The organizers of DragonCon have issued an official response to the call for a boycott by author Nancy A. Collins of the popular annual sci-fi and fantasy convention. As Collins has correctly pointed out, money earned from the yearly convention still goes to the con’s creator and co-owner, accused sexual predictor Edward Kramer.
From the official DragonCon Facebook page:
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.
After reading the statement from DragonCon, the boycott seems even more necessary than before. Now we know for a fact that, as Collins has pointed out, money spent for tickets to DragonCon is going Edward Kramer.
DragonCon co-owner Edward Kramer
For years now, supporters of DragonCon have argued that Kramer no longer had anything to do with the convention. Now we know from the official DragonCon Facebook statement, this is not true.
DragonCon is just a name. The longer the organizers do nothing to stop profits from DragonCon going to Edward Kramer, the more damaged that name becomes.
As long as DragonCon is a revenue stream for Edward Kramer, I will not attend.