Date: 6 Jan 1997 19:28:25 GMT


Gary McGath (gmcgath@ultranet.com) wrote:
: In article , rak@netaxs.com (User Support) wrote:

: >Gary, I'm not attacking you, or anyone else working under the committee
: >chair.  And you know damn well (or you should) what I'm upset about.  If
: >you'd like me to go into it here, I will.
: 
: You may not consider an accusation of fraud to be an "attack," but I do. I
: try not to be rude in general, but in this case the only thing I can say
: is: Substantiate your claim or shut up.

As you wish.  None of this can be considered legal argument, but is based
more on ethical considerations.  I'll try to keep it brief, to spare the
boredom of the newsgroup.

Around 2 years ago, Bill Wells approached me with a plan to hold another
ConCerto in the Cherry Hill area.  I was already fully committed to 2
other conventions (as I've been doing for the past 12 years), so I agreed
to let him go for it, provided I'd have some input on the Committee.

Now, for the background:  in 1988, there were only 3 filk conventions in
the country:  ConChord in LA, Consonance in SF, and OVFF in Columbus.
Very few east coasters could attend these, and Carol and I felt there was
room (and a demand) for one of our own.  So, we (or she) attended OVFF and
ConChord, made some friends and took some notes, made a plan, and took the
plunge.  We seeded the convention treasury with all of the revenues
received to date from Phlash sales, got some artwork from a friend and
made flyers and ordered 100 t-shirts to raise further cash, rounded up a
small committee, and made the official announcement at Noreascon 3, where
we spent a considerable amount of time sitting at a table, selling
attending and supporting memberships and t-shirts.  

Crystal was put in charge of Programming, and Athelstan was chosen to run
the Con Suite.  But, for the most part, Carol and I did the following:

o  Organized the committee.
o  Did the Hotel search, and signed the contracts.
o  Promoted ConCerto at every convention we could attend (all of them) in
   early 1990, at our expense.
o  Handled Registration, both in advance and at the door (part-time).
o  Arranged the attendance and recording of the convention by Wail Songs.
o  Managed the Treasury and calculated the budget.
o  Filled the Dealer's Room with dealers (Kathy Sands ran it at con.)
o  Solicited submissions for the Program Book (both songs and artwork).
o  Solicited advertisers for the Program Book.
o  Did a restaurant search around the Hotel area for a Restaurant guide.
o  Bought a photocopier and a binder for publications, in preparation for:
o  Laid out, printed, copied, collated, and bound 200 copies of the
   24-page Program Book in the final 4 days before the convention (the
   Convention started Friday, June 8th; the Program Book contained a
   complete attending and supporting membership list as of June 5th.)
o  Paid all the bills.

ConCerto 1990 was a first-time con.  It was a critical success and it
broke even.  Not many new conventions have that kind of success.

One might well guess that I have a somewhat strong emotional investment in
ConCerto, not to mention a strong personal interest in what is done with
the name in the future.  Any parent would, and this is probably the only
child we'll ever have.

I've been on 30 convention committees in the past 16 years (3 in 1990).  I
think I know what I'm doing by now.


Your illustrious chair, on the other hand, has, to my knowledge, been on
one (1) committee in his life, last year's Conterpoint Too.  (Perhaps he
had some committee experience in FL that I'm not aware of.)  Yet, he had
the gall to accuse me, in public across a filk circle, that I "had no idea
what running a filk convention is like today."  Sure, Bill.  Whatever you
say.

I don't want to run the Second Concerto.  Been there, done that, sold the
t-shirts.  But I did expect to have an at-large voice on the committee,
as I had originally requested when he asked for the name.  Not only did he
renege on that, but he blatantly ignored simple advice that would have
guaranteed the best hotel contract you're ever going to get from the
Clarion, instead preferring to allow a rank amateur to talk to the hotel.
But, he's the chair, and he will do whatever he wants.

I don't want the Second ConCerto to fail.  I hope it exceeds all of its
expectations.  It would have to, since they're so low (considering the
function space he's expecting to use).  We'll find out in five months.
That's why we're attending, as I urge everyone else to.

Maybe fraud was too strong a word to use in this context.  But, knowing
what I know about his vision for this convention, I would not today allow
use of the name if I had any legal ownership of it.  I don't, however.
So, feel free to support its exploitation.  I don't hold it against you
personally.  Just make it perfectly clear that there is absolutely no
relation between TWW's convention and ours.

(I really didn't want to have to air this out, but it's been eating away
at me for far too long.  Also note that Carol has nothing to do with this,
so don't hold anything I say against her.  These are my feelings and 
opinions only.)

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