Why I'm Boycotting WHC 2007, Part Deux
Ok…first I’ll answer some questions people have been emailing me, so I’ll stop having to rewrite the answers over and over. Then I’ll direct your attention to some bullet points on my latest griping about WHC07 and why we all just can’t get along…and after that, I might talk about surfing. Or a speakeasy. Or the joys of garlic stuffed olives in a martini.
Q: I can’t find Coal Black Water in anything you’ve done. Was it published electronically?
A: No, it wasn’t published electronically. It was published in print, in a wonderful magazine called Nasty Piece of Work, issue #14, in the UK (scroll down that link to find contents). I believe that issue was sold out…and was also their last issue. I never sent it anywhere in the US for publication, so that’s why you’ve never seen it in print on this side of the pond. So I suppose I could take it out of the trunk. Who needs a story? (Wait, don't answer that!)
Q: What was the name of the anthology Richard Laymon asked you to write for?
A: The anthology was called Bad News, edited by Richard Laymon, and published by Cemetery Dance in two editions. I believe both sold out years ago, but don’t quote me on that. I haven’t looked at their catalogue recently. Interesting factoid: daughter kellylaymon has the cover art for that book tattooed on her leg, near the ankle.
Q: Will you be at WHC08 in Salt Lake City?
A: Yes, indeedy. I will be there. The organizers have contacted me to ensure the bad taste left by 07, would not effect my decision to attend 08. Not at all. In fact, if anything, it’s a tradition I never intend to break again, if I can help it.
Q: Do you think there will be a Gross Out Contest at WHC08?
A: Yes, indeedy. In fact, I know there will be. The organizers are doing their best to make sure that tradition does not die with WHC07. It will rise like Frankenstein, I wager. It’s alive! It’s alive!
Q: Why is all your commentary on Shocklines (message board) directed at Stephen Jones?
A: Actually, it’s not. It’s directed at the whole planning committee. Stephen has responded, actually, to the people who’ve been writing to him, or about him, and I respect that. I give him kudos for it, since he’s the only one responding, mostly.
Now on to the bullet points…or My Issues with The Planning Committee (a recap):
• Creating the prerequisite that contestants in the Gross Out Contest had to have already purchased a paid membership prior to showing up at the door, and pre-sign up for the contest, means that people who pay for their memberships at the door cannot participate in the programming as well as the contest.
• No mailers or information on deadlines was sent to the mailing list or the email list that the WHC organization passes from planning committee to planning committee. Bits and pieces of this information could only be found on their website.
• Regular yearly participants in programming were not allowed to pre-commit to the programming, as has been done in all the years past, unless they had already purchased a paid membership.
• Many small press, independent press, and micro-press authors were excluded from the programming as well as the mass-autograph signing.
• Only committee designated “A” list (and maybe a few B listers) were allowed to participate in the mass-autograph signing.
• Emails, publicly posted on Shocklines written by a committee member, were unprofessional, rude, elitist, and not apologized for. As a representative for what is being advertised as a “Professional” convention, this was not handled professionally at all.
• A post was also made by that same person without their facts in order, accusing the horror community for not supporting the Gross Out Contest…which is entirely untrue, considering it usually garners 50-100 people every year to sit in a room for 2-3 hours and watch people read stuff, recoil from stuff, and win stuff. They laugh. They have a blast. They take time out of doing business at parties just to attend!
• To my knowledge, no refunds have been granted for convention attendees who have asked for them. Those emails (of 3 individuals) have gone unanswered.
• When the Gross Out Contest was begrudgingly cancelled due to the inability to confirm more than 2 judges because of the prerequisite of a paid membership prior to showing up at the door in order to participate, and not enough contestants already had them paid, as well as myself (co-host, though Brian did all the work on this one), because it would be against the convention policy/rules to participate if they bought one at the door…The committee instated the Twilight Tales contest…which ironically, does not have the prerequisite at all. (please support this contest, if you are going…It’s a good one).
Now, I want to add that I fully support the HWA planning committee (not a part of my rant at all) that is doing a great job at planning the Stoker Awards, which will be held during WHC07, but is a separate event that you must purchase a ticket for (I think this may be waved if you are an HWA member, but I’m not sure, so don’t quote me on that). They have absolutely nothing to do with what’s happening with the convention as a whole.
kellylaymon suggested Ghosting the convention. I reiterated that over at Shocklines. If you have already purchased your membership, you can try to ask for a refund. You can cancel your hotel room, and go to Sidestep and book a cheaper one nearby. You can go to the convention hotel, still chat with your chums, still conduct your business at the bar and the parties (which you don’t need a badge for). You can ask someone with a badge to buy your books for you in the dealers room, so the vendors are not hurt by the loss of your business, simply because you chose not to purchase a membership and support the planning committee’s idea of a convention. You can still buy a Stoker Awards banquet ticket and enjoy seeing your favorite authors win. You can even get them to sign your books pretty much anywhere at the convention.
Authors like signing your books. It’s their way of thanking you for buying them. Of course, this is an extreme way to exercise your rights and principals of the matters you feel strongly about - and in no way should you go about this mean-spirited. If you believe you are getting shafted, I’m just outlining ways you can fix that, and feel better about it, and still go. I’m still boycotting, though. I’m sure the committee appreciates that I won’t be there, too. I have never been mute when I had an opinion to express, and you can bet I’d seek out the committee to discuss my beefs if I was going.
The hard truth is, with every WHC convention, people will get disgruntled. There are right ways and wrong ways to handle that disgruntlement. IMHO, this was handled the wrong way. People paid to be there. That makes them customers. There was no customer service at all. Plus, this particular year just really had so many zits on its face that even proactive solution couldn’t clean up. It has to be the worst I’ve seen things in history.
The best I’ve attended so far has been Phoenix, AZ - those guys plan a fantastic convention from programming to taking care of authors and fans, to happy hour. And they did it TWICE! New York comes in second best. Location, location, location - and the programming was excellent. The hotel sucked ass. It was really my only complaint - but I knew going into it that the hotel would suck ass. I had been there in 2002 for the Stoker Awards, and experienced the janky rooms then. So I knew what I was in for…and how to accept it.
A lot of work goes into planning a convention. It’s extremely stressful. Rarely do they run smoothly. I wouldn’t want to be on that committee for 07, especially with all the bad press and pit falls they’ve fallen into. I know I’m making that worse in my posts. No one has actually contacted me from the committee. I can’t say I’m surprised. I’m pretty sure they could care less, and assume that one disgruntled person boycotting their convention can’t really do much. But I’m not the only disgruntled person…and the numbers are growing daily. And there is strength in numbers, just as there is strength in words.
Thank you to all of you who have emailed me your comments, rather than post them publicly here. Ironically, not one email has been negative - most were just thank-yous for having the balls to say something. Some of those emails were from very important individuals still attending 07, as well, though they have not complained, just agreed with my commentary. It’s hard to bite the hand that feeds you, of course. Kind of like publishing… when you know you’ve corrected that damn galley until it’s pristine, and when the book comes out - errors you never even made are suddenly there. And you’ve already cashed the check.
Anyhoo -
Going surfing this Sunday. Linda Mar, probably. Did not get that dang Women’s O’Neill Epic 4/3mm in a size 12 from the surf sale. They didn’t have one. If you have a used one and want to sell it, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaase sell it to me!
Going to a real, honest to goodness speakeasy in San Francisco tonight, called Bourbon and Branch. While I’ve been to one in Oakland where I did a reading for an event there, I’ve never been to one in SF. I’m stoked. You have to get reservations and a password just to get in the door. And they have a Library! A gorgeous room filled with antique books!
I had the most delicious martini last night, too, at the Occidental - with a garlic stuffed olive, that just made everything taste better. Even the cigar, weirdly enough. I smoked my last Hemmingway…*sigh*. So hard to find those.
Q: I can’t find Coal Black Water in anything you’ve done. Was it published electronically?
A: No, it wasn’t published electronically. It was published in print, in a wonderful magazine called Nasty Piece of Work, issue #14, in the UK (scroll down that link to find contents). I believe that issue was sold out…and was also their last issue. I never sent it anywhere in the US for publication, so that’s why you’ve never seen it in print on this side of the pond. So I suppose I could take it out of the trunk. Who needs a story? (Wait, don't answer that!)
Q: What was the name of the anthology Richard Laymon asked you to write for?
A: The anthology was called Bad News, edited by Richard Laymon, and published by Cemetery Dance in two editions. I believe both sold out years ago, but don’t quote me on that. I haven’t looked at their catalogue recently. Interesting factoid: daughter kellylaymon has the cover art for that book tattooed on her leg, near the ankle.
Q: Will you be at WHC08 in Salt Lake City?
A: Yes, indeedy. I will be there. The organizers have contacted me to ensure the bad taste left by 07, would not effect my decision to attend 08. Not at all. In fact, if anything, it’s a tradition I never intend to break again, if I can help it.
Q: Do you think there will be a Gross Out Contest at WHC08?
A: Yes, indeedy. In fact, I know there will be. The organizers are doing their best to make sure that tradition does not die with WHC07. It will rise like Frankenstein, I wager. It’s alive! It’s alive!
Q: Why is all your commentary on Shocklines (message board) directed at Stephen Jones?
A: Actually, it’s not. It’s directed at the whole planning committee. Stephen has responded, actually, to the people who’ve been writing to him, or about him, and I respect that. I give him kudos for it, since he’s the only one responding, mostly.
Now on to the bullet points…or My Issues with The Planning Committee (a recap):
• Creating the prerequisite that contestants in the Gross Out Contest had to have already purchased a paid membership prior to showing up at the door, and pre-sign up for the contest, means that people who pay for their memberships at the door cannot participate in the programming as well as the contest.
• No mailers or information on deadlines was sent to the mailing list or the email list that the WHC organization passes from planning committee to planning committee. Bits and pieces of this information could only be found on their website.
• Regular yearly participants in programming were not allowed to pre-commit to the programming, as has been done in all the years past, unless they had already purchased a paid membership.
• Many small press, independent press, and micro-press authors were excluded from the programming as well as the mass-autograph signing.
• Only committee designated “A” list (and maybe a few B listers) were allowed to participate in the mass-autograph signing.
• Emails, publicly posted on Shocklines written by a committee member, were unprofessional, rude, elitist, and not apologized for. As a representative for what is being advertised as a “Professional” convention, this was not handled professionally at all.
• A post was also made by that same person without their facts in order, accusing the horror community for not supporting the Gross Out Contest…which is entirely untrue, considering it usually garners 50-100 people every year to sit in a room for 2-3 hours and watch people read stuff, recoil from stuff, and win stuff. They laugh. They have a blast. They take time out of doing business at parties just to attend!
• To my knowledge, no refunds have been granted for convention attendees who have asked for them. Those emails (of 3 individuals) have gone unanswered.
• When the Gross Out Contest was begrudgingly cancelled due to the inability to confirm more than 2 judges because of the prerequisite of a paid membership prior to showing up at the door in order to participate, and not enough contestants already had them paid, as well as myself (co-host, though Brian did all the work on this one), because it would be against the convention policy/rules to participate if they bought one at the door…The committee instated the Twilight Tales contest…which ironically, does not have the prerequisite at all. (please support this contest, if you are going…It’s a good one).
Now, I want to add that I fully support the HWA planning committee (not a part of my rant at all) that is doing a great job at planning the Stoker Awards, which will be held during WHC07, but is a separate event that you must purchase a ticket for (I think this may be waved if you are an HWA member, but I’m not sure, so don’t quote me on that). They have absolutely nothing to do with what’s happening with the convention as a whole.
kellylaymon suggested Ghosting the convention. I reiterated that over at Shocklines. If you have already purchased your membership, you can try to ask for a refund. You can cancel your hotel room, and go to Sidestep and book a cheaper one nearby. You can go to the convention hotel, still chat with your chums, still conduct your business at the bar and the parties (which you don’t need a badge for). You can ask someone with a badge to buy your books for you in the dealers room, so the vendors are not hurt by the loss of your business, simply because you chose not to purchase a membership and support the planning committee’s idea of a convention. You can still buy a Stoker Awards banquet ticket and enjoy seeing your favorite authors win. You can even get them to sign your books pretty much anywhere at the convention.
Authors like signing your books. It’s their way of thanking you for buying them. Of course, this is an extreme way to exercise your rights and principals of the matters you feel strongly about - and in no way should you go about this mean-spirited. If you believe you are getting shafted, I’m just outlining ways you can fix that, and feel better about it, and still go. I’m still boycotting, though. I’m sure the committee appreciates that I won’t be there, too. I have never been mute when I had an opinion to express, and you can bet I’d seek out the committee to discuss my beefs if I was going.
The hard truth is, with every WHC convention, people will get disgruntled. There are right ways and wrong ways to handle that disgruntlement. IMHO, this was handled the wrong way. People paid to be there. That makes them customers. There was no customer service at all. Plus, this particular year just really had so many zits on its face that even proactive solution couldn’t clean up. It has to be the worst I’ve seen things in history.
The best I’ve attended so far has been Phoenix, AZ - those guys plan a fantastic convention from programming to taking care of authors and fans, to happy hour. And they did it TWICE! New York comes in second best. Location, location, location - and the programming was excellent. The hotel sucked ass. It was really my only complaint - but I knew going into it that the hotel would suck ass. I had been there in 2002 for the Stoker Awards, and experienced the janky rooms then. So I knew what I was in for…and how to accept it.
A lot of work goes into planning a convention. It’s extremely stressful. Rarely do they run smoothly. I wouldn’t want to be on that committee for 07, especially with all the bad press and pit falls they’ve fallen into. I know I’m making that worse in my posts. No one has actually contacted me from the committee. I can’t say I’m surprised. I’m pretty sure they could care less, and assume that one disgruntled person boycotting their convention can’t really do much. But I’m not the only disgruntled person…and the numbers are growing daily. And there is strength in numbers, just as there is strength in words.
Thank you to all of you who have emailed me your comments, rather than post them publicly here. Ironically, not one email has been negative - most were just thank-yous for having the balls to say something. Some of those emails were from very important individuals still attending 07, as well, though they have not complained, just agreed with my commentary. It’s hard to bite the hand that feeds you, of course. Kind of like publishing… when you know you’ve corrected that damn galley until it’s pristine, and when the book comes out - errors you never even made are suddenly there. And you’ve already cashed the check.
Anyhoo -
Going surfing this Sunday. Linda Mar, probably. Did not get that dang Women’s O’Neill Epic 4/3mm in a size 12 from the surf sale. They didn’t have one. If you have a used one and want to sell it, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaase sell it to me!
Going to a real, honest to goodness speakeasy in San Francisco tonight, called Bourbon and Branch. While I’ve been to one in Oakland where I did a reading for an event there, I’ve never been to one in SF. I’m stoked. You have to get reservations and a password just to get in the door. And they have a Library! A gorgeous room filled with antique books!
I had the most delicious martini last night, too, at the Occidental - with a garlic stuffed olive, that just made everything taste better. Even the cigar, weirdly enough. I smoked my last Hemmingway…*sigh*. So hard to find those.