The Christmas Day Massacre

In life, there are smooth roads and bumpy roads. Unfortunately, this week a major bumpy road was hit and in all things in life, all good things must come to an end.

My association with G-FAN and G-FEST has ended.

For the past nine years, since the 2000 G-FEST, I have been the publicity chairman for the G-FEST committee, later joined by the capable Jeff Horne.

We achieved a lot of good results in the print and electronic media. We've obtained a lot of media interest in the convention and that brought in many walk-in attendees. Although we were in the midst of the worst recession in my lifetime, we managed to keep our attendance numbers stable while other conventions had drops in attendance.

Back to the problem at hand.

This was not an instantaneous occurrence, it has been building up for some time. It began earlier this year when an individual in the committee and I had a falling out and I was threatened with blackmail. This individual in subsequent months would engage in taunts and usurpation of duties I conducted over the years, such as the G-FAN summaries posted online.

I kept quiet about them specifically, but I have never been one to take guff from people lying down. If someone crosses the line, I will respond.

The announcement of Akira Takarada as this year's G-FEST guest was "the straw that broke the camel's back." J.D.'s position was posted on the G-FEST Commitee Yahoo Group after he and I had a conversation which seemed to settle the matter. The conversation, while tense at times, ended friendly and thoughtfully. Then he posted this:

Brett and Yutaka got Takarada to come. Brett (with my permission, naturally) posted it on his blog and then on this board to let everyone on the committee know. (G-FAN went out today, BTW.) Brett is not usurping publicity duties, as there is a big difference between blogging the news and sending out news releases to media, various websites, etc. Having said that, I would hope that everyone on this committee, and in the entire kaiju community, would try to disseminate this news to everyone they think would be even remotely interested. We have the most important G-guest ever, and instead of saying "Awesome!" or "Thanks for landing him!" I see "Who is doing the publicity, you or me?" type stuff. Why would anyone think they had the "right" to break a bit of fantastic news that someone else did all the work to bring about?

We have come from a potential calamity earlier this week to the launch of what promises to be a milestone convention. I am insisting that we please focus on the positive and work as a team, rather than trying to protect territory or settle old scores.

I responded to him in an email last night as follows:

Chief:

I am sorry that you chose to level an attack instead of speaking more thoughtfully as you did in our telephone conversation tonight.

In a few minutes, you will see how it should have been handled, I am in the midst of posting it at the Rancho. - A.

So I posted an announcement here and at Monster Island as it should properly be posted online. And then I posted this at the Group:

Rather than arguing over whether a blog is a website or not, here's how it should be done:

http://robojapan.blogspot.com/2009/12/g-fest-lands-akira-takarada.html

I also told J.D. this in a very late-night email:

The issue, as we discussed, is having your publicity people in the loop (as a courtesy (at least) and for input on how the message should be sent (suggestions, etc.)) on what goes out by someone else (i.e., Brett). What he sent out was amateurish and not befitting the stature of Mr. Takarada. The average Joe Schmoe will think a bunch of kids are running a show rather than something presented professionally. I've been doing this stuff even before Brett was a gleam in his father's eye. So Brett got Takarada and that entitles him to send out amateurish messages?!

This is more than just "turf." The bottom line is either you allow us to do our job as it should be done (and has been done up to now) or Jeff and I will walk. He is in agreement with me on this. We worked hard to build our credibility as the spokespeople for the convention and we cannot allow amateurs to send out incompetent announcements.

I really don't wish to be harsh, but this has riled me up. - A.

In response to my last post at the G-FEST Yahoo Group (as exhibited above), I received this message from J. D. this morning:

No, I don't like it. [Note: I was referring to the posts announcing Takarada here and at Monster Island News as something that he'd like.] I made my position perfectly clear on the phone, and my last post on the planning group was to end the sniping. Within five minutes or so, you've posted a message at least partially intended to prolong the problem. I wrote that "I am insisting" that it end, and you immediately defied me in front of the committee. I cannot have people on the committee completely disregarding my decisions and requests, and as I said before, the sniping has to stop. Since you are unwilling to comply in either case, I'll just say that I'm truly grateful for your efforts on behalf of G-FAN and G-FEST, but I've decided to end your participation on the committee. You are not authorized to act as a representative of either the magazine or the convention. I'm sorry it has come to this, but, as blunt as it sounds, it's my mag and my convention, so my decisions have to be respected. - J.D.

So now dissent and bringing problems to the committee are no longer allowed. Things must be swept under the rug. Committee members must now be obedient drones and keep quiet. How can problems be resolved if they aren't discussed?

Unfortunately, as I said, this has been building up for some time and things just came to a head. People will take things for so long before something blows. Brett has a habit of taunting people and one attendee decided last summer to not take it anymore and a physical altercation resulted. People also say things they normally wouldn't out of anger. Other things have gone on behind the scenes that threaten the convention committee unit, but I will not go into them here.

I don't know what Jeff is going to do, but he did express to me on the phone that he backs my position.

I have always strived to be honest and forthright in my work. If I see something wrong, I'll say so. My late dad used to have a funny saying, "Don't let 'em shit on you, open your mouth."

Many things have been accomplished over the years in G-FAN and G-FEST that I am proud of. Apparently, some people are more indispensable than others. That's okay, I'm a big boy and can handle it.

I am grateful for the many kindnesses J. D. has extended over the years. Perhaps when this all cools down, we can talk again as friends.

Unfortunately, he has concluded that I am of no further value to G-FAN and G-FEST.

In writing this, I am being my usual honest and forthright self. This is just my side of the story.

UPDATE: Nice To Know I Still Have Friends