An ICv2 Release. ICv2 is introducing new branding that reflects both a changing market and ICv2’s long history across its website, newsletters, magazine and events. The Business of Fandom, ICv2’s new tagline, reflects the growing importance of fan communities in driving business activity and ICv2’s role in that business.
In the post-pandemic world, fandom is increasingly about community, groups of people that come together around entertainment and activities that are not only rewarding on their own, but also provide the human connection that people seek. That community and fans’ interaction with it drives consumer behavior in the entertainment they consume and products they buy.
ICv2 is the central hub for the business of fandom, covering key verticals at the heart of the most passionate, dynamic fan cultures: hobby games (TCGs, RPGs, miniatures, board games); comics, graphic novels, and manga; and related products, media, and trends.
ICv2’s new logo, which shows more clearly that ICv2 is the second version (or v2), draws on ICv2’s roots, which go back to 1982, when global distributor Capital City Distribution began publishing Internal Correspondence, a monthly magazine about the businesses it served, including comics, graphic novels, manga, hobby games, merch, and trading cards.
When Capital was sold in 1996, co-owner Milton Griepp retained the rights to the magazine, and in 2001, after a stint as CEO of an early San Francisco e-commerce company, launched ICv2, a version 2 of Internal Correspondence on the web.
Twenty-five years later, ICv2 continues that mission of informing the leaders of the business of fandom with its website and emails, magazine, and live events, and an unparalleled reputation for quality coverage built over decades.
That coverage today relies on its murderers’ row of editors and regular contributors. In addition to ICv2’s Editor-in-Chief Milton Griepp, who can draw on that 40-year history to provide context, guidance, contacts, and analysis, ICv2 relies on its two editors.
Managing Editor (Games, Showbiz) Jeffrey Dohm-Sanchez has been at ICv2 since 2019. He previously held games industry roles in publishing, game design, and as a roleplaying game author (Steamfortress Victory, The Vampire’s Codex); he also owns commercial online content creation studio 20 Eyes Entertainment.
Contributing Editor (Comics, Graphic Novels, and Manga) Brigid Alverson has been writing about comics since she launched MangaBlog in 2005. She wrote the Comics A.M. column for Robot 6 (now part of CBR), and currently edits the Good Comics for Kids blog at School Library Journal. In her earlier life, she had roles at magazine and book publishers.
Columnists and reviewers provide regular in-depth analysis:
Columnist Rob Salkowitz is the author of Comic-Con and the Business of Pop Culture, a two-time Eisner Award nominee, and a proud longtime contributor to Eisner-nominated ICv2.
Columnist Scott Thorne, PhD, is the owner of Castle Perilous Games & Books in Carbondale, Illinois and instructor in marketing at Southeast Missouri State University.
With more than three decades experience in the game industry, game reviewer (and news writer) William Niebling has been writing about games and helping publishers around the world craft better rulebooks freelance since 2008.
A raft of star writers, columnists, and contributors expand that roster.
“The changes in the businesses we serve over the past couple of years have been dramatic, and our new branding is designed to keep ICv2 at the center of those changes, with a focus on the powerful forces behind them,” ICv2 President Milton Griepp said of the launch. “We’ll be meeting with many of you at the upcoming shows and look forward to helping the business of fandom grow.”
Source: ICv2
