We have made contact with many creators for our upcoming Creator Chronicles series and the response has been overwhelmingly positive, with just about everyone we spoke with interested in doing the video interviews. The response was so great, we are going to have to expand our lineup and accelerate our plans. As a result, we will be attending many more conventions over the next few months, and setting up booth space as we are able to. In addition, we are going to move up the release of our initial dvd based interview products. This will allow us to get the first sets of videos into the hands of fans within a few months, and hopefully well before Christmas. We already have verbal ok's for interviews from over 20 creators, and we will be spending the next several months getting those produced.

We also found much new material and information for the Dale's Price Guide to Comic Fanzines, and some of this information is of material either previously unknown or thought not to exist. We will be following up with the contacts we made regarding this kind of material to make the guide even more complete and comprehensive.

We talked with a lot of people this year, from creators to fans to retailers and dealers. The energy level was through the roof, very positive and everyone was having a great time. Saturday was the busiest day, with mass crowds filling the aisles and everyone busy talking with fans. Luckily, we accomplished much on the previous two days, as we could barely get to spend any time with the creators on Saturday. By Sunday, everyone seemed to have come down a bit, as the convention wasn’t nearly as busy and people could relax on the last day and have some time to reflect, say goodbyes, and get that last bit of visiting in.

We met some great people this year as well, and a few friendships have come out of this weekend, which was unexpected but we are very gratified by. While everyone was friendly and outgoing, we want to give a special "glad we got to know you!" to the following people: Layne, Steve, Steve, Bill, Peter, Alex, Steven, Jim, John, John, Cathy, Liana, Andy, Joe, Bill, Bo, Mara, Kirk, Lauren, Scott, Scott, and Scott, Ryan, Michelle, and saving the best for last, Heather. You have all helped make the show not only a wonderful experience and a lot of fun, but you have also given us some much-needed inspiration and encouragement.

I'd like to take a break from the collective "we" for a moment and relate a story about someone I met this weekend who illustrates the unexpected nature of my experience at the show. His name is Steve Scott, who is an artist doing work for DC right now, who was there with his lovely fiancé Sharon. I admit I was only passing familiar with Steve's work, but I stopped and struck up a conversation with him. He turned out to be very nice and engaging.  Steve is a very accomplished artist and we began to talk about his career and what he is doing today.

As it turns out, Steve has just recently come back into drawing comics. He had been an artist in the 90's, notably on JLA, and was at that same time a firefighter. Eventually he had to choose on or the other full-time, and he chose to stick with firefighting. Fast forward several years to 2005. Steve and his family were living in Biloxi when hurricane Katrina hit.

For a time, Steve didn't know if his family were dead or alive. He would find out some days later that they were safe and Sharon had gotten everyone out in time. He lost everything else. His house was wiped off the map. All his belongings, along with all of his artwork, all gone. 

After taking some time to get his life back together and recover, Steve decided to resume his passion and come back to drawing comics. He contacted DC and they were happy to give him work. He's well-spoken, professional, and enthusiastic.

As he related his story to me, I stood there almost dumbstruck. Not just because of the scale of his loss, but because of the sense I got of his spirit. This was a guy who has been through a lot, yet he found it in himself to overcome that great loss, to not give in to despair, and to go on to pursue his dreams. I was very moved and impressed with his eloquence and strength.

During President Bush's speech about Katrina, Steve was mentioned by name, as the President met him in Biloxi during the recovery effort. In the President's speech, he quoted Steve as saying, "I lost my house and I lost my cars, but I still got my family and I still got my spirit."

Steve is one of the good guys, and he sets an example that we could all take a lesson from. We here at Woodcrest wish him all the best, and know he will be a big success in comics.

We will be doing a video interview with Steve just as soon as possible so he can relate his story to you in his own words.

WizardWorld 2006 was an unqualified success for us by any measure we could apply, and exceeded even our hopes. We look forward to taking all we have learned and putting it into action.