original: http://www.crackmonkey.org/pipermail/crackmonkey/2001q3/022031.html

[CrackMonkey] The way of the demonstration samurai Nick Moffitt nick@zork.net Tue, 24 Jul 2001 22:51:17 -0700

----- Forwarded message from Klepht <klepht@eleutheria.org> -----

"K" == Klepht <klepht@eleutheria.org> writes:

K> An announcement sent out tonight for, say, a Thursday lunch K> event would be ambitious but not unreasonable.

"If you keep your spirit correct from morning to night, accustomed to the idea of death and resolved on death, and consider yourself as a dead body, thus becoming one with the Way of the warrior, you can pass through life with no possibility of failure and perform your office properly."

-- "Hakagure"
(Also, "Ghost Dog" B-)

I think I've already mentioned my ideas about the Way of the Event Samurai, but I think I'll say them again. First and foremost you have to come to terms with having your event fail miserably.

With standing alone, in your underwear, in the rain, crying.

With having that very attractive MOTS (or MOSS, your call), who you've been secretly pining over for years, walk by you in your big dumb topical sandwich board or silly hat and give you a look that says you're absolutely, positively NEVER going to be an attractive person in any sense of the word.

With having no one around to take your poorly-made flyers or even look at your soggy rain-soaked cardboard sign.

With having riot troops with blue visored helmets and clear plastic shields come marching down the street at you, despite all the proper permits and exemplary behavior, throwing big heavy tear gas cannisters clonking into your head, zapping you with cattle prods and tasers, dragging you behind the paddy wagon like a rag doll, and then dropping you into some oubliette from which you will never return.

Only when you have faced complete and total event failure will you be able to make event success happen with confidence.

You can use that confidence to send out announcements, and not feelers like, "Is anyone interested..." or "Will anyone come...". Because you don't care if anyone will come. Rather, "This event will happen here, at this time, and we will do X, Y and Z."

The only thing I know about events is this: people ignore questions and respond to announcements. "Putting out feelers" must be done in private and only to avoid holding an event at some catastrophic time or place. Once you're even vaguely confident, you should announce, announce, announce.

This is the Way of the Event Samurai.

~Klepht

-- klepht@eleutheria.org http://www.eleutheria.org/

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