I've made about "Jewish" reasons to attend previous comic conventions.
The Jewish reason not to attend New York Comic Con this year, however, is a reference to the fact that Javits was so successful at booking dates for events that the NYCC organizers had only 2 choixes available to
them by the time that they needed to book the days for the 2008 con :
(1) Choose not to hold the NYCC in 2008
(2) Book the only available block of dates that Javits had left to
offer them : April 18-20.
Alas, these dates conflict with Sabbath eve (Friday night) and the
first 2 nights of Passover.
The significance of Passover for most Jews - regardless of how
observant they are - is better expressed by others in the comics
community who have expressed disappointment at the unfortunate
scheduling, including cartoonist Neil Kleid.
Neil's open letter to NYCC may be found at
http://rantcomics.livejournal.com/183771.html, along with comments to his post. Among the replies is one from Lance Fensterman (Con Director of New York ComicCon).
An excerpt from Neil's letter :
"The Jewish comic book community may seem small, and its creators and fans fewer than the average, but remember that this industry began with names like Kirby, Eisner, Lieber, Kubert and more, many of whom did observe the holidays and rituals that I do. Many of them who might have objected as I do now, to a convention that coincides with the annual commemoration of a great moment in Jewish history and amazing miracles such as the Ten Plagues and the splitting of the Red Sea. Passover may not mean much to the average comic book fan or comic book creators... but I cannot imagine the comics community staying silent if Reed Exhibitions had decided to schedule the New York Comic-Con on Good Friday, Easter or Thanksgiving weekend."
An excerpt from Lance's response :
"Thanks for the open letter, my name is Lance Fensterman, and I run New York ComicCon. Needless to say, I'm none too happy about the Passover situation either, so let's get that out of the way right off the bat - we are really sorry about this and certainly intended no disrespect towards anyone. The unfortunate reality is that these were the dates we were given at the Javits Center. Javits is unlike most places in that the demand for the space far outstrips the availability, so customers, such as NYCC, are left with little to no choice as to what dates we are given. To that point, I'll announce here first that the show will be moving back to February next year - because we want to be in February? Nope. Quite simply, these are the only dates we can get next year."
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