I already posted a long message on the subject on the DS NG, complete with suggestions for alternate locations, and I KNOW Ann must have read it, so go ahead and use my ID on your petition. I already have plans to attend (if my family circumstances will allow) but some of the people I would have liked to see won't be there. >sniffle<
The change has been explained as a scheduling conflict with the actors/tresses themselves, but who? And how many? The previous dates were announced a couple of months ago already. Suddenly, ALL these DS people have other projects / family events going on? I think we should have been informed, so the fans themselves could weigh in on whom they are most willing or unwilling to miss, in order to decide on attending.
In Tarrytown, we paid $55 (banquet another $50)
a head for a 3-day event that only included FIVE DS performers, 2 of whom left before the weekend was over. Of the 6 Festivals, there have been events advertising as many as a dozen stars, but it's hit or miss, most have had less. Still, the admission rate is good enough, so if only a half-dozen show up, that's okay, because usually there IS someone to please most attendees, and there's also much private fun to be had with fellow fans.
So, if the issue was, if Jim advertised 12 stars, and only 6 showed up again, would that have been a major loss, or was it because ALL the stars who are usually the big draws couldn't make it in August? (I'm thinking David, Kathryn, Lara, AND John--- who seem to be the Big Four now.) Or is the festival pursuing someone SO elusive and SO in demand, that they feel they just can't do without? Or some other entertainment?
Getting out of NYC already is a good idea (though please, no more Las Vegas either. Chicago, Atlantic City, the CT casino resorts, anything.)
Jazzing up the existing Festival, to compensate if the star turnout isn't so great, is another. I wish the Fest would include a dance floor after the banquet instead of more videos.
The female stars in Tarrytown did NOT get mauled there (in fact, Lara Parker was twirled in the air like a scene in Saturday Night Fever and she appeared to ENJOY it--- Terrayne Crawford is another dance diva, I must say.)
So at this point, now that most of us are in our middle years, it may not be a major safety problem. Fans DID dance with one another too, even after the stars called it quits, and we ALL had a blast, without a BLITZ.
What the hey, run everyone's ideas up the flagpole and see how they fly. While I doubt things will change NOW, if they want to keep "our DS thing" going for a few more years, they may have to give an inch or two.
Lorraine
