Messages

1

General Discussion / Re: When Did You 'Fall In Love' With Spoken Word/Slam

« on: August 31, 2007, 04:56:13 PM »

Kind of a long story:

I fell in love with poetry in 1984-85, started writing, reading it.

Started reading in 1985-86 at a place in Denver called Muddy's Java Cafe, it was mostly a bunch of poets reading their work around a table, but occasionally some would perform more (I tried to read clearly but didn't really perform) then went to college and started reading at a place called Penny Lane in Boulder, CO (1987-88).  Still pretty much reading, though I do remember a reading by Peter Michaelson that I really enjoyed and a Spoken Word performance by the 7UP guy ("Crisp and Clean and no caffeine.." at school that blew me away.

Got away from readings, wrote some very bad novels, worked shitty jobs until 1997.  In 1997, basically got divorced, hated my job and started going to a weekly reading and was hooked by watching Bob Wilson, Danny Solis, Matthew John Conley, Lisa Gill, and Kenn Rodriguez.  Started my own reading in 1999 and started having some success in slam in 2001, but ultimately became a slam junkie in 2002 when I finally made the team and started hosting my own slam.

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General Discussion / Re: The Klute's "One Foot In the Grave" tour - Looking for venues!

« on: August 28, 2007, 10:22:13 AM »

You know ABQ would love to have you.

E-mail me with dates and we'll see what we can do.

3

General Discussion / How and what did you pay for at NPS?

« on: August 15, 2007, 09:01:00 AM »

ABQ.

We fundraised and our poets paid for food.

Our fundraising efforts paid for registration, membership, travel, and lodging.

Don Mc

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General Discussion / Re: TEMPE TEAM - RADIO INTERVIEW

« on: August 15, 2007, 08:59:26 AM »

A bit off the subject but I had to address the quote above...

dbodinem, you and your slam team are lucky and you should be thankful. But know this... My SM and Coach busted their asses to make sure we made it to Nationals but we still each came out of our pockets to make up the difference. My community (at this point)  does not care about poetry or SLAM but it is not any of our faults. We are doing our best to bring poetry to the city of Killeen but for the 2007 Nationals we got ZERO support.  I 100% disagree with your statment and you cannot blame a cities lack of support on the team.

Now of course since we had a little success we might see city officials want to lend support in the future but our team is new... just like Tempe and these things take time. We are not all as lucky as your team but with a little time... maybe.

Respectfully,
Queen
Killeen Poetry Slam

Queen Pen,

This was not meant as a criticism of Killeen, or any scene, that willingly pays its own way for a variety of reasons.  I was specifically addressing the notion that PSI is taking advantage of poets. 

My argument is that with time, experience, etc. slams should be able to fund their way to nationals without having to ask poets to pay their way.  We deliver a valuable commodity that people are willing to pay for.   Yes, I know that wording is weird and troubling, but I think as slammasters we have to come to grips to the reality of life and understand that we provide something that people are willing to pay for.

When I say my "city," I am actually referring to what is our biggest fundraiser: our slamoff.  For the past 5 years, we have raised over $1000 with our slamoff, an event, including raising $1800 this year. I think the notion of us sharing our stories about how we get to NPS and sharing how we fund our endeavours would be a valuable service for this forum.

And congratulations on kicking ass this year.

Off to start another thread.

Don McIver

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General Discussion / Re: TEMPE TEAM - RADIO INTERVIEW

« on: August 14, 2007, 04:37:35 PM »

The team the tiebreaker effected last year was Slam Charlotte.

The new national champions.

Apollo,

I'll give you straight answers.  I've given Myrlin my card, so he knows how to contact me.

Peace,

6

General Discussion / Re: TEMPE TEAM - RADIO INTERVIEW

« on: August 14, 2007, 03:13:58 PM »

Actually Apollo I'm mad because you are attacking an organization that I love.  And yes, you may read my post as angry.  Because I am angry.  I am reading your posts here as an attack.  You've posted it in as many places as you can think of. Your actions suggest you are interested in tarnishing the reputation of an organization I have very strong feelings for.  Yep.  I'm angry.  Angry because people don't own up to their actions.  Your actions say you feel you got screwed.  Your words don't say exactly that, but your actions do.  I'm angry because I tried to do the right thing by not investigating because I felt it would be perceived as wrong if a coach of a team that is competing against Tempe is also the one who is investigating it.  And now, after the fact you are mad because you were allowed to go to NPS rather than just dismissed.

I've received your posts about this in several different places:  LJ, MySpace, here.  And chose to respond here because you say your "done with it" then continue to post.  And then put up a radio interview?  I thought you were done with it?  Until your posts, I didn't even know about your MTV2 experience, so that's why that is there.  And you are right, my anger got the best of me there and that's a low blow.  I apologize.  Your prior work isn't relevant. 

And Terran never once asked me about how the team was chosen.  I talked to him about WinandURin and made sure you didn't disqualify yourself then, which you didn't.  But I never once told Terran he had to have slam off.  You don't have to have a slam off.  I didn't talk to Terran after WinandUrin until the Tuesday before nationals.  If he's telling you he talked to me before that he's wrong and lying. 

If you would like to get past tone of voice being an inhibitor of us communicating, you can call me.  Here's my work number (505)224-5313.  I want nothing more than for you to get the answers to your questions.  But you have to understand that your actions, though maybe not intended that way, were read as an attack by me and I responded.  If you would like to ask me pointed questions I will give you straight answers. 

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General Discussion / Re: TEMPE TEAM - RADIO INTERVIEW

« on: August 14, 2007, 02:22:21 PM »

Apollo,
]
Yep, it sure would be nice if Terran put together every video, every flyer, every piece of information to justify your selection process.  He didn't.  He was told to.

Great slam master you have there. 

And as for this...<<And on an off-topic..
I'm just curious real quick.......considering all the teams payed over $35,000 for this event, how much was 1st place?
Considering that everyone paid for their own hotels, travel costs, food, and the people who worked were volunteers, where does the rest of the money go?  I HOPE it's to a charity....but i heard 1st place was like 2 k or something..... COMPARED to Famecast, which was 10 k.., which was free to enter...so what happens to all that money psi?>>

My team didn't pay the registration fee-my city did.  We fundraised for it by putting on events.  My team didn't pay for lodging or travel costs.  That you did, suggest, once again, your slammaster and slam aren't as wired into your community as you think.  If you can't raise the $5000 dollars to get to NPS from your community, then how small is your community?  What the hell is your slam master doing?

The $35,000 money goes to pay salaries, produce product, fund part of the other three events we put on.  Maybe your show on MTV2 didn't prepare you for how non-profit arts organizations actually function?  $35,000 is almost nothing for putting on an event as large as NPS, or even IWPS for that mater.  As a former host city of the National Poetry slam, I know what it takes.  It took us about $200,000.  And we made money.  You want to know how much I got for my 40 hours of work for a year and then 60 hours for a month and 80 hours the week of?  $4000.  Wow!  I'm really taking advantage of you aren't I?  And if we actually didn't make money at the door through merch and ticket sales, I would've made nothing. 

I made nothing this year going to a meeting every morning, then bout managing 3 bouts, emceeing 1 bout and bout managing finals.  Did I get to hear much poetry?  No.  Did I get to hang out with all the people I wanted to?  No.  I was getting up at 8 AM to go to a meeting because I'm an elected member of the Executive Council you feel so justified in trashing. 

I would love to sit down, or be on the other end of the phone to go through this.  And you can call me at (505)254-2285.  The person you should be mad at is your slam master.  He was told that this might come up, that he better be ready to back up his case and he wasn't.  Now how is that the ECs fault because they gave him the benefit of the doubt by letting you come?  Knowing what I know now, I would've disqualified you before you "wasted" your time.  But I didn't know the details that the protest committee found because I took myself out of the investigation.

Yes, ABQ was in a bout with Tempe.  And seeing how it would not have made a difference if we made semi's I didn't protest.  The only team that had standing to protest was Chicago.  Your eligibility or lack of it made a difference to Chicago.  That you were allowed to come, when I actually received the formal protest a week before NPS and then removed myself because I was competing against you, is what really makes this a bitter pill.

As it stands now, you sound a like a first year slammer who got screwed by a bunch of bad judges.  You got screwed because of the choices you made.  You relied too much on your slam master and he let you down.  Period.

And this is not a statement from the organization, this is a statement from me.

Don McIver
ABQ Slam Master

8

Slam Selection Processes / ABQ Slam Selection Process

« on: August 14, 2007, 01:13:53 PM »

Any slam can be a qualifying slam so long as it has the following:

To be a Qualifying Slam, slam masters/hosts agree to the following:

1.      Slams must be open to the public, must have an open sign up, and not censor the poets in any way.

2.      A qualifying slam must be at least 3 rounds.

3.      A qualifying slam must be have at least 3 judges and no more than 5 judges.

4.      A qualifying slam must have at least 6 poets slamming.

5.      Qualifying slams follow the point system.

6.      Head to Head Haiku is at least 2 out of 3 haikus and is used to break ties at qualifying slams.  Complete poems are used to break ties in semi-finals and finals.

Points are rewarded for qualifying slams as follows:

20 points for the winner
10 points for second place
5 points for third place
1 point for the other participating poets and host.

Points are tabulated all year, with the top point gathering poets notified by e-mail, e-mail list, and website that they qualified for a tournament.  IWPS Finals is in June, WOWPS finals is in December (except this year-we already picked our WOWPS rep and then the schedule changed.  So we are going to honor our original pick and not have a WOWPS slam in December), and team semi-finals are in March and team finals in April.  Top 20 Poets are randomly assigned to a semi-final (factoring in hosting conflicts-you can't slam at a semi-final you host even if you get a substitute, and other extenuating circumstances so long as we know in advance) which usually is scheduled as the last two regularly scheduled slams before finals.  There are 10 poets/semi-final with the top 5 moving to finals.

9

General Discussion / Re: Thank You Austin & NPS 2007

« on: August 13, 2007, 09:00:43 PM »

Yes,  congrats to Mike and Phil.  ABQ and crew had a fabulous week and made many friends, heard some great work, and took part in some rather fun times (can you say, "Cannonball!").

Thank you,

Don McIver
ABQ Slam Master

10

General Discussion / Re: FirstWave

« on: April 19, 2007, 11:43:55 AM »

Jesster,

This is what I've found:  http://www.uwfoundation.wisc.edu/home/findgiftopportunity/bygivingarea/first_wave/first_wave.aspx

Basically from what I remember of the presentation, its a group based in Madison that is trying to bridge the gap between Youth Poets (13-19) and us.

It wasn't an actionable item, just a presentation.

11

General Discussion / Slam poem form essay

« on: March 12, 2007, 05:47:33 PM »

I think in this context, I'm talking poems that win.

Alas, successful doesn't necessarily mean good.

12

General Discussion / Slam poem form essay

« on: March 12, 2007, 11:09:46 AM »

I'm with Scott.  A slam poem is simply a poem that has been read at a slam.  

That said, if pressed I'd define it as a less than 3 minute poem along Bob's thinking.

But, in my experience isn't the distinction, if pressed, a poem that works in slam will do what?  That doesn't mean all poems that work in slam will do that... but there are patterns.

What are the common characteristics of a successful slam poem?

Isn't that the real question as opposed to a form question?  I mean a form is like a recipe, you follow these steps and you'll end up with a cake.  You follow these rules and you'll end up with a sonnet.  If there are rules, they are pretty amorphous and can become outdated in a second.

The only common characteristics I've seen is 1) accessibility, and 2) emotion.  Further defined.  A successful slam poem can be understood, whether cognitively, emotionally, etc. after hearing it once.  That doesn't mean that the audience gets all of it, but they at least "get" some part of it after hearing it once.  And emotion.  Successful slam poems almost always deal with heightened emotions (heightened emotions lend themselves well to being performed).  Thus, that would explain why subtle emotions (ie the love of nature) don't do as well as heightened emotions (a poem about racism (a not subtle subject that generates not subtle emotional responses)).  

This does not mean that a poem to be a slam poem must do the above.  It doesn't.  But in pitting Mike McGee vs. Ezra Pound, I'd say Mike McGee would beat him every time.  

Thoughts?

13

General Discussion / The Dearth of Slam Debate

« on: March 07, 2007, 08:44:48 PM »

<<FURTHER: "Breaking them from that habit is going to take work."

--This kind of top-down condescending attitude is not part of the solution! I would say that breaking the habit of viewing dissention as attack, and dissenters as 'rebels' or undisciplined flakes who only want to 'play ball in their own livingroom' is both more of a challenge AND potential boon for discussion and debate on all levels.>>

Chaz,

You're reading way more into that comment and my comments in general than is actually there.  I was merely pointing out that people posting to their LJ and other places as opposed to the Forum is a habit, a long standing one.  Thus, breaking that habit is going to take work.  No condescension at all.  I never labeled it a good or a bad habit, but suggest that it may take breaking one habit (people posting outside of the PSI forum) to create another one (people posting inside the forum).  Likewise, people can do both.  Your post here, Scott posts everywhere, etc. point to how that is possible.

Likewise, I was merely pointing out that the debates rage all over the place but not always on the forum.  I think part of the culprit may be time.  I don't always post to my LJ or read my friend's LJ because I have a limited amount of time and thus, read and post to the forum instead.

To suggest that my comment is condescending and "top down" actually points out the power dynamic that I was lamenting.  You perceive this as our playground.  It's not.  It's as much your playground as it is mine.  Your  opinion matters as much, if not more given your experience, than mine.  

I welcome dissension, discussion, etc.  That means we are a thriving community.  I am a very strong advocate in NOT silencing people. I host a poetry slam for god's sake.  I would never want to silence ANYBODY.  It goes against every thing I believe in and why I still do what I do.

Welcoming further discussion.

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General Discussion / Change in PSI Events Calendar

« on: March 06, 2007, 12:37:38 PM »

Bob,

An impact study?  What are we the federal government?  I advocated and pushed and cajoled for this change because 1) its never going to be a good time to move it.  We either do it and take the flack or we don't.  And 2) I felt, from a funding perspective it made way more sense for WOWPS to be a Spring event.  

From a personnel perspective, there is no way we could do IWPS in February and WOW in March.  We don't have the manpower to do that.  And I certainly don't want to be in the position locally of trying to send a poet to IWPS and WOW at the same time.  It wouldn't happen and I'd have to make a choice to send a poet to one or the other (a decision that would be detrimental to both events IMO).   I also don't know how moving IWPS to late October creates a situation where IWPS is pitted against NPS.  If anything, it may create a situation where August, September, and October become very competitive in our local scene where traditionally they are slow times.  

From my perspective, we, the collective, have already decided (slammasters overwhelmingly supported WOWs creation last year) that we want to help make this event successful.  This decision, from my perspective does exactly that as well.  Yes, it tinkers with how everybody does their schedule, including me.  Change is hard.

No matter what we do, its going to have repercussions and some of those repercussions are negative.  But from my perspective as a slam master I'll deal with it because I feel like the decision is the best decision to support a new event and make it successful.  And as an EC member, my number 1 goal is to ensure that PSI events are successful.  To suggest that Steve, Scott, Henry, Bill, Rachel, Delrica, Bob, and myself didn't take into mind the local considerations is wrong.  We did.  

I know that ABQ is going to have to rearrange their calendar as well to accomodate this.   A few years ago we didn't have an IWPS and we as a local slam created a system to pick one.  A pain in the butt, yes, a benefit to our community, yes.  This can also be a benefit and a way to support a group that, frankly, needs more representation in our ranks.  

We just picked our WOWPS rep last weekend and we tied it to a Women's History month event.  The results, with very little effort, we had an audience of 180+ cheering on women poets, women organizers, women hosts.

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General Discussion / Double Features: What's the big deal?

« on: February 25, 2007, 01:20:42 PM »

I see your point, but I assume that poets don't want to be doubled with anybody because they might get less of a guarantee and they are at least competing in the sales department.

I actually was having a long discussion with Hakim about touring and he said he wanted to tour with somebody and I suggested he go solo because he could make more money even though people know Hakim because of his group work.  I do think its an economic concern.

I know that when someone calls me about reading when I've already booked, I usually let them, but I don't guarantee anything because I've already promised the feature that $.  I don't even inform the the first feature.  Its my show.