After several tweets today, one tweet that stands out is being told there is a committee that is organizing this march. They meet once a week. Meeting once a week implies in person. One person organizing this is in Canada, one in Texas. No one knows who the others are, they won’t post that information. Strange…they say committee…meets once a week. If it’s a legitimate committee my question is: If you can afford to fly to meet once a week then why do you need to ask for $2,500.00 from the general public?
Also this morning I received a reply here at the blog, a very long diatribe, and with your patience you can read through. I am going to post it here and my answers to the reply will be in bold.
Lengthy but worth the read:
The organizers of the Kurt Cobain March for Justice 2016 would like to correct several inaccuracies in this article:
Not an article just a damn blog post
* The March for Justice is not being organized by one individual, or two; the Event Planning Committee is comprised of 25 diehard Nirvana fans, divided into several smaller subcommittees such as Legal, Finance, Security, Media/PR, Guest Speakers/Activities, and so forth. We meet weekly and attend to every detail of event planning with great care.
Then post that information with names on your website to lend legitimacy to your cause. This isn’t writing letters or writing the FBI this is suppose to be a professional organized event. You make it sound as if it’s super professional, then be forthcoming with just WHO is behind the event.
* The March for Justice planning committee members come from all walks of life, and all parts of the world, including several members who live in Seattle and WA state.
You can afford to meet once a week but need 2500 dollars from individuals. Surely attorneys, and finance individuals can spot 2500 on top of what they’ve given? They would also already know this(monies) should have been done before announcing the event.
* The event organizers have thus far funded the march effort from our own pockets. We aren’t waiting around on an angel donor to come along…we are our own angel donors, because we care.
Then why not hold the event free of “fundraising” from other individuals. If this is so organized, and coordinated from and by those in legal, financial, media etc (by the way ..media??)
* The event organizers aren’t wealthy people, however, and a march of this size and scope does require fundraising efforts to produce correctly. Permits, event insurance, legal fees, barricade, traffic signs, outside security, P.A. rentals, etc…all this adds up. There is certainly nothing wrong with allowing Kurt’s fans to crowdfund an event. It is the fans who ultimately will decide; that’s the beauty of crowdfunding.
Those things are your responsibility to spot the cost for. You want the event and want a turn out , then do the work correctly and don’t ask the fans to pay for it. If you care, find a way. After all you may not have rich people on your committee but come on.
* There are many ways in which Kurt’s fans can lend a hand: in addition to the GoFundMe general fund, donations of goods or services are accepted (our wish list is published on our official website), and Direct Donations (choosing an expense, such as barricade rentals, for example, and paying that cost directly from donor to vendor) are strongly encouraged. That way the donor knows exactly how their money is being spent, and the financial transaction is between that individual and the vendor, not the March for Justice.
But that isn’t necessary you can get those items donated by companies, and any person that is knowledgeable about organizing events KNOWS THIS. SPONSORS pay for those items or are donated by the company. No one should have to donate to get those items if you organize an event correctly. This shows you don’t have experience, or are lying about a committee of intelligible peoples.
* This is how our event permit will be paid for — one donor stepped up to the plate and volunteered to pay the City of Seattle directly for the permit fees. Donor is happy, city is happy, everybody is happy. 🙂
Of course “everyone” is happy, and YOU as an organizer should have paid in the very least for the permit. Shame on you for taking advantage of fans. By the way you stated your committee has already paid things out of pocket. What are those things and where is the proof of that?
* Once the March for Justice permit application is submitted (typically 60 days prior to the event) and approved, it will be a matter of public record. Anyone will be able to look it up online at the city’s website.
And those looking into your “event” should be able to see certain information already. Things you(r) people(s) have paid for, with verification of that, and again you should have had these things taken care of before announcing the event. This isn’t a professional organization of an event and because of that, and lack of forthcoming information, it should make anyone question what is going on with the money being collected, asked for, etc when it never needed to be asked for.
We felt it was important to set the record straight on these facts.
and you haven’t
Understandably if you’re not a volunteer working on one of the March for Justice organizing committees, you would not have known the answers to these questions, so I hope this reply has been helpful. Most of your questions are already answered on our official website at JusticeForKurtCobain.com, and also at the City of Seattle’s website regarding the process of event permit applications.
And it’s your job when trying to organize an event of this magnitude to have things already in place and listed that ARE NOT ON YOUR WEBSITE. The City of Seattle’s website has nothing to do with your website or the information you have not provided. For clarification of what that is, please see all my previous answers above.
Of course, we realize that there will always be critics, and you can’t make everybody happy all the time, can you?:-) We also realize that misinformation and rumor can quickly spread on the internet.
You’ve been given answers to correct your mistakes in this. Your job to correct not rumors, but legitimate concerns regarding your manner of organizing an event.
An event that is suppose to be founded on “A peaceful march for Justice in the Cobain case” but you have failed to realized the other things and Issues that could arise even out of a peaceful walk/march. How can you be sure someone attending will not start accusing Courtney Love of murder in public, thus leading to arrest, and once again degrading the integrity of those that have been called “nut jobs” for believing Kurt Cobain was murdered. You can’t. You can’t control an attendee who starts to bash the SPD in public.
So even though intentions might be good (might because too many questions about who is behind this event is in question) even so, there are too many variables that come into play. Yelling at the SPD won’t make them “work harder” standing outside the FBI office won’t make them look into the case. Putting people out on the street where a mad man(men) can shoot or blow them up potentially in today’s terror climate is not an great idea. Think things through, as Tom Grant said, and I believe, there are better ways to handle this, and a march right now, is not the best way.
There is a time for everything. People are tired of waiting for the case to be reopened, but this event leads to other concerns and not just who is organizing it or where the money is going.
For those Kurt fans that feel as if I’m being too harsh, please note I have asked for proof of legitimacy, and that proof has not been divulged thus far. I have also raised concerns with not being able to control very emotionally driven people at a march, these concerns are not meant to stomp on someones parade, or not being unified in Justice for Kurt, this is about doing things correctly so we as justice seekers are taken seriously, and kept safe. It is not being an asshole to request the CORRECT information from the organization of an event like this, nor is it horrible to call out the inaccuracies.
If you come to my twitter to instigate trouble due to my opinions on this event, and try to start a debate I will block you.
Use your own judgement and proceed with caution. That isn’t being unfair.
P.S. Committee…you’re potentially tearing down everything Tom Grant and Ben Statler have built up. If the media swings to the side of SPD etc ( like they usually do ) this march can be turned into negativity for those that seek justice.
A one day March is not consistent pressure on the SPD or FBI to reopen the case.
Kurt Cobain 