Travis Seitler: Web Designer

Now that I don’t work for Geppi anymore, I’ll go ahead and “out” him on this one.

For both 2007 and 2008, everyone at Gemstone Publishing was given pre-filled ballots (typically leaving one or two blank spaces for our own personal choices) to sign and send in. Nobody was required to submit the ballots (I didn’t either year; mostly because I was disgusted by the scheme), but I’m sure we still had two- or three-dozen nearly identical ballots sent for both of those years.

The worst part is that they were so pathetically obvious about it. In 2007, completely blank ballots were e-mailed to Gemstone employees… and then we were told to not touch those, but to instead wait for the “J.C. Vaughn-approved” (pre-filled) versions to be passed around.

In ‘08, after the pre-filled ballots were given to us, Vaughn had a member of the Scoop! editorial staff e-mail everyone in the company, looking for a tally of who all was going to submit ballots. (Now maybe I’m just clueless, but why would he even want to know… unless they were planning on submitting forged ballots “on our behalf”?)

Spammy, attention-grabbing behavior like this from the people in charge is one of the many reasons why I got off that sinking ship. (Sigh.)

I really don’t know what to suggest in the way of fixing the Harveys. Maybe a ballot system where you aren’t allowed to nominate any project you were involved with? You’d still get backscratching, but it wouldn’t be as much of a “biggest publisher who cares, wins” nomination process.

(This post originally appeared as a comment at Heidi MacDonald’s THE BEAT.)

UPDATE: Not only did my remarks influence a follow-up article at THE BEAT, but I’m getting incoming links from CBR’s Robot 6, Comics Worth Reading is quoting me, and I landed a mention in TCJ’s ¡Journalista! Nuts, I tell you! NUTS!

I know I haven’t posted much (at all) since our OBX vacation. I’ve got a few more design/development projects in the works (which, quite frankly, are taking far longer than I had anticipated) and Nicole & I are looking at homes in the York area. In other words, busy, busy, busy!

I’ve got a few ideas planned for near-future posts, and I’m always tinkering with the blog’s design. It’s a bad habit, actually; I’m never content with how it looks, so I spend all my time polishing the layout instead of writing. Meanwhile, my wife’s favorite blog post here continues to garner a disproportionate amount of my blog’s traffic. Perhaps I should listen to my wife more often…

I recently lettered this little number: The Claws of the Cat. It’s a two-part story slated for Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #687 (pre-order your copy now!).

In a nutshell, Mickey Mouse has to deal with a Lara Croft -ish character named Katarina (pictured). She’s after a particular jade cat… but is she the only one?

This thing was fun to work on! Egmont’s take on Katarina’s outfits seemed a bit on the “garish” side, though, so I decided to spruce ‘em up a bit.

Geppi announced that… Gemstone Publishing will be… relocating to York, PA effective the first week of October 2007.

[snip]

“York has an exciting dynamic to it. It’s definitely a city and a region on the move, and we’re excited to be a part of that. This is a terrific entry into a rich marketplace, both in terms of the history to be found and the collectors with a vibrant interest in it. I am personally very pleased to be able to create this opportunity,” Geppi said.

Yup, that’s right: moving from Timonium, MD to York, PA in just a couple of weeks: “The new facility, located at 3679 Concord Road, York, Pennsylvania 17402, is expected to be fully up and running by the first week of October 2007.” Gemstone is now under the “Geppi Entertainment” banner, along with Diamond Intl. Galleries, Geppi’s Entertainment Museum, Hake’s Americana & Collectibles and Morphy Auctions.

Wanna see my boss’ latest venture? This pop-culture museum (right beside Oriole Park at Camden Yards and across the light rail from the Baltimore Convention Center) has been attracting a lot of attention since it opened in September ‘06, including this segment of Retirement Living’s The Daily Apple: