Action Figure Insider » Diamond Announces Partnership with FAN EXPO Dallas as Site of 2023 Retailer Summit
Diamond Announces Partnership with FAN EXPO Dallas as Site of 2023 Retailer Summit
(BALTIMORE, MD) — (March 29, 2023) — Diamond Comic Distributors is excited to announce that its 2023 Retailer Summit for comic book specialty retailers will take place Wednesday, June 7 through Friday, June 9 in Dallas, TX just ahead of FAN EXPO Dallas, which is set to run from Friday, June 9 through Sunday June 11. Diamond also plans to host the 2024 Retailer Summit in conjunction with MEGACON Orlando as part of a two-year partnership with FAN EXPO HQ.
The 2023 Retailer Summit will offer a wealth of entertaining, educational and informative activities, bringing together the industry’s retailers, publishers, key vendors, and Diamond staff for the 3-day trade-only event. The Retailer Summit will feature key supplier presentations, a trade-only Exhibit Hall, retailer workshops, publisher forums, and more events for comic book specialty retailers.
“I’m delighted to announce our partnership with FAN EXPO and our 2023 Retailer Summit in Dallas,” said Kathy Govier, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for Geppi Family Enterprises. “Dallas not only provides a fun and convenient location for Diamond Retailer Summit attendees, FAN EXPO’s commitment to celebrating pop culture aligns perfectly with Diamond and GFE. We look forward to exploring the full potential of this partnership to bring new offerings and experiences to our retailers and publishers.”
“FAN EXPO events bring fans of all kinds together to unite in fandom, and that includes industry partners, artists, creators, and retailers,” said FAN EXPO HQ Vice President, Andrew Moyes. “This partnership will no doubt foster invaluable connections to make our community even more creative, resilient, and productive. We’re very much looking forward to the Diamond Retailer Summit and delighted to be welcoming this dynamic community to FAN EXPO Dallas and future signature events.”
Diamond’s Retailer Summit is the leading annual event for comic book specialty retailers to meet with publishers and suppliers who come together to discuss the industry and their businesses. Top publishers sponsor the event and share exciting new projects, while retailers get the opportunity to network and learn about new and proven business practices to help them succeed in today’s retailing environment.
Additional details and registration information to come. Publishers and vendors should contact Maryanne Marlowe (mmary@diamondcomics.com) for information on sponsorship and event details.
Daniel Pickett
AFi founder and Editor-In-Chief Daniel “Julius Marx” Pickett has been around toys his whole life. The first line he ever collected was Mego’s World’s Greatest Super Heroes line back in the 70s. He has been surrounded by collectables ever since.
In 1999 he was confounded by a lack of information and news about some of his favorite toy lines he was collecting. Since he couldn’t find the information he decided to pursue it himself thinking other people might also be interested in the same news. He started writing a weekly column on the toy industry and action figure for a toy news site and in a years time he tripled the sites daily traffic with his updates, reviews and product features.
He built relationships with every major toy manufacturer and many sculptors, painters and mold makers. He grew his hobby into a world wide expertise that the industry has embraced.
In 2004 he teamed up with his toy buddy Jason “ToyOtter” Geyer and they created their own website www.ActionFigureInsider.com.
Daniel has been quoted in both industry and mass media press outlets. Over the years Daniel and AFi have been sought out as experts in the field. Daniel was regularly featured on “Attack of the Show” on the G4 network as the primary contributor to their “Mint On Card” segment, and our front page has been linked to from USA Today’s
“Pop Candy” Blog twice. Daniel’s content has also been featured on Bloomberg News, MSNBC.com, Time.com, The Wall Street Journal, The Saturday Evening Post, CNN.com, AssociatedPress.com
Wired.com, Fark.com, Boing-Boing, Gizmodo.com, Ain’t It Cool News, the Official
Star Wars blog, Geekologie, G4, CNet and Toy Fare magazine, among many
others. He has consulted on toy lines, books, documentaries and TV shows.
But all of that really just sounds snooty and “tootin’ his own horn” – the long and short of it is that Daniel loves toys and he LOVES talking about them.
