Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, conventions, dragon con

Dragon*Con Issues Statement In Response To Calls For Boycott Over Edward Kramer Charges

Last month, fantasy author Nancy A. Collins posted a statement to facebook, calling for a boycott of Atlanta-based comic convention Dragon*Con due to its continued financial connection to co-founder Edward Kramer, who was arrested in 2000 on child molestation charges, and again arrested in 2011 for violating conditions of his bond after being found staying in a Connecticut hotel room with a 14 year old boy, according to Gwinnett County, Georgia authorities.

Collins stated in part:

 All you have to do is publicly declare you will never attend DragonCon again as long as Edward Kramer profits from the convention.

DragonCon has had over 12 years to sever ties with this man, but has failed to do so. Although the convention's chairman has bought enough shares from Ed Kramer to qualify as the controlling shareholder, Kramer refuses to be bought out. No matter what DragonCon does or says, funds from the convention will continue to go to Edward Kramer until either he dies or the corporation that runs the convention dissolves and reincorporates under another name. DragonCon knows what needs to be done, but has been dragging its feet on this matter, and has gone to great trouble over the last 12 years to hide the fact that they continue to fund Edward Kramer's lifestyle. But now the cat's out of the bag (in large part due to Kramer's own decision to sue them for a larger share of the convention's profits) and there's no putting it back in.

Tonite, Dragon*Con has responded on facebook.  They post:

There has been a great deal of discussion as of late in the community regarding our continued financial connection to Edward Kramer. Please know that we are as troubled by this circumstance as anyone else, but please also know that there is no simple, legal, solution to this matter…if there were, it would have been resolved long ago.

For the record, Edward Kramer resigned from the Dragon*Con convention in the year 2000. Since that time, he has had no role in the direction or management of the convention; however, he remains a stockholder despite our desires otherwise.

Since Edward Kramer's arrest in 2000, we have made multiple attempts to sever all ties between Edward Kramer and Dragon*Con including several efforts to buy Edward Kramer's stock shares. Unfortunately, Edward Kramer's response to our buyout efforts was repeated litigation against Dragon*Con…thus our buyout efforts have been stalled. The idea proposed of dissolving the company and reincorporating has been thoroughly investigated and is not possible at this point. Legally, we can't just take away his shares. We are unfortunately limited in our options and responses as we remain in active litigation.

The current flood of "information" about this litigation appears to have been taken from the multiple lawsuits against Dragon*Con filed by Edward Kramer and his lawyers (i.e., Edward Kramer's arguments and allegations, not documented facts). To our dismay, much of this misinformation is being quoted as pure fact despite the reality that a court of law determined that many of the facts and figures provided by Mr. Kramer in his law suits were false, inaccurate or completely fictitious.

It is our sincere hope that the end is in sight and that the upcoming trial(s) in Gwinnett County will provide a resolution of Edward Kramer's guilt or innocence, and therefore a cause of legally divorcing ourselves from him once and for all.

Since 2000, Dragon Con has been managed by three of the original co-founders, 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 52,000 fans. Our goal has been and will continue to be, to provide the greatest fan driven science fiction/fantasy convention in the world.

We do hope that everyone understands that due to past, present, and possible future lawsuits we find ourselves unable to comment further on any matters concerning Edward Kramer. Please do not construe any future silence on the matter as a lack of concern on the part of the Dragon*Con staff and more specifically, our board of directors.

We will continue to strive to provide the best possible experience for our attendees, volunteers, partners and invited guests alike.

We are, and will remain, for the fans, by the fans.

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