Dragon*Con and Ed Kramer Officially Part Ways

In a release dated July 8, 2013, the ownership group behind Atlanta’s long running and immensely popular Dragon*Con announced they had severed ties with Ed Kramer, the con’s co-founder who is currently awaiting trial on child molestation charges. This announcement comes as the convention was under intense media scrutiny for its association with Kramer and many prominent comics and pop culture figures calling for an outright boycott of the event.

According to the press release, Ed Kramer hadn’t had an active role in organizing or managing the convention since the year 2000. However, he was listed as a guest as recently as 2002 which rankled boycott leader Nancy Collins. In an interview with ComicBeat today, Collins says that she feels there’s enough evidence that Kramer’s sufficiently enough out of the picture to drop her boycott pledge.

http://comicsbeat.com/nancy-collins-calls-off-the-dragoncon-boycott/

“I have confirmed the Dragon Con merger press release via non-fannish channels (ie an AJC reporter who has spoken to Kramer’s attorney–newsflash, Kramer’s unhappy and is going to sue). Barring unforeseen events, I am now officially calling off the boycott. It’s interesting to see that something that something that had not been done and supposedly *couldn’t* be done for nearly 13 years somehow managed to be implemented in less than 6 months.

I would like to thank those professionals who took a stand and vocally supported the boycott of DragonCon, as well as the many fans who have done so as well. You looked the dragon in the eye and made it blink. And have no doubt, it was your unified efforts, actions and voices that made this happen, and nothing else.

It was you, and no one else, who were responsible for this cancer finally being cut from Fandom.”

While financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, the press release offers that Kramer was presented with a buyout option which would allow the remaining members of the ownership group to reincorporate as Dragon Con, Inc., replacing the previous entity Dragon Con/ACE Inc.

“This decision only affects the ownership of the old Dragon Con,” said Pat Henry, President and Chief Executive Officer of Dragon Con.  “Our members and others who attend Dragon*Con 2013 will experience the same fantastic convention they have come to expect from us.”

The standing hotel and talent agreements are said to be unaffected by the merger excepting those which would require minor amendments.

Comic creator and boycott supporter Steve Niles tweeted his support saying, “A very reliable source has told me Kramer is out of DragonCon. It’s real. It’s a done deal. Congrats to all those who spoke out.”

NerdSpan will be continuing to follow this story and as always, we would like to hear from you. Does today’s announcement make you any more likely to visit Atlanta for Dragon*Con? Post your comments below, we want to hear from you!