Some days, I walk arm-in-arm with a fox dressed in the clothes of a man and carrying many hidden things |
A lot of festivals have the same presenters, over and over again. I mean, how many times have you gone to a festival, looked at the schedule, and said, "Damn, that Michael J Dangler guy is presenting again? Don't they have anyone else?"
There was a real sense of pride when Oak Leaves published several issues without anything written or submitted by me (except a filk I didn't write). . . It was good to see the mag run on its own, without me writing articles or editing the pages on the back-end, a sort of feeling that all the work I did for that rag was worth it in the long run.
I have begun to wonder if the festivals wouldn't be the same way: what would happen if I went a year without presenting at a festival, but just went to the festivals as a participant and hung out?
I already mostly hang out at certain festivals: Wellspring rarely sees me give a presentation, and Summerland hasn't seen a presentation of mine in a few years. But then, at other festivals I have presented nearly every year: Trillium, Desert Magic, and Midnight Flame (where I, along with Skip and
druidkirk, was once the entire program).I do not mind paying to get in to festivals, so the main perk of presenting (free festival admission) isn't so vital to me as it might be for others. Indeed, as a presenter I've paid where I could, and I've never made festival admission a requirement for giving a workshop. When cash has been tight (as it often is), I've occasionally really wished that a festival would pay my way for a workshop, but I've never made a big stink about it.
The kicker to all of this is that I would really, really like to see new people given a chance to give presentations, and to see people who haven't presented in years come back and give presentations on new material. While I am always happy to fill a spot on a program (or, as has happened in the past, headline a festival bill), I really want to see opportunities go to more ADF members, even if it means I get to hear myself speak less (tragic, I know).
Maybe this is the year to do that. Maybe I just need to hang out and be there for other members of ADF: the ones who need a presentation slot in order to attend a festival, the ones who have great ideas that need to be heard, or the ones that are just tired of hearing me ramble on about things.
My festival schedule is currently: Trillium, Desert Magic, Wellspring, Summerland, and Midnight Flame. I hope to sit in the audience at as many of those as I can manage. I'll hang onto some materials and have a presentation ready to go, but I'll offer to present only as a back-up in case they can't fill their schedule or someone doesn't show, rather than snatching a good slot early-on.
I wonder if I can manage to get to a few more festivals, as well? As the Buffett Oracle sang to me this morning, "Only time will tell."
