tangqianfeng发表于2009-04-05 10:25|

美国同行也发出了拯救传统漫画的呐喊
听听AAEC( 美国时事漫画家协会)主席Ted Rall的声音:

报社倒闭. 一流漫画家遭受解雇. 财政紧缩.
这些更有理由使你不容错过七月一号到四号在西雅图召开的AAEC大会.
这当然会是个盛会.
并且, 这是时候采取坚定立场捍卫自己了.
永不言败.

非常严肃的说, 这次AAEC大会你不容错过.
在我们最近的记忆里, 这次的大会会是一个相当务实的大会.
我们将要卷起袖子, 竭尽所能来拯救我们衰落和危机中的的事业和时事漫画.
...
( 全文如下)
A letter from the president
by Ted Rall

Papers are closing. Great cartoonists are getting fired. Money is tight. Which are all the more reason this year's AAEC convention in Seattle, July 1-4, is a can't-miss event. Sure, it'll be a great convention. More than that, however, this is a time to stand up and be counted. To never say die. And other clichés.
In all seriousness (ain't everything, these day?), this is one AAEC convention you can't afford to miss. More so than any of our gatherings in recent memory, this will be a working convention. We're going to roll up our sleeves and do whatever it takes to save our careers and editorial cartooning in general in the midst of the overall and journalism-specific meltdown.
We'll have fun, too. Convention host David Horsey and I are lining up some awesome speakers, informative panels and practical graphic arts workshops. We'll have great entertainment and a cool hotel. Seattle's infamous weather turns strangely wonderful in July— sunny, dry and warm is an even safer bet than your 401(k). The Cartoonapalooza mega panel/cartoonist meet ?n' greet fest, which made a promising debut in Washington, will come into its own in Seattle—providing us with the chance to meet the public, promote ourselves, and earn money for the AAEC. And there will be beer.
Lots of beer. Much of it microbrewed!
We'll commiserate about the bad times, but we'll also party. After the year we've had, we deserve it. More than anything else, however, we need to put our heads together and figure things out. There has literally never been a more important time to attend an AAEC convention.
For us, 2009 is do or die. I'm as prone to exaggeration as the next cartoonist. (All right, maybe a little more.) But I'm certain that you'll agree that our profession is facing a terrible crisis. If we don't start to develop new models for promoting, disseminating and fiscally benefiting from our work, and do so quickly, the profession we love will whither away. It may come to that, but let's not go out without a fight.
I don't know about you, but as far as I'm concerned, they can pry my pens out of my cold, dead hand.
David and I are doing everything possible to keep down costs for this year's convention. We even offered a discount for members who renewed their memberships early. Fortunately, I found a replacement after the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, our original primary convention sponsor, announced plans to fold. (As of this writing, the P-I will continue its website.) Fortunately, the Herblock Foundation stepped up to the plate, averting a painful price hike in the convention registration fee. Thanks, Herblock Foundation!
There has never been a more important year to connect with your friends and colleagues. We are the only people who understand the nature and gravity of the challenges we face. Emails and phone calls don't allow for the brainstorming sessions we've got planned, or those that will happen as you hang out with your friends. We are each other's best chances for survival.
If you haven't been to Seattle, you're in for a treat. One of America's great smaller cities, it's not just the site of the Space Needle. It's youthful, vibrant, and a cosmopolitan gateway to Asia. Our convention hotel is the Washington Athletic Club, located a short walk from Seattle's famous Pike Street Market and the main thoroughfares for shops, restaurants and bars.
This year's panelists and speakers will focus on how to survive and plan out your career in an era of uncertainty. You'll learn what to do if you lose your staff job, how to sell your work online, the future of syndication and how to brand yourself and your work. We'll hear experts discuss the brightest segment of cartooning, the graphic novel market. There will even be some surprises— all of them, unlike the news lately, good ones.
We'll also discuss the future of the AAEC. Given the current newspaper environment, should we abandon the newspaper sponsorship model in favor of pay-as-you-go, as does NCS, or turn to conventional corporate sponsorship? There have been suggestions that we merge with another group of artists or journalists, or that we transform the AAEC into an organization that looks more like a guild.
You can't afford to miss this year's AAEC confab. See you in Seattle!