Three years ago, a poetry event was held at The Khyber (Pass), a big pub/indie-rock venue in Philly. The event had a name: Poetry Incarnation '05, was previewed in the Philadelphia City Paper, and was presented by a multi-media artists co-op that I was running at the time, Philly Free School. We charged $5 that night at the door. There were precisely 70 paying customers. Thus, our net profit was $350. The Khyber, as is customary with big music venues, took more than half the money: $200, straight off the top. That left us with $150. There were thirty readers, which means that if everyone were paid equally, everyone would receive a righteous $5. Me and my fellow promoter thought that this was a little ridiculous and, considering that we each put a great amount of time and effort into the event, we split the $150 and each took home $75.
Though I have never been directly confronted (not once in three years), it has come to my attention that several people believe I have "stolen" money from them. I have, indeed: a righteous $5. If any of you would like to have this $5 returned to you, I would be happy to write you a check. You can send your mailing info to afieled@yahoo.com. That is, of course, unless you have already forced me to use the "block" function on Yahoo, in which case, get your less frank friends to send me the address.
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