2003 Fest info

However, I would apply your statement about "as one grows older, some things can take on the aspect of a chore, instead of a joy" to those who have spent years and years organizing and making these large scale events happen.  Maybe they are the ones who, as they have gotten older, want to spend their time doing other things especially if the planning and executing the events becomes more and more difficult for various reasons.  When something becomes a hassle, you do evaluate it and wonder if maybe your time isn't better spent elsewhere doing something that does provide more enjoyment.    Just a thought.

Hey, if they're tired of it, I'll gladly take over!  I've got time to spare, I don't tire easily, and I plan to be around for at least the next 20 years.

I'm with Lindsey on this: we need one more year.  A little advance warning on this one would have been greatly appreciated.  There was no hint that the Fesitvals would be ending, no time to prepare for it.  I wonder how many people would have made the extra effort to attend this one if they had known they wouldn't get another chance.  This seems so abrupt and monumentally unfair, especially after the date changes threw everybody off.  I think we deserve at least one more Festival so we can include as many fans as possible in the send-off Festivities.  20 more years would have been nice, but I'd be overjoyed with just one more.  I plan to write to the Festival committee; I don't know if it will accomplish anything, but I have to try something, I cannot be satisfied with things as they currently stand.

ProfStokes

It's sad news, but not particularly unexpected, I think.  As Nancy has commented, organising conventions is generally a thankless task, and the economics over the past couple of years haven't made things any easier.

I suspect that this announcement probably marks the end of organised Dark Shadows fandom, and without regular sustainance of a headline event, I question what future the show has as a viable entertainment property.

It's sad news, but not particularly unexpected, I think.  As Nancy has commented, organising conventions is generally a thankless task, and the economics over the past couple of years haven't made things any easier.

I suspect that this announcement probably marks the end of organised Dark Shadows fandom, and without regular sustainance of a headline event, I question what future the show has as a viable entertainment property.

yeah wonder how long scifi will keep it on 

jennifer

I suspect that this announcement probably marks the end of organised Dark Shadows fandom, and without regular sustainance of a headline event, I question what future the show has as a viable entertainment property.

i don't know about you or the others, but my fandom is not based on a once a year event.  as long as the fans bring in new fans, it only dies when we tell it to.

if we want to have this pessimistic view, then we sign our own death warrant and fandom will die out.

if i based my entire fandom on this once a year disorganized event and insensitive committee, then i'd be in sad shape indeed.

I disagree - sure, a convention isn't the be-all and end-all, but the festivals made a tremendous contribution to the show's overall profile, and it was largely their support and cross-promotion that fuelled the PBS syndication drive throughout the 1980s.  Without that contribution, it is highly doubtful that the show would have made it to Sci-Fi or home video.

Like it or not, Dark Shadows and its fans owes a helluva lot to that "disorganized event and insensitive committee"

Prof.Stokes wrote:

  A little advance warning on this one would have been greatly appreciated.  There was no hint that the Fesitvals would be ending, no time to prepare for it.  I wonder how many people would have made the extra effort to attend this one if they had known they wouldn't get another chance.  This seems so abrupt and monumentally unfair, especially after the date changes threw everybody off.  I think we deserve at least one more Festival so we can include as many fans as possible in the send-off Festivities.  20 more years would have been nice, but I'd be overjoyed with just one more.  I plan to write to the Festival committee; I don't know if it will accomplish anything, but I have to try something, I cannot be satisfied with things as they currently stand.

That's a good point Prof.Stokes.  I wonder why the short notice on this when the fest is only four months away? Was this a spur of the moment decision or was it something that had been decided awhile ago?

The saddest part is that on account of the dates and location alot of people aren't able to attend this years fest so it's even worse for them.  I am planning on attending this year as this was to be my first fest, now sadly, it looks like it'll be my last too.

I hate to bring this up but do you think that last years incident involving those two fans who met at a DS fest possibly had any thing to do with this decision?   Im just trying to make some sense out of all this.

Cassandra

Personally I'm devastated.  There are too many people whom, I know, I will NEVER see again because of this, beloved fans who became friends and a couple of actors with whom I also became friendly, and will sorely miss all of them.

Life is too damned short to lose a whole flock of people who have formed an alternative "family" and have precious few other opportunities to make face time.
A yearly convention is a convenience in that regard.  One gets to sample this and that acquaintance or group, and move on to the next activity, so (hopefully) it's harder to get weary of the company.
There still will be the Halloweenathon thin, which is local for me, but it's extremely limited in many ways, there's only a certain cadre of actors who attend, and plagued with problems, who knows how long that will last?

Unless someone else with a lot of determination (and money) figures out alternative plans, I suspect this WILL fade away (save for a few websites and a dwindling market for those MPI products)  like it seemed to so long ago in 1971.  We have the younger fans, we have the tools, we have the talent, but no great pool of funds.  And that's what it always comes down to.

I can imagine after the (understandibly) low turnout last summer, and the dismay over the date changes which meant even more people could come this year,
AND the unfortunate doomed romance, meant the organization was projected to operate at a deficit.

There WERE steps that could have been taken--- really, they COULD have raised the admissions reasonably in the last couple of years.  They COULD have gone to other cities, even in the NYC area, which might have offered better deals on facilities and room rates, even if the rooms had to be broken up among several nearby hotels.

Ah, well, it's all been said before, and I was one of those who did some of the saying.  Even got respectful replies.  Some of the suggestions were taken, but not these most vital ones.  Now, it seems to be all over.

I wish we could consult a Trek organizer, if they really ARE capable of holding frequent events, and see what the other options are, but without the money and a unified front (and so many hanging onto real jobs by a thread)....  Get out there and start buying those lottery and powerball tickets, folks.

And if you see a red-haired lady wearing a black armband in the lottery line, that might be me.

"If I had a million dollars, I'd buy you the fest..."

Lorraine

I plan to write to the Festival committee; I don't know if it will accomplish anything, but I have to try something, I cannot be satisfied with things as they currently stand.

That's a great idea.  And actually, Pansyfaye wrote earlier in the week to say that she expected there to be many comments following the recent announcement and to ask if she could be made aware of the opinions shared here.  However, it won't be done without the permission of each author, so everyone that replied can expect to find a message in their inbox asking if they'd like their post sent along to her.  Please know that there's absolutely no pressure to agree and no need to respond to the IM, but if you reply that it's okay with you then she'll be receiving your posted comment(s) plus anything you might want to add.  And anyone else can send an IM to admin, and please know that she'd welcome hearing from you directly at pansyfaye@darkshadowsfestival.com .  Thanks!

I, too, mourn the potential passing of the Dark Shadows Festivals. However, I don't see it as the end of organized DS fandom but merely a phase of transformation. Yes, Stuart is correct that the Festivals had much to do with Dark Shadows' resurgence of popularity. However, it was not the Festival in itself. DS fandom, while admittedly much smaller in numbers, existed prior to the Festivals. It is the small core of dedicated DS fans who are responsible for what DS has become today (not forgetting its actual creators, of course). The Festivals were merely a tool. It was simply an ordinary DS fan from Florida  (not one of the "in-crowd" of DS fandom or a Festival organizer) who first came up with the idea of contacting the experimental Sci Fi Channel and suggesting DS as a possible item of interest. Yet people seem to give the Festival or Shadowgram credit for this.

Hopefully, with the absence of a giant Festival monopolizing the vacation plans of most of us, smaller more intimate DS venues will appear across the country allowing fans in their own areas to share, create and get to know each other. We certainly have, in the internet and our computers, greater tools for creativity, thus extending and continuing the celebrity of Dark Shadows.

Also, I've seen several posts that seem to suggest that this was a decision of the Dark Shadows Festival "Committee". There is no "committee". There were never any "committee meetings". At one point, in the program books, the term "committee" was changed to "staff". The Festival decisions are made by Jim Pierson and Ann Wilson alone. Many of the Festival "Staff" have long thought that the Festivals did indeed need a reinvention and made this known to Mr. Pierson. However, no noticeable changes ever came.

I agree with Nancy in that I think Jim Pierson is simply tired of doing the Festivals. However, I don't see him turning the Festivals, per se, over to any other DS fans. If this was done and the Festivals evolved into something better or backslid into something worse, either way it would reflect badly on him. No, if there is to be something to replace the Festivals it will take someone as energetic and enterprising as Mr. Pierson to create and nurture it. And that would have to be a mighty special person. (I know as much as I love DS, I couldn't do it.)

Perhaps events of the past several years (the destruction of the World Trade Marriott; the problems with the airlines; the passing of several popular guests and fans) have become too great a burden for Mr. Pierson. Perhaps he simply needs a rest.

And I think the guests are just plain tired of it too. Maybe not all of them but perhaps several of the ones crucial to the Festival's intimate reputation. I'm surprised that no one remembers the bad time Jim had last year with KLS, Marie Wallace and John Karlen during the banquet. From most accounts, it took much of the wind out of his sails.

SDP

Nancy you raised some very good points.   Also put a new prospective on the end of the fests.   Thanks for the insight.

Birdie

I regret that I never got to go to a festival.  This year was out of the question because of a combination of finances and bad timing.  Labor Day Weekend is right about the time I am hoping to change jobs.  I like the idea of smaller fan gatherings though.  Maybe someday.  I do wish I could have met some of the stars though.  Just to let them know how much I appreciate them.

Disappointed.  Heartbroken.  I was really hoping to make it to my first fest next year to see what it was like, meet some of you, and maybe an actor or two, but now...

Do any of you really think smaller, more local fests are a viable alternative?

It's sad news, but not particularly unexpected, I think.  As Nancy has commented, organising conventions is generally a thankless task, and the economics over the past couple of years haven't made things any easier.

I suspect that this announcement probably marks the end of organised Dark Shadows fandom, and without regular sustainance of a headline event, I question what future the show has as a viable entertainment property.

My regards for Dark Shadows and the fandom following is not centered around the fest. Yes, the fest represents the "official" fandom, but heck, what do we care about that?

Other fandoms continue on and on, and are muchly enjoyed without any official representation. Fans enjoy each other, the stories, song videos, meeting in different cities, and talking up a storm. The stars never show up, ever. Case in point is the Starsky and Hutch fandom, still going strong after 20 years. They meet every year in Chicago, and the CAP on this particular gathering is 300 people.  You have to have a reservation to get in. The thing is run by a fan and it is run like CLOCKWORK. There are panel discussion about stories, and art, and songvideos, a video room where you can watch Starsky and Hutch ALL day long, there are discussions about ideas, for example, what if Starsky and Hutch met the guys from the Man From Uncle.  There is an art auction, a banquet, where everyone is welcome and everyone sits with everyone. There are no lines, there are no restrictions (except for a cap on the total number of attendees), and it is such a relaxing time that you come away feeling as if you'd been at a spa for a week. And I don't know about you, but that a weekend at a DS fest feels like I've been beaten for two days, spent three days in the desert, and run uphill in Januray. It takes me a week to recover from that. Now I ask you, is that fun?

Fandom doesn't normally center around the actors who played the roles. Sure, the S and H fandom keep tabs on their guys, but they don't expect the actors to entertain them each year.

I know this might be kinda weird, because the DS fandom is very actor based. But I always felt that it disallowed the fans to focus on themselves with regard to the fandom. It was all actor, actor, actor, and very very hard to go to a panel discussion about a story that someone wrote, or the trend in themes in stories, or the new artist that had produced something wonderful, or whether or not you would want to bring Starsky or Hutch home to meet your parents, when KLS and LP, and DS and JK et all are only a ROOM away. It's like having the TV on all the time! You can't read or write but are drawn to the tv in spite of yourself.

So, perhaps this is a good change for all of us. Sure, there'll be smaller (and in my mind, nicer) fan events springing up, as they will, NOT controlled by the "central commitee" and which more meet the needs of the fans concerned. I mean, I don't need to listen to KLS tell us one more bunny story, but I sure as heck woudn't mind watching DS read some poetry. The actors themselves seem up to doing these smaller conventions, there's no law against asking them, eh?

Anyway, that's my two cents.

Maine Girl

Hopefully, with the absence of a giant Festival monopolizing the vacation plans of most of us, smaller more intimate DS venues will appear across the country allowing fans in their own areas to share, create and get to know each other. We certainly have, in the internet and our computers, greater tools for creativity, thus extending and continuing the celebrity of Dark Shadows.

SDP

An excellent idea! It might be hard at first, for DS fans who only focus on the actors, but I for one am going to look forward to the new DS creativity. A void will be created, and nature doesn't like a vacuum, eh?

So....in keeping with that, I'm going to ask if anyone out there has every made a DS songvideo. If you've made one, you know what I mean. If you've not made them, you've seen them, perhaps, at the fests. They are shown in the morning, and are a little different than the "home movies" that people make.

A song video takes a song, such as "Memories" and puts to it a series of moving clips from the episodes, in a way that tells a story, or expounds upon an idea, or simply shows the many facets ofa  particular character. I adore watching them, because they are a different way of looking at the show.

A while ago, the Kibosh was put on selling songvideos on line or at the fest. Something to do with not wanting to infringe upon Curtis' creative rights. Sure, you don't want to "sell" them, but if you distribute them for cost, plus postage, you're not making a cent! No different a copyright infringement than writing and putting together a zine, and selling it at the fest, with the DS characters all through it. No one profits in CASH, but everyone enjoys the stories. Same goes with songvideos AND those home movies, where are severely clever.

So, now that there is no "official" fandom, I invite songvidders to step into the light. If you have made any, I would be very interested in setting up a deal.

Maine Girl

Well.....there goes the only chance I'd ever have to meet any of you.  I can't possibly attend this years fest.

I can't even express how sad this makes me. 

raineypark

Well, you can cry in your beer, or, more happily, arrange to meet your nearest and dearest DS companions at a mutual venue. Just you, your pals, some DS tapes or DVDS, maybe some beer, pizza, a hotel room by the ocean, and a whole weekend of nothing but DS, DS, and more DS. What could be more fun than that?

Maine Girl