in all that time to abolish any and all ties to him? That’s my gripe. That’s the main reason I no longer go
September 19, 2011 at 1:53 pm
Hey Dave,
I understand your disgust with Kramer and his repellant behavior. However, punishing a corporation for the actions of a minority stockholder seems to me to be going too far. If you buy any product made by a major corporation, the odds are that you are also benefiting various lowlifes who happen to own stock in that company. Singling out Dragon*Con seems to me to be unfair. After all, they can’t force Kramer to sell his stock. What are they supposed to do? Dissolve the corporation, sell the assets and give Kramer his share of the proceeds, then start over from scratch without him? That would be a nightmare for them and would benefit him greatly with a nice sum of cash. Dragon*Con is a wonderful convention, run with the fans in mind. IMHO, they shouldn’t be punished because a creep was one of the founders.
September 19, 2011 at 1:56 pm
Yes. This is exactly what they should do: Dissolve the corporation, sell the assets and give Kramer his share of the proceeds, then start over from scratch without him?
September 19, 2011 at 2:39 pm
Of course, that may be exactly what Kramer wants. The real purpose of his lawsuit against D*C may be to force them to settle with him, getting him to go away and stop all the bad publicity. That could mean either paying him off with a large sum much greater than a fair appraised value of his stock, or dissolving the corporation and giving him his share. So, in refusing to support the con, you could actually be doing what he wants, as well as ultimately benefitting him financially.
September 19, 2011 at 6:27 pm
It’s a no-win situation. I’m removing myself from it.
September 19, 2011 at 8:48 pm
Okay, maybe I am wrong, but if D*C wanted to steal back the stocks legally, this is how it could happen without much owed to Ed…
A Judge orders the stocks frozen for a time. the date the freeze ends ALL of Ed’s stocks are open to fans or anyone with $$ to buy them. Nothing would be owed to Ed at all at that point.
This would free up D*C from owing anything other than court, time and legal fees. It would in the best interest of the con to do this and they should already know this.
Lastly, DC has never hidden the fact they are not for the fans. They have always charged high fees for badges. They are a monster con and they devour the fans. Almost every friend I have that goes say that it gets worse every year and yet….They keep going saying it is where my friends hang out, meaning their other friends.
The Guests have been cheated out of time and $$ and or reimbursements that are famous and refuse to return to DC for that reason of bad treatment and blatant lack of agreeing to the contract or rudeness from the staff. I used to help run a Trekie convention that traveled all over the U.S. for two years and heard a lot from the guests from behind the scenes not just about DC but other conventions. When a Guest is happy they will tell you but when a guest is angry and disrespected….Boy do you hear about it. then again, maybe things have improved since I left in 94 or 95 was it? I don’t recall.
This year on my friends FB site he said he was not going to DC due to $$ and lack of interest. Most agreed with him including me. One of his friends even stated that it costs too much to pay $400.oo to hang out with friends for 6 days. He thought it insane to do that.
I and others very much agreed with him. Others said they were going anyway. Some of them I know only go to take pics of sexy ladies while other friends go to promote themselves or their friends in a band or for many other things. I get it. But Like Mr. David D. I will not PAY to go to this con. BTW, several ppl don’t even know of Ed and feel DC is a waste of their time and $$.
There are many many other large conventions all in the U.S if you look hard enough, Comicon is one of them, furry costume and co-splay cons, Steam Punk is on the rise, cos-play conventions and Anime conventions and I have seen that Star Trek cons are still around? and that is cool too! Thanks to Mr Dave Dorman for posting this.
October 22, 2011 at 10:17 pm
An excellent blog. I’m sure Andrew Vachss would be proud, as I am. Kramer has no business being involved in any venture that exposes him to children.
October 23, 2011 at 9:45 am
Thanks, Del. You’ve known all along my sentiments; we arrived at the same conclusion together.
October 30, 2011 at 1:17 am
Dave, do you know Andrew Vaachs?
November 10, 2011 at 3:15 pm
Yes, I know him. He’s a writer who writes detective stories, usually about child abuse. I read the first 5 of his books.