From: wbarnes@sura.net (Bill Barnes)
Subject: Flame Fest?  What Flame Fest?
Organization: SURAnet, College Park, MD, USA, NA, Earth, Milky Way
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 15:51:45 GMT

Sheesh, people, try decaf tomorrow or something!  It's ironic that the
people who want there to be no Medinnus (Did I get it right?) vs.
Tatsugawa (Geez, no wonder you sign all your messages 'Mike'! 8^) flame
fest are twitching on the ol' flamethrowers' triggers before these two
have even bothered to turn on their pilot lights! 8->

So far, from what I've seen, Medinnus is trying to be polite and
receptive to a merger/reunion/whatever you call it between the two
anime cons.  He has made one indirect slam against Mike (about him
being a behind-the- scenes kind of organizer - whatever that means - a
practice David doesn't like for reasons of his own) which he has
apologized for.  He has also apologized for the fact his real name
isn't in his signature and promises to fix that.  He claims to respect
Mike and has no reason to engage in a net.fisticuffs with him.  On the
other hand, one wonders about why he choose the 4th of July for his
AnimeCon.  It could be sort of a, "BWAHAHAHA!! We're stealing your
space, Mike!" or it could be meant as an implicit, "Look, since it's
going to be on the same days in the same town, why don't we get
together to make one, true con?"  I can only hope it's the latter.  There's
also the matter of his comment about why he feels his con is the best,
which could be construed as another indirect (and perhaps unintentional)
jab at Mike and co.

Mike, for his part, from the one post of his on the subject, seems intent
not to baited by criticism into a flamefest, which is fine by me.  However,
I really *really* hope this doesn't mean he's going to be close-minded about
a reconcilliation between his group and David's.  As David readily admits,
two cons in the same place at nearly the same time does no one any good.
I'm presuming Mike recognizes the wisdom of this.

The question remains, then: What's preventing such a merger?  If I
remember Medinnus' post on the matter properly, Mike was originally
ameniable to the idea, but then someone in the AnimeCon upper echelons
(Toren Smith?) vetoed the idea of Mike having a position of power in
AnimeCon's Board of Directors (or whatever it's called) and since then
Mike hasn't spoken to Dave about it.  In any case, it looks to me like
we have a conflict of interests (egos?) between Tatsugawa and someone(s)
in AnimeCon.  [If I'm misinterpreting events, I'd appreciate it if one
of you two would correct me.]  If this is so, I hope one of the two sides
involved would yield.

So, my totally unasked for and probably undesired advice to all parties is:

Mike:  PLEASE be willing to negotiate a settlement with the AnimeCon people.
I can understand if you don't care for some of their practices (to put
it mildly) and whatever else they've done to tick you off, but I think
it should also be obvious that two competing AnimeExpoCons don't do *any*
of us any favors.  Bury the hatchet, kiss and make up, I don't care,
but *please* find a way to end this strife.  This is kinda like the Cold
War, only there aren't even any defense contractors to make a buck off
of it and there isn't the threat of nuclear annihilation (yet).

Dave:  I'm glad to see you're willing to shake hands and strike a bargain.
But watch those indirect barbs of yours; you're not going to put Mike
in a better mood if you're unconsciously slamming him.  And if there's
anything you can do about any malcontents in your camp, it'd be appreciated
if you could mollify them too (a chainsaw makes a *very* good bargaining
tool 8^).  Sooth any bruised egos and the like - if you're serious about
joining these two cons, it looks like you've got your work cut out for
you...

The rest of you: Hey, I can understand your concern about the
possibility of two cons and your distaste for fan politics and the
like, but the antagonistic stance some of you have been taking (you
know who you are!) isn't helping any.  We need a peaceful settlement
to their differences, not name-calling.  The hand-wringing on the
sidelines isn't much better - we need an idea on how to solve our
problem, not a lot of people bemoaning it!  And if any of you has any
skill as a negotiator...you might want to step forward and offer your
services.  <grin>

So until the 3WA is petitioned to solve this little matter *for* us
(remember the bit about "nuclear annihilation" a little earlier on? 8^),
good night, and always remember to put the safety on your gun *before*
you stick it down the front of your pants.
-- 
Bill "Whassamatter?!  Can't you take a joke?!" Barnes   wbarnes@sura.net
Disclaimer:  The author apologizes for any thought-provoking material he may
	     have accidentally included and promises not to do it again.
Datclaimer:  My employers wouldn't WANT to share some of my opinions.