So, yeah, Wizard Entertainment head honcho Fred Pierce is now a former head honcho. And while it seems smart to shake things up at the sinking company, I can’t help but feel like this is an arrow that’s missed the mark.
To be honest, I didn’t have much of a problem with Pierce during my time with Wizard. Sure, he was technically in charge of overseeing the bulk of the company’s activities, but my experience suggested that the most criticized shenanigans going down at Wizard HQ occurred under the direction of people who are still on the Wizard payroll.
A lot of my former coworkers are dancing in the streets about the news of Pierce’s departure, but it’s worth noting that most of them weren’t exactly privy to the higher-level management goings-on at the company — so I’m not sure they have an accurate idea of which policies and/or mandates Pierce was responsible for and which ones they were simply told he was responsible for. Working on Wizard’s website put me in a unique position due to how new that element of the site was, and how their desire to keep staffing low essentially put me (and my department) in the role of being the through-point for anything with an online element. I attended quite a few meetings for upper-level and non-editorial discussions, and saw firsthand the way information filtered to the editorial staff through managers whose primary concern was preventing the mutiny of their very creative, yet exceptionally low-paid, poorly treated staff.
So, Wizard-watchers, what I’m trying to say here is, don’t expect much of a change for the better with Pierce’s departure. This move was likely more a result of cost-cutting than any decision to change the general editorial focus or direction of the company. In fact, if I were a betting man, I’d wager that you’re likely to see a more concentrated dose of the stuff you love to hate in the days to come.
But that’s just my opinion.
Oh, and just in case you want to read more of the online buzz, here are some links to check out:
7 responses so far ↓
1 Anonymous // Oct 5, 2008 at 1:42 pm
I agree 100%
2 Blog@Newsarama » Blog Archive » Roundup: Wizard’s COO let go // Oct 5, 2008 at 2:58 pm
[...] Rick Marshall has more thoughts here. [...]
3 Journalista - the news weblog of The Comics Journal » Blog Archive » Oct. 6, 2008: The Wizard of Aaaargh // Oct 6, 2008 at 9:19 am
[...] be less than fondly remembered. Elsewhere, ICv2 has the company’s side of the story, while Rick Marshall offers commentary, as does Heidi [...]
4 Gabe // Oct 6, 2008 at 10:54 am
All you need to do is look at what former Wizard-ites have done with Marvel.com to see what Wizard should have been doing for years. They took a marketing tool and turned it into a revenue stream that markets.
The mag and the website can not only co-exist, but strengthen each other’s position if done right. They need to cast an eye towards the future and the new way things are done. You can’t fight the internet. Just ask the music business how that turned out. You have to adapt or go the way of the Dodo and day glo.
Their departments need to work together instead of being pitted against each other.
That is a tone that is set from the top.
5 Ben Morse // Oct 6, 2008 at 12:26 pm
“All you need to do is look at what former Wizard-ites have done with Marvel.com to see what Wizard should have been doing for years. They took a marketing tool and turned it into a revenue stream that markets. ”
Thanks, Gabe!
6 RM // Oct 6, 2008 at 12:45 pm
I couldn’t agree more, Gabe. And that was definitely a problem that exists (and according to the folks I talk to who are still there, still exists) at Wizard.
As I’ve told Ryan a great, great many times, they’ve done amazing things over there at Marvel.com. Ben and Ryan are doing a great job, and the difference in Marvel.com since they joined that team is definitely noticeable. That says a lot for how much there creativity was stifled prior.
I have to admit, though, that if someone pressed me to name the people who needed to be removed from the Wizard equation in order to make it successful, Fred Pierce would not have made my list. I always found him to be pretty reasonable and receptive when I discussed potential changes to the website and ways to improve it, but those ideas stalled once they left his office and required cooperation from other departments (including print editorial). If anything, an unwillingness to recognize/remove those roadblocks was the only one of his faults on my radar.
7 Gabe // Oct 6, 2008 at 1:55 pm
i hear what you’re saying, but you can’t right the ship by blowing it up.
you need a captain that knows WHERE to steer it and the ability to get it done.
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