Ya know...before we start painting out "Down With Mercedes", placards, and burning her in effigy, at convention entrances, maybe we should examine this opening post.
ChosenOne isn't saying Mercedes is making the rounds at conventions, setting up booths, and selling autographs.
ChosenOne is saying she heard somewhere (I don't know maybe a friend of a friend somewhere, or a post on a message board) that they were charging for Mercedes autograph at a convention.
Faith tells us this isn't unusual. Apparently convention organizers will organize signings by the guest speakers and charge to get into the signing. She tells us they do this to cover the costs of putting on conventions.
Something else to consider; Unfortunately, autographs do have monetary value. It's not unusual for entrepeneurs to go to extraordinary lengths to acquire signatures.
You can increase the value of any piece of memorabilia with an autograph, and in some cases just the signature alone can be worth bucks. I've heard of celebrities seeing the same face over and over again in the line-ups getting different items signed. Apparently memorablia store owners will do the Fagin thing, and hire kids to do this for them.
Most celebrities don't like this practice. Well who can blame them? This is why it's much harder to get an autograph these days, and the organizers of events set up organized signings, sometimes charging for the privelage of being there.
