I attended this weekend's Faeriecon and it was very enjoyable. Kudos and Kubiandos to Kelly, Emilio, Robert and ALL who worked behind the scenes.

Yes, it's true, Brian Froud and Alan Lee were not in attendance. Brian has a detached retina and the pressure in the cabin of an airplane could possibly cause further damage. I spoke at length with Wendy and she told me that he was extremely disappointed that he had to miss the Con. Wendy and Toby were delightful to see and visit with.

Alan Lee's mother passed away last week so he was unable to attend, for good reason. His daughter and wife were in attendance, both accomplished artists (featured in the newest Faerie Magazine along with him) so that was very nice to see.

Apparently Omnia, one of the feature bands did not come either. Not the fault of the producers either from what I understand.

Even though three of the main attractions were not in attendance, there were MANY other fantastic artist that were! And many of these artists took part in panel discussions and workshops to share their knowledge and gifts.

Posted elsewhere was the comment that the producers should have posted on the website the absence of some of the main talent. It would have been a service to patrons for them to do so, however, speaking a producer of a large scale fairie event, it most likely did not occur to them to do so...they were probably too busy and harried to even think of it.

Let's give the producers credit for putting on an enjoyable experience for us faerie fans.

Kubiando to the Faeriecon crew!

I do understand fully the medical and personal problems of the mail events persona. but from being one of the people that was there solely to get books signed it was a total waste of money put out.
Sorry but that's the way I feel. I made no bones about being there ONLY to get books signed since once again I wil mention I have a first edition of Faeries from 1978 and a large paperback first edition of the Dark Crystal from 1984. How unfortunate for me

Favorite Froud Book? Faeries

I can understand their absences...but there is no acceptable excuse for the producers to have not posted it on the website. We are not talking about some exhibitors being absent; we are talking about the guest of honor and the main draw. Wendy and Toby were very nice to see, however Alan's family did not have any of his work represented and quite frankly I was not even aware of them in the art world. It looks very much like Sulamith Wolfing(but I like Sulamith's better).

My assumption is that they knew if they posted it they would lose many visitors. Even if they won't admit it, the idea had to have crossed their minds.

Prayers for Brian, hope he's okay

hi there "me"
here's an "excuse"
we got this info when we were already in philly producing the event!
if you think producers of events like this can "update the website" when on the ground in full production mode managing 15,000 people, then you are very misguided about the reality of what goes on with event producers!
websites are managed in advance of a show....websites must be abandoned in order to actually manage the show once it is happening. that's just reality, there are no choices there. we build our websites from our home in oregon, then we fly to philly to produce the show....once on the ground (which is precisely where the news of our dear friend's hardships was delivered to us) it is not the website that is being worked on, it's the huge event that was going on regardless of the cancellations, that needs to be managed. we "producers" are three humans, yep, that's it.
think about it, it's not difficult to understand.

and the thought of losing money was the furthest thing from our minds actually, but thanks for the assumption, that's very sweet. when you sell all of your tickets in advance of a show, and your material clearly states repeatedly that the line-up is subject to change (because everyone knows you cannot control things like DEATH and illness!!!!) MONEY is not what you think about when your dear friends and family are in crisis.
that's really all i have to say.

Sorry, but these excuses don't add up. Updating a website while on the road is a breeze. That's what laptops are for. That's what wifi access at hotels, convention centers, and cafes is for. Faeriecon has social networking accounts: nothing was sent through those.

It wasn't just the website. As of Saturday, there was no written notice outside the entrance about the guests who couldn't be there. At the welcome table, the panel discussions with Brian Froud and Alan Lee were still being promoted on a white board... not a word about their cancellations. Yet handwritten notices and updates related to smaller profile guests were available at that same table.

Faeriecon isn't a non-profit organization or a charity. I get that. But I feel it's an insult to my intelligence and my good will to say that the lack of notice about canceled guests (who were the main draw of this convention) was simply an honest mistake. Fewer people would have come if they knew three major guests had canceled, and everyone with eyes that see clearly knows this.

No mistakes involved,
the cancellations were last minute, tickets were about 99 percent sold in advance, we gave away several thousand upon arrival, and we announced everything from the MAIN STAGE over and over and over again, from the opening ceremony on Friday onward.....announcing on the world wide web at the lastminute, when everyone is alreday in town, seemed a bit pointless, and was not on the top of our list of prioritys
we were all very concerned with our dear friend Brian's health, and Alan Lee's family and their loss......and managing the convention........
if you feel so angry with us, write us directly, state who you are and what you want, and quit ranting on a public forum.That's what I would do in your position....this whole approach is very mean and in poor taste......especially on a forum that is for the Froud's! think about it! We have direct contact info, give us a call.........

merry, you are the one ranting on in a witchy tone, not i
wifi is a wondrous invention and hotels come with free connection
as for the main stage announcements, i never once heard an announcement the entire day on saturday
i'm not saying that they were not made, but rather not everyone could hear them(and i have very good hearing, so don't bother attempting to attack that).
i personally am not that far from the philly area, and as there was no major inconvenience to me, i have not asked for anything nor do i intend
i was merely voicing my opinion out of concern for others who were severely disappointed by the absences and lack of notice regarding them

you seem rather defense, maybe it's because you know the situation could have been handled better

No mention at main stage..are you kidding? There was a whole award ceremony for Froud and Lee where their family and friends acknowledged their work and talked of the pain of their absence. There was also a large printed sign at the entrance with the revised schedule and an announcement that they weren't attending. I also heard their absence referred to many times on main stage, on each day, including during the tearful closing.

Additionally TheOneRing.net who worked with FaerieCon, put out a major release on Thursday announcing the book tour was cancelled. Houghton Mifflin who was a sponsor also sent out an announcement. Meanwhile we were in Philly without our hard drives with our site files, or any of our computers with Fetch or Dreamweaver, since quite obviously we had no idea this was going to happen, and we had no plans of working on the website on the ground at the convention center or in our hotels. At that point were completely focused on rearranging our programming and signings schedules, and trying to salvage the experience for the thousands of guests who were on the way.

There was much suffering for the families involved...and your words about them, and the artist who came from their families, show a serious lack of care, especially considering many of them read these forums. No wonder you write as "me".

And BTW, literally 99% of the sales were in advance with about 98% before Thursday when we actually received word of the cancellations. And we literally were giving away hundreds of tickets in downtown, to be sure to fill the hall for the exhibitors in the worst week of economic news in 70 years.

So it's not surprising merry is explaining that your assumptions and accusations are incorrect. And no hotels I know of come with systems with Dreamweaver editors and Fetch preconfigured with passwords and IP addresses for the backend of a webserver "Me". But thanks for talking down to a tender heart like Merry when you don't seem to know what your talking about on a technical level.

We are now back in Oregon as of the middle of last night, and in the next day will be posting a complete message to the fans regarding all of this, as well as hundreds of beautiful photos from what turned out to be a magical and emotional event for so many.

sincerely
-Lio

I am not showing a lack of care for the families and if you feel that way you are sadly mistaken.

As for the announcements, I never questioned them being made, I stated a fact. That fact being that I did not hear them, nor did the people I attended with. Whether it be a case of me not being close enough to the stage, competing noises or bad acoustics, the fact is, I did not hear them.

As for me not understanding technical details, well I was under the impression that the planners would have brought laptops containing the needed files, because quite frankly, people tend to do things like that.

I still find none of these excuses to truly be acceptable and am appalled at how many times my questioning event originzation is veiwed as a lack of concern for the families. It seems like deflection to me.

My post was never meant to create such a stir, rather to express something that I felt needed to be said. Many people on here that didn't attend had no idea that Brian and Alan weren't there until I made my initial post under the book signing thread. A post in which I expressed concern about what happened, and asked for information since I could not find it on any of the sites at the time.

As for my name, I post as "me" because i am me and since I don't know anyone on here personally, my name means nothing.

'me'
your lack of concern for the families involved is apparent not in your accusational suspicious comments you make towards the organizers, but more in comments about Alan Lee's wife's art being nothing you have ever heard of in the "art world" and like sulamith wulfing's, but inferior. I'm sorry, but being this woman you speak of just lost a family member and so traveled alone across the world to a convention without her husband, who was the guest of honor, such comments just seem insensitive, and mean.
and yes i am defensive, the "organizers" who failed so miserably in the face of unforseen death and illness, to act according to your standards of professionality and responsibility, are my family! and so therefore when they are attacked i feel upset, and start to defend! you can see it as you wish, but if i really felt ashamed of how we handled anything, i would not be on here defending, i would not be on here at all.
peace, please.

last comment from me...i promise
I did not know you were referring to my comment about Alan Lee's family. Again not meaning to insult but merely stating facts. They did not have his work displayed, I did not know they were artists and I do like Sulamith better. Those comments were not meant to belitte their work. As for them being there, since I don't know them, I didn't know they were there. (and as previously stated, did not hear the ceremonies regarding them) I was not in any way being an art snob with my "art world" comment. It was meant that I knew he had a wife and I believe that sometime in the past I read somewhere that he had a daughter, but I didn't know they were artists. I am not knowledge about every artist and never claimed to be.
People need to stop reading too much into comments, especially considering my comments have either been statements of facts or preferences, I have never tried to pass one type off as the other.

Please stop trying to defend for five seconds and accept some criticism for what it is. If it makes you feel better to pretend that I am just an ignorant jerk with no feelings than please go ahead and do so. I however will not stop make statements because you need to be coddled.

Ummm..."Me" ...your words speak for themselves... And no one is asking to be coddled...when you disperse derogatory words, and incorrect assessments, you should expect a response from those who you are trying to criticize. Best wishes.....

this really is the last comment

i just wanted to apologize for my many typos in my posts this evening
i know to some they are horrid things

good nite

after all this back and forth exchange of upset words, i just want to say, i do understand actually, everyone's point of view. and the internet can be such a strange place to try and communicate, surely if we were all face to face, there would be more humanness to this interaction, less assumption, and more compassion in general.
i am sorry for this, for any hurt feelings, and for any meanness on my part.
best wishes to everyone, for peace and prosperity in these difficult times.
hugs
~kelly

I was disappointed too, when I learned that Brian Froud and Alan Lee (and Omnia) couldn't be there, but their situations were urgent. I had the opportunity to meet and speak with Wendy, and I was so sorry to hear about Brian's health concern. It was nice being able to write a message in the best-wishes book, knowing that he'd read it.

I do agree that a sign at the entrance to the hall would have been good, alerting people about the changes. My friend and I weren't at the main stage much and must have missed the announcements. Initially, I was really bummed out because I traveled 600+ miles and spent a pretty penny on this event - the feeling didn't last long. I'm not devastated over it. If anything, this just motivates me to save up for a trip to one of next year's events and hopefully meet Brian and Alan Lee there. The good time I had at FaerieCon outweighs anything I missed out on, that I couldn't control anyway.

This was my first major Faerie event and I had an amazing time. I'm grateful to all the folk behind it, for bringing together so many people with a common love.

Favorite Froud Book? All of them, why not? :)

Crisis often is a wonderful teacher, once you have survived it. Being faced with the last minute news that not only 2 of your "headliners" but 2 friends/family are in crisis while you are trying to organize such a large and complicated event is a challenge few of us have ever had to deal with.

It's all well and good to say "should have..." but I personally think that under the circumstances they did an admirable job keeping things running. I was informed of Brian & Alan's situations shortly after arriving, and was saddened for them more than disappointed for myself. When ever I was near a stage at the changing of speakers they announced any changes to the immediate schedule. I had no trouble getting to the speakers I wanted to hear, and got to hear some I had not expected to hear.

Maybe next year the organizers will have no crisis to deal with and maybe they will. What ever happens later I'm sure that with this year behind them they will be better prepared to take bad news and run with it, in the many directions people are suggesting on these lists.

Personally it would not have occured to me to alter the web pages once I was on the ground and running the event. It did not occur to me to check the sites before leaving my house the morning of the event itself, so if they had made changes it still would not have done anything to enlighten me. Even if they had, and I had checked it would not have done anything to change my mind about attending. While I love Brian & Alan's work and really enjoyed hearing Brian speak last year, I attend for more than the big names. The event has soo much to offer above and beyond any headliners.

All that said, I'd like to offer a great big Kubiando to all those who helped put on such a wonderful event!

Sarra

Sarra, you bring up a good point. I didn't bring a laptop, or have time use any internet cafes or whatever free computer facilities my hotel had. I would never have thought about looking at the site, even if I had access.

Favorite Froud Book? All of them, why not? :)

And speaking of Brian, _how is he_? Does anybody know?

It wouldn't worry me if I were there and people couldn't make the show. How many other artists and musicians were there that weekend, you should all think yourselves lucky that you have such wonderful people as Merry and Lio to organise these events with such stellar exhibitors. Us in England have no such thing. I don't see that it was anyones fault, sure you must be disappointed but no point in coming on such a public forum and being so negative towards such good people. Hindsight is such a marvellous thing hey!

And 'Me' you really did actually come across very hurtful and rude I can understand why people have got upset by your 'tone' and comments. Maybe you should of called the organizers or emailed them personally. Surely on this site we should be wishing Brian better and giving Alan peace and love in these hard times instead of ******** and back biting?

My husband always has said that this is the problem with the internet, people always say things they wouldn't dream of saying to peoples faces.

I wish everyone much peace and wish Brian and Alan all the love and wellness in the world. And you FC + FW producers.....LOVE YA!! xx

Zoe xxxx

oooh i got starred! naughty me!! i didn't swear!!

love and sangrias

zoe x

Lol. They star out the strangest things. I also wish they did something like this in England!

"Me" is probably just cross. I remember going to a con once. I really wanted to see Kate Mulgrew, but she didn't turn up. I spent hours walking around looking for her and asking people. I was very sad. Now, there were probably announcements there but I did not hear them. Conventions are very busy, noisy places and it can difficult to find things. I still feel disappointed to this day!

Just being empathic. Stuff happens, it's no ones fault but sometimes it's hard to get over that emotional response.

Also, I hope Brian is okay! As an artist it must be worrying to have eye problems. Deepest sympathies to Alan and family.

Favorite Froud Book? good faeries/bad faeries

brian is okay.....he will eventually have to have a surgery, but the strange thing about the condition, is it must get worse before they can operate....and flying is a very dangeroud thing in that state....
i know wendy was missing him a lot at FC, they are usually always together at all of our shows, and sure she had to answer alot of questions and speak for brian's absence.
i love her for it. she's one of the kindest gentlest humans ever. i call her my faery godmother, and i did ask her to protect us from meanness because i was a bit afeared! i thought the omnia fans who were disappointed may throw tomatos at woodland, since we were called upon to replace them at the good faeries ball! oh it was agonizing! but everyone was wonderful really......

Most importantly we should wish the artists well, both Brian and Alan and be understanding. I'm sure they were dissapointed they could not attend, but health and family matters should always come first.

I add my prayers with Tink & everyone else in sending healing love and light to all those who are in need of it.


blessings
maria
xo