Re: Anglicon filk

	I too have been gratified by the amount of discussion my
	topic suggestion has engendered.  I'll add in my own comments
	in a few days once some more people have had a chance to speak,
	and I have the spare time to write them up.  However, I did
	wish to answer the individual who asked about "What happened
	to filking at Anglicon?"

	I was there all day Saturday as part of the Dark Ages Live 
	Steel demonstration group, and had noticed that there were 
	supposed to be some filk activities going on; but because I
	am the Stage Manager / Convention Liaison for the group, and 
	we were there to do a show, I didn't have much opportunity
	to check anything else out.  I wasn't able to look in on the
	afternoon panel at all; and that evening when we were packing
	our gear out and I walked through the breakfast nook, they 
	were playing movies instead of having filking, and I too was
	a bit curious as to what had happened.

	I can check with one of my contacts on the Committee and see
	what was up, especially since there was other programming 
	going on in that room during that time slot, not just empty
	space.  However, the more important question at the moment
	was "Is this the Con's fault?"  "How do things like this 
	normally get run?"; and so I'll answer these from my general
	experience working with cons:



	-- "Is this the Con's fault?" = If they decided to cancel 


	filking and put other programming in its place, or to move
	it to another room without putting up a sign; then yes they
	are at fault.  If it was simply that no one showed up and
	started singing, then no they're not.



	-- "How are these things normally run?" = Generally when 


	the groundwork for a con's programming is laid, someone 
	brings up the need to give filkers a room in the evening.
	Depending on the size of the con, how much the committee
	as a whole knows and cares about this activity, and whether
	there is anyone showing up at their meetings to take responsibility
	for such an event and insist that they are treated well; also
	the available space and layout of the hotel, and what other 
	activities are going on in the evenings; there may be more or
	less attention paid to filk programming.  Small relax-a-cons
	like Viking or V-con, or narrow topic focussed ones like 
	Anglicon or Star Trek events, often do nothing in this area;
	unless someone on the committee explicitly demands it.  Big
	cons with a reputation for attracting musicians, like Orycon
	or Norwes, generally make a point to find someone to coordinate
	filk activities; and so you'll see better rooms, related panels,
	special guests, etc.  

	However, even if you have a filker on the committee planning 
	events; if very few people show up to participate, not much is 
	going to happen.  We saw that this year with several of the cons:  
	First Dreamcon = Public relations problems from the past couple 
	of years, plus a change of dates, resulted in very low attendence;
	and the Saturday night emergencies cut into what circle we did get
	started.  Then there was Rustycon = I had planned 3 panels, we had 
	a room for most of both evenings, and several people had agreed to 
	do concerts; but due to low attendence, and bad organziation in 
	other areas of programming, the turn-out at the panels was minimal, 
	though the circle was about average for that con.  Finally there was 
	Norwescon = Assorted failures in pre-con planning resulted in nothing 
	more than a song room set aside in the evenings; health, job, and 
	family requirements deprieved us of several skilled performers; & a 
	lack of any circle moderating added to the frustration level of many 
	attendees; the turn-out ended up being much smaller than usual.  This 
	is not to say that either con had "horrible filks":  Small circles 
	with only a couple of "performers" can create a level of fellowship 
	and participation you'll never see in a big room; a couple of my
	favorite memories are of very small filks.  However, there is a 
	factor of critical mass if a circle is actually going to get started
	(and not just be people sitting around talking) and stay going for
	more than an hour or two.  This takes a notable proportion of people
	willing to perform, at least a couple of whom have the skill to do
	personal pieces and group requests to keep the interest of the 
	*sizeable number* of filk attendees who *only come to listen*.  
	The rest can be amateurs doing all kinds of pieces, but you need 
	at least one skilled musician with a repetroire, and preferably an
	instrument to form the core; and a dedicated spirit from everyone
	else to make this a good evening.  As for filk related panels:  It
	takes a good amount of work, access to experienced speakers, and 
	some luck, to put together really original ones; and there really 
	hasn't been the perceived demand for the 101 script more than once 
	or twice a year (though this discussion seems to be saying otherwise).
	So it shouldn't be a big deal if every con doesn't have a slate of 
	them, though a couple would be nice at the larger ones.

	I've caught the notion from some of the responses to this thread
	that I've read that some of the newcomers think that there's this
	great organized event leadership out here that no one's seen fit
	to tell them about.  You're Wrong.  Like everything else in fandom,
	who's running what activity at which event varies from year to year.
	This means that their interest level, experience, and time to devote
	to their job; and even how that job is defined, and what conditions
	they have to try and do it within; also changes regularly.  Also as
	Norwescon proved this year, it only takes one of your major dept 
	heads having a medical emergency close to the con to throw a whole
	bunch of things off-track.  The closest thing to leadership in Filk,
	or much of Fandom in general, is an unofficial assortment of 
	individuals who have been doing this activity for a longer period
	of time; who've gotten to know each other, the performers, and the 
	con committees to some moderate extent; and are willing to speak up
	and take responsibility for creating an arena in which all of us 
	can hopefully have a good time.  Many of these people are performers
	themselves, as they have the experience, visibility, and motivation,
	to seek / attract the job.  Others are like me:  minimally skilled
	musicians, who instead have collected songbooks and tapes, spent 
	countless hours sitting in at the filk, become friends with the 
	performers, and have had the inclination and organizational skills
	to work with the cons in various capacities, until we finally 
	decided to take on this job too.
 
	Right.  I've already spent more time logged in tonight than I 
	really had to spare, so I probably should about step down off of
	the soapbox.  I'll end with this summary:  Even if a con sets 
	aside a room for filking, unless people (ie YOU) show up to start
	singing, telling stories, reading poems, etc, and *stay* there 
	long enough for others to find them; *nothing* is going to happen.
	You need someone to come in with a good repetroire, a decent voice,
	and ideally an instrument; or this may not continue for long, but 
	you could still have some fun.  Without a good mix of performers 
	and material, and a solid spirit of community (this includes humor,
	participation, and courtesy), you may have an "ok" circle but it's
	unlikely to be "really good".  As for the "Magic Nights", that 
	takes all of the above, plus a does of luck and one of as yet 
	undefined quality that makes the evening really click.  No matter
	how long you have, or have not, been part of filking, you can 
	still contribute to all of the above. 

	More remarks later.

					Quarong