Duckon

[ericcoleman]

I suppose I have to put forward my thoughts on Duckon.

I got there late, so some of this is what I heard, not what I saw. My final conclusions are my opinions, not of anyone else.

First of all the Dandelion Wine CD release party. From what I heard, this was cleared with the concom. The concom came and shut it down.

The wife of next years con chair came out of the main room and told Megan that she had the right to tell Jan to go fuck herself and was going to tell other concom members that they had her permission to do so. This in a public space.

None of the folks who Jan had arranged to have badges had badges. When I got there on Saturday this was still not straightened out. I know Jan, she gets her info in early.

For the record, I also made Megan cry, this when one of her staff was doing the worst job of running sound I have ever seen at a con, this the day after all of the sound issues were solved. I had watched poor Scott Snyder struggle through a set, little did he know that the sound guy was doing is best to make sure that he sounded even worse than he did (he had throat problems). The idgit was mixing the sound by sitting 10 feet in front of one of the PA speakers. It sounded fine where he was, it sounded like crap everywhere else in the room. When it was obvious that this was going to be the case for Talis (the big name filker from the UK) I spoke up ... fervently (you all know how I can be), and the guy finally did a half way decent job. Halfway. I am by no means a professional sound guy, but I could have solved any of the problems they were having at that moment in a verse and a chorus. This guy simply didn't want to. He also talked on his cel phone, and at one point in Talis's concert carried on a full voice conversation 15 feet from her. At that point I snapped and got Megan's attention and mouthed at her to tell him to SHUT THE FUCK UP. She told him (a little more politely I would guess) and he came over to me all pumped up and said, in a nice macho aggressive way "IS THERE A PROBLEM". "Yeah, you are talking during someone's show, it's rude". Since it was obvious that I was not afraid of him, he walked away.

After that show Megan took me and Gundo aside and told us that the powers that be had told her that Toyboat was to have no sound support, this for an electric band. She told us that she was going to do it anyway.

I'd like to say for the record that I think Megan did the best she could, but that she was thrown into the deep end with no way of getting out. I feel terrible for her. She's a long standing member of the WSPA and one of "my kids". I think the way she was treated was shameful. But not the way she was treated by Jan, that was just Jan's natural frustration at the behaviour of the concom. Unfortunately Megan got the brunt of it.

Now for my opinions on this ...

Now the concom is doing it's best to make Jan look bad, to save their asses. Filk was a target that weekend. Jan had a lot of power, and that had been upsetting some of the folks on the concom. They took a bad moment and used it to get rid of her, but if you look at what happened that weekend, it is Jan who is owed an apology.

As for the future of Duckon filk. It's dead kids, you killed it. I feel bad for Gary, FINALLY a GOH next year (bout time that a major con did this, he's brilliant), but who is going to be there to see him. There is no major filker who will touch Duckon now and there is no one who could bring anyone in who will take the job. The word is already going through the community that one of the most beloved figures in the community was treated abysmally. And she was.

Comments

[salexa.livejournal.com]

Thank you for presenting what you saw. I had not heard of some of this, though I had gotten rumor of Jan being let go. It sounds like an ugly situation all around.

If anyone is interested, the con chair of Duckon 20 has a message about this at http://www.duckon.org/.

[born-to-me.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this Eric. I wanted to comment with something I said in my own locked journal.

Sadly it is in the best interest of a lot of people to paint Jan in as black a light as possible. They seem to hope that they can get people who would ordinarily support her to instead turn against her. I don't see that happening.

All this is ugly and has been brewing for some time. A lot of it stems from things pointing (by word and deed of the Powers That Be) to filk as it has existed being targeted for extermination. I can't say that I blame Jan for being cranky. I've never once said Jan might not have been cranky - I didn't see it, but it's very possible. If there wasn't an agenda against her and her filk track, it would have all been overlooked. God knows I've known people who make their life's work being nasty and objectionable who stay in power at cons for years - and Jan is a wonderful person who typically is sunny and fun to be with. Her frustrations were hardly enough to get noticed in most circles - unless, as I said, there's an agenda.

Firing Jan in the ugly (and questionable) manner that they did is what has caused the problem, that and smearing the conversation all over the front page of the Duck homepage, and other folks lashing out at her other places. If it had all been handled differently this could have been avoided and I think Duckon Filk could have been salvaged. They didn't, and I don't think it can be now. Honestly, I don't think they want it to be.

Will filk continue? Sure. Where there is a con there are always filkers. However, I don't think that the serious filk musicians will touch Duck with a ten foot pole for a long, long time. If the concom wants a bunch of random people sitting in a big circle singing songs out of Rise Up Singing, that's certainly what they're getting. If they didn't want that, they had a chance to do different.

[hms42]

Thanks for the warning about Duckon. I was thinking about attending it next year, when I finally had the time available to pull a quick trip off (2 weeks before Contata), now I won't. I'll use the weekend to prep for Contata instead.

[dave-ifversen.livejournal.com]

As for the future of Duckon filk. It's dead kids, you killed it.

Killed it - hell, they took off and nuked it from orbit, just to be sure.

[ladypoetess.livejournal.com]

This makes me really sad. I didn't get to go to Duckon this year, but it has been one of my favorite cons for over a decade. It was my first ever convention when I was 17, and it's what drew me into the convention circuit. Over the last 2-3 years, I've found a 'home' within the con world in the filk area, and the fact that what was my favorite con has had such an awful thing with the filkers makes me quite sad.

I am, however, very glad to know about this. Thank you, Eric.

[lisagems.livejournal.com]

Ah, so, by giving Duckon a pass this year I missed further politics and power struggles. Gee. Dont *I* feel sad.

The power struggles with Jan and the "rest of concom" have been going on for several years. Nobody could come up with a reasonable way to express their objections, they would only complain in general terms and point fingers. Had Jan gotten a little, 'I'm BNF' and I can do what I want'? Honestly, sometimes, yes. Did anybody,at all, deal with it in a reasonable manner, ever? Nope.

It a shame that such things boil up to this point, but it is how Duckon has handled most of it's perceived problems. Furries, art show, critter crunch, now filk.

Wonder who's next on this list.

[ladypoetess.livejournal.com]

I find the most interesting part of that message the request at the end to email him if you find people "being nasty" about this whole debacle. Right. *eyeroll*

[rose1thorn.livejournal.com]

"Wonder who's next on this list."

Well, since they got rid of (e.g. forced out, fired, or parties resigned of their own accord) pretty much everyone who isn't "their" people over the past year and a half or so, I don't think I don't think anyone else is really on the list.

[spiritdancer]

From my observations at Duckon? Childcare is on the way out the door. The folks handling it this year looked like they got dropped in at the last minute, and, while they dealt with it, I think concom (or parts of it) are trying to kill it off, too.

[born-to-me.livejournal.com]

Exactly. Especially considering the disgraceful swipe he made at Jan just sentences before. Shameful.

[lisagems.livejournal.com]

I found the most interesting part to be the whole, 'now, I'm not naming names, but Jan will be missed' thing. ummm.. riiiight.

[born-to-me.livejournal.com]

You caused cats to flee the room when I started shrieking with laughter at that one, Dave. ;-)

[born-to-me.livejournal.com]

(totally OT, but *icon love*)

[lisagems.livejournal.com]

I have to admit, that would not surprise me. There is an insurance cost associated with childcare that more than one local con is eager to *not* be responsible for.

[gundo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but the sad thing about killing childcare is that Duckon has always been a family con. Killing childcare would seem to be the last nail in that coffin as well.

[spiritdancer]

I've been composing email to a rather large portion of the concom mailing list (having gotten the impression that if I send it to one address, it's likely to disappear in the electrons). Hell, I'm debating about posting to LJ at this point, with links to it from my other online accounts.

I've gotten thru Friday, so far. Over 2 pages in Word, single spaced, on the first pass. I'm working on making it more concise.

I think I should break it down a bit more succinctly for them.

Memberships x4 $240 (two were full childcare memberships)
Hotel approx $200
Meals at hotel $90
Money spent in the dealers room: $400, give or take.
Total spent at/on the con: Close to $1000, not counting travel, time off work, meals outside the hotel, etc


How much will I spend at/on Duckon next year? $0

Do I honestly think the conchair or his staff give a damn? Nope.

Good luck, they've managed to kill it off.

[born-to-me.livejournal.com]

Perhaps, just perhaps, that is the point to all this.

[spiritdancer]

I came pretty close to asking for a refund on the childcare memberships; NO child in diapers should be leaving childcare with a diaper so soaked with urine as to be falling off.

I dealt with this at least 3 times (and not just my kid)

Any idea who's handling the childcare at Windy?

[lisagems.livejournal.com]

This problem is not new to the current "ruling bodies". It has been endemic to Duckon. Whoever has been in charge seems to take delight in pissing in the pool. Or at least, pissing on whatever group has drawn their specific disdain. I keep seeing people talk about how much they dislike how things are happening, say "when I'm in charge, it will be different", then pull exactly the same crap, just aimed at a different group. For a convention that isn't really very old, this has happened too many times.

[rose1thorn.livejournal.com]

You're right. I had made the observation this afternoon that childcare doesn't seem to fit with the direction Duckon seems to be moving.

[spiritdancer]

Exactly.

One more con I won't attend. Marcon lost us a couple of years back by dropping childcare. 'Till the boys are a bit older, any con without childcare is unlikely in the extreme.

[born-to-me.livejournal.com]

There are a lot more people that will take their dollars elsewhere, but I agree, I don't think the concom gives a damn. I think they're aiming for a "younger, hipper crowd" and perhaps us old music-loving fogies with kids are cramping their style. Ah well... we can find other places to play, eh?

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

Windy childcare has been run for the past several years by Amy Wenshe, who is running it again. Note, that Windycon actually hires bonded child care people to be in the room.

[dave-ifversen.livejournal.com]

Glad to help... :-)

[gundo.livejournal.com]

I'd send both versions....some people might need to be hit over the head with details, others might need the easy version in order to get the point.