[Bashies] The new mailing list.

[Curunir]

Friends,

Arathorn has kindly, at my request, set up this TOR.n-based mailing list to
facilitate communication amongst those who attended Barliman's Bash 2002,
and those concerned with 2003.  Unlike the BarliBash@theonering.net list, I
have adjusted this list to allow any subscriber to post to it - so it's more
for discussion than for announcement purposes.  The BarliBash list will be
retained for that use.

Use it well - it saves you the hassle of having to maintain your own
individual mailing lists, and assures that nobody can accidentally be left
out of a thread because of a missed address.

What follows is rather lengthy, but I would appreciate it if you would all
take the time to read it - these things have been on my mind a lot lately,
and I would like to 'discuss' them with those who have been supportive of
Barliman's Bash, and have their feedback.

Speaking of threads, I have been following recent discussions with some
degree of consternation, and even dismay.  I know that I've been rather
silent lately, but I felt that it would be a good idea to break that silence
and say a few things.

Firstly, I do not object to open discussion regarding the 2003 event.  True,
I'm concentrating my attention at the moment on the city of Toronto, and
that city has more-or-less been regarded as "the site" since early June -
but a compelling enough case could likely sway me, provided that it's
compelling enough to give me sufficient reason to retract the statements
I've already made.  As I mentioned to Tookish a while back, I'm reluctant to
"dash the hopes" of a rather large number of Canadian Ringers in the
Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal region without having a rather large pile of facts,
figures, and assorted information on my side to back up the retraction.

Perhaps that sounds inflexible of me - perhaps even inconsiderate - to very
nearly settle on the location for the 2003 event before the 2002 event had
taken place, but I had (and have) my reasons for proceeding in such a
manner.  After the voting in which Seattle was selected (a process that was
mentioned, several times, on the main page of TheOneRing.net's website early
in 2002), I received numerous angry emails, accusing me of lying, cheating,
stacking the vote, and even of arranging the vote in such a way that only
"insiders" could participate.  In actuality, the posts on the front page
encouraged any interested party to vote, whether or not they were a
Barliman's chatter.  I therefore decided that, rather than dealing with
another attempt at democracy which would be harpooned by many who were upset
at not getting their own way, I was going to make an executive decision.
Perhaps I'll wind up being every bit as accused and vilified by some for
that choice as I was for holding a vote that didn't come out the way various
folks wanted it to - and if that's the case, so be it.

I'm open, at the least, to discussion on this topic - I can't promise that
I'll change my mind, as Toronto is looking remarkably viable on all fronts -
hotels located downtown-proper, for less money than we've paid in the past
to be in the 'boonies', so that the arts, entertainment, and shopping
districts are right at the doorstep for those so inclined.  Granted, my
research is not yet completed, as I still need to obtain formal quotes from
several hotels before anything is 'set in stone', so to speak.  So, if
you're inclined to vilify me, at least wait until I've made a *formal*
decision.  ;-)

As to comments about the 'originators' of the Bash - well, he's writing this
email.  A friend and I came up with the idea almost exactly two years ago,
and I was foolish enough to decide to put the idea into action.  I'm very
well aware that Barliman's Bash has grown and evolved from the simple
gathering I proposed two years ago - in fact, it's something that I
expected, and even hoped for.  What caught me by surprise was how quickly it
did so - I was expecting the first 2-3 years to be relatively casual, before
the real character of the event began to alter.  Instead, I find that it has
already begun to do so, in the second year.  This is part of the reason
that, to some, the event this year seemed so disorganised - it simply hadn't
been planned to accomodate changes in its character that I wasn't
anticipating this early on.

As a result, I've shifted my view of the event, and on what has to be done.
The Bash is no longer able to be a simple social gathering - more
organisation, more 'activities' (particularly Tolkien-related) are required,
to accomodate a larger variety of interests, needs, and expectations.  This
makes a a downtown hotel very nearly a necessity:  there will be people who
won't be even *remotely* interested in round-table discussions, in Q&A
sessions, in guest speakers from a university faculty; and basing the event
in a location that makes it difficult for those people to entertain
themselves while others are in the midst of Tolkien-scholar activities would
be manifestly unfair.  Just as not everybody wants to sight-see and do the
tourist thing, not everybody wants to participate in Tolkien-related
activities, no matter how strong their love for his works might be.

This is my burden for Bash 2003 - to plan an event that will accomodate a
greater range of interests and expectations without breaking the bank.
Meeting space costs money, particularly if food isn't being served - a room
that will seat 50 people comfortably tends to run in the neighbourhood of
$400 per day.  I am, however, going to do all that I can, and negotiate the
best possible deal that I can - which would be my main objection (to bring
up a point from an earlier email) as regards putting Bash in the same
time/area as ComicCon:  when there is a large event going on in an area,
hotels become much less willing to haggle with the smaller folks, and adopt
a "We'll sell the space, whether you take it or not" philosophy.  Nice, huh?

And, finally, as to comments about the 'originators' being aghast as to the
presence of non-chatters - hell, no!  The chatroom base was the obvious
place for me to start, as it's the core of my experience with other Tolkien
folks - but the Bash is, in my mind, not something for Barliman's chatters.
Rather, it's something for Tolkienites, whether they're chatters,
message-boarders or web-surfers.  If there's anything that TheOneRing.net
has demonstrated, it's that there is a global community of us, and our
personal preference as to mode of interaction with the other members of the
community (or even the site we choose to engage in our interactions) should
not act as a divider.  We're all part of the same community, and all who
love Tolkien are welcome at Barliman's Bash.  Why have the stagnation of
associating solely with people you're already familiar with, when you can
have the pleasure of meeting new people?

Anyway, I hope you've all made it this far - I know it's rather a lot for
one email, but I feel that it all needed to be said.  Feel free to respond
to the list (though I'd appreciate personal responses to
curunir@theonering.net if you feel the need to tear into me for something -
I'd rather keep divisive comments out of the list mails) with any thoughts
or concerns you have about this stuff - perhaps I'm doing the bulk of the
busywork, but without your continued support and interest, I can slave away
for months, and it won't matter a damn.  I thank you all for that support
and interest - watching Barliman's Bash grow and mature is a pleasure for
me, and I hope it will continue to be so for a long time to come.

Yours,

Curunir