Comics Professional Retailers Organization

IN FEBRUARY, COMICS PROFESSIONAL RETAILERS ORG (COMICSPRO) HELD ITS FIRST EVER ONLINE ANNUAL MEETING THAT BROUGHT TOGETHER COMIC BOOK RETAILERS, VENDORS, DISTRIBUTORS, AND OTHER SUPPLIERS TO DISCUSS THE STATUS OF THE COMIC BOOK INDUSTRY.AFTER 15 YEARS OF IN-PERSON MEETINGS, COMICSPRO DECIDED TO GO ONLINE DUE TO THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK. THE MEETING WAS VERY SUCCESSFUL - 475 INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS PARTICIPATED TOPPING ATTENDANCE OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS.IN OCTOBER, COMICSPRO HELD AN ONLINE OPEN HOUSE WHICH CONSISTED OF A COMIC INDUSTRY DATA DISCUSSION AND AN AWARDS CEREMONY.AT THE COMIC INDUSTRY DATA DISCUSSION, PARTICIPANTS DISCUSSED RECENT DATA FRAGMENTATION IN THE INDUSTRY, SERIES CODES, VARIANT CODES, BEST STANDARDS, IMPROVING DATA FLOW, OLDER STANDARDS VS. NEW REALITIES, INCONSISTENT NAMING, AND PORTABILITY OF DATA.AT THE AWARDS CEREMONY, COMICSPRO GAVE OUT ITS 2021 INDUSTRY AWARD TO MARGARET MAGGIE THOMPSON. THOMPSON WAS IN ATTENDANCE AND ACCEPTED THE AWARD. COMICSPRO ALSO PRESENTED ITS INDUSTRY MEMORIAL AWARD TO DWAYNE MCDUFFIE. MCDUFFIES WIDOW CHARLOTTE MCDUFFIE ACCEPTED THE AWARD ON HIS BEHALF. ADDITIONALLY, THE BOARD OF COMICSPRO RECOGNIZING THAT 2020 AND 2021 WERE TURBULENT YEARS FOR THE INDUSTRY DUE TO COVID-19 - ALSO HONORED THOSE INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS THAT HELPED KEEP THE INDUSTRY AFLOAT DURING THE COVID-19 STORE SHUTDOWNS. THE BOARD DECIDED TO ESCHEW AN AWARDS CEREMONY IN 2022 IN FAVOR OF HONORING OVER 37 DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS THAT HELPED STABILIZE THE COMIC INDUSTRY DURING 2021 AND 2020. (NORMALLY COMICSPRO ONLY GIVES 2-3 AWARDS EACH YEAR).COMICSPRO PRESENTED SEVEN COMICSPRO CHAMPION AWARDS TO THOSE GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND.THE RECIPIENTS OF THE COMICSPRO CHAMPION AWARDS WERE: CREATORS 4 COMICS, DAVID STEWARD II, JIM LEE, DAVID GABRIEL, STEVE GEPPI, THE IMAGE LEADERSHIP TEAM, AND BILL SCHANES. COMICSPRO ALSO RECOGNIZED MORE THAN 30 OTHER INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS AS THE COMICSPRO RISING TIDE. THESE INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS HELPED LIFT THE WHOLE INDUSTRY WITH THEIR HARD WORK IN 2020. ADDITIONAL 2021 EVENTS WORTH NOTING: SHARED INFORMATION THROUGH A MONTHLY MEMBER NEWSLETTER AND THROUGH FACEBOOK TO HELP BOTH MEMBER STORES AND NON-MEMBER STORES SUCCEED. WORKED WITH VARIOUS SUPPLIERS TO PROVIDE SPECIAL DEALS TO COMIC BOOK RETAILERS. SUPPORTED FREE COMIC BOOK DAY BY HELPING RETAILERS GET THE WORD OUT. WAS THE MAIN LOGISTICAL SUPPORT FOR THE WORLD WIDE EVENT 24 HOUR COMICS DAY. WE REGISTERED EACH VENUE, ADVERTISED THE EVENT NATIONWIDE, HOSTED THE WEBSITE AND BLOG. WAS THE MAIN LOGISTICAL SUPPORT FOR THE LOCAL COMIC SHOP DAY - THE SATURDAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING. THIS EVENT HIGHLIGHTS LOCAL COMIC BOOK STORES AND THEIR ROLE AS POP FIRE-STARTERS IN THE COMICS INDUSTRY. WE LICENSED EACH VENUE, NEGOTIATED WITH THE DISTRIBUTORS AND PUBLISHERS, ADVERTISED THE EVENT NATIONWIDE, AND HOSTED THE WEBSITE AND BLOG. THE WHOLE INDUSTRY PARTICIPATED. PROVIDED MENTORING TO PROSPECTIVE COMIC BOOK STORE OWNERS.