ATTN JMS: Voice of the Resistance Con - "Economical" with the truth

[B5JMS Poster]

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From: paulh at sifnos94.demon.co.uk (Paul Harper)
Date: 20 May 1998 12:14:10 -0600
Lines: 36

Mr. Straczynski,

You state in a post in another place that you are boycotting the VOR
convention because it's run by basically the same people who run the Wolf
359 Convention in the UK, and with whom you have some outstanding issues.

Would it not be more truthful to say that you are not attending the VOR
convention because you were not invited?  It is difficult to boycott
something you're not invited to!

After the pain in the arse you made of yourself at the last Wolf, the
decision was made (I believe) not to invite you to any more of their
conventions. This was some time before your public outburst at the
committee.

To your credit (and to maintain truthfulness on my part) you did apologise
publically on the UK B5 group for your bad manners at the convention, but I
do not expect that this will make any difference to the committee's
decision - I know it made no difference to the unpaid volunteer stewards
that you upset.

Don't get me wrong here - I dislike Mr Cooney with a vehemence even you
might find hard to believe. I simply state the above to set the record
straight, and that your non-attendance at the VOR convention has nothing
whatsoever to do with your opting not to go.

Also, it is my understanding that the VOR con is not a Wolf production, and
it would be wrong to suggest otherwise.

Regards,

Paul Harper
-- visit the Page's Bar home page : http://www.rednet.co.uk/homepages/stbob/
A .sig is all well and good, but it's no substitute for a personality.
(E_Mail: Remove "NOSPAM" from e-mail address when replying)
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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: 20 May 1998 17:01:20 -0600
Lines: 69

Nope.  I said exactly what I meant.  I said that I would not have anything to
do with any Wolf-associated convention virtually the week we got back, and
announced it on the nets.  Now you say that 

>the
>decision was made (I believe) not to invite you to any more of their
>conventions. This was some time before your public outburst at the
>committee.

This would seem a bit like time travel, since it happened right after the
convention.  Also, I see you include "I believe."  So in fact you don't know
for a fact that any such decision was ever made.  And if it had been, it's
highly unlikely that it could've been made prior to my announcement.

So having already said that I would not be involved with any Wolf convention or
Brian Cooney until they got their act together in terms of their treatment of
the fans, I wouldn't exactly expect to be invited, since I've already *said* I
wouldn't go to any of them.  So your point is completely moot.  

>To your credit (and to maintain truthfulness on my part) you did apologise
>publically on the UK B5 group for your bad manners at the convention, but I
>do not expect that this will make any difference to the committee's
>decision - I know it made no difference to the unpaid volunteer stewards
>that you upset.

No, what I said on the group was that I was often in a bad mood at the
convention...because of the utter incompetenced, ineptitude and gross stupidity
I saw in the running and operations of the convention that started right from
the top.  

So the stewards were upset...well, then, perhaps they would not be upset if I
hadn't had to yell about fans standing FOR THREE AND FOUR HOURS AT  A TIME to
get the autograph of an actor only to find that the actor was no longer there,
if I hadn't had to see people *literally* close to passing out from overheated
conditions and long lines, if I hadn't had THE HANDWRITTEN OUTLINES FOR THE
FIRST FEW SEASONF IVE EPISODES THROWN OUT at my hotel by staff when Wolf
convention didn't take care of the room properly and my stuff got moved when I
was away at the con, costing me several weeks worth of work.

Yeah, I was in a bad mood...deal with it.  I kept it away from the fans, and
directed it where it was most appropriate: at those who were involved in the
day to day operations of the con, from the top to the bottom.  It was the
single most incompetently run convention that I have attended in over a decade
of convention going.  I was told, "Well, there are just too many people." 
Crap.  I came to the last Wolf convention after WesterCon Seattle, which had
JUST as many people, and was probably the BEST run convention I've seen in a
long time.

I'm sorry it upset a few stewards...but when I see fans in literal physical
distress, when I see this kind of incompetence and abuse for people who paid a
great deal of money to be there, when I ask for but do not receive promised
statements that would set my mind at ease as to whether or not the money
supposedly raised for the convention actually GOT where it was intended to go
(information thta I have *still* not received, despite being told that it was
both available and forthcoming)...I get pissed, because at core, I'm a fan, and
I won't see fans being abused in this fashion.

What I said was that I won't have anything to do with any Wolf associated
convention until such time as I hear from the fans that the conditions at these
cons have improved.  

Deal with it.


 jms

(jmsatb5 at aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
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