The End of the Road

 

As I sit here in my Las Vegas hotel room, trying to enjoy the last few minutes of a mostly enjoyable and memorable birthday weekend celebrating 47 years out here on my own, I’m at my breaking point.

 

The past year has been a struggle. Not just for me, but for many people. There’s a lot going on out there that would “drive a man to drink,” and I’m Mormon, so that’s kind of out of the question. Instead, I need to get something off my chest and draw a line in the sand, for my own good and for the good of the community and convention scene that I have so graciously been a part of these past 8+ years.

 

Let me cut right to the chase: Everfree Northwest is in trouble.

 

That said, here’s a little backstory for context, blurring the lines a bit to protect the innocent and gullible alike. It all started about one year ago…

 

Back in Nov 2022, we had just wrapped up another successful year of running EFNW. Bills were paid, plans were in the works for the next year, and things looked good overall. One last thing on my plate to close off the books for 2022 was getting a check cut and delivered to our charity partner. Enter the part where I “should have known better.”

 

A particular individual approached the Board and said they would like to assist us in doubling our annual grant funds being donated to our charity partner. We looked into the offer, and it checked out legit that by funneling our donation through a larger organization’s matching charitable grants program, we could double the benefit to our partner. And of course, that’s where it started going downhill.

 

I won’t bore you with the details of the back-and-forth promises and deadlines and continual discovery over the next six months or so, but suffice it to say, we ended up paying out a large sum of charity money that never made it to the intended charity bank account.

 

In the end, ENFW 2023 happened. I made good on my promise, and the charity partner got paid in full for both 2022 and 2023 - I have the receipts and can fully vouch that they were taken care of. And all should be good and whole again, right?

 

Nope.

 

EFNW 2023 ran way over budget. 2023 had not been kind with many costs running way over historical norms. Much of the problem was not realized until it was too late, and no other options existed to go a different direction. Autograph revenues hit historic lows coupled with the fact of having way too many guests (that were all great people - arranged with deals that should have easily paid for themselves in a typical event situation). Basically, EFNW 2023 ended up costing 150-200% of normal, and that coupled with making good on our charity donation obligations nearly broke the bank.

 

That said, all the bills, donations, and payments associated with running EFNW 2023 have been paid in full.

 

I’ve kept quiet up until now, and only a few people outside the board of directors of Pegasi Northwest know about any of this going on behind the scenes. I’ve been promised many times that everything will be resolved “soon”. All the lost funds will be reimbursed, and we can just move on like nothing happened. All the while, I’ve been shouldering the ongoing costs of keeping EFNW afloat on my personal accounts and credit cards.

 

As I said before, I’m at my breaking point.

 

I’m giving myself until the end of the year for this situation to be resolved or else I will be forced to take it as a personal loss, resign from the board, and discontinue my involvement in running or attending any future event with EFNW or likewise. I don’t see any other option.

 

So, what needs to happen? Bottom line is this, EFNW needs $25k to make it back to where it NEEDS to be to function going into the next convention cycle year. It really needs closer to $50k so I can sleep at night and not continually worry about paying the ongoing bills that come due at all different points throughout the year.

 

Major changes will need to be made in how we run the event going forward to handle expected and unexpected increased costs of doing business. EFNW needs to tighten its belt and get back to the basics of running a show that can pay for itself, at the very least. I can no longer write a blank check to cover every bad decision or surprise expense that goes into running a show that almost everyone seems to enjoy while remaining blissfully ignorant of the struggle that goes on behind the scenes. The struggle that I have been dealing with myself and can no longer continue with.

 

I would ask for the community’s help, but I don’t even know where to start. I DO NOT want to run a go-fund-me. I would much rather people just bought tickets and hotel rooms and made those payments to the event sooner rather than later. I know there are a few kind souls out there willing to make a big donation to “help save the con” – I would only ask for that from someone that can truly afford it and would take full advantage of donating directly to the Pegasi Northwest 501c3 for the tax writeoff. I’ve thought about offering an(other) outrageous badge for sale at some 5-figure price point and just call it the “all-access-pass” – but that just sounds ridiculous.

 

In the end, I’m sitting here on my birthday, trying to enjoy myself, but all I can think about is how to save EFNW and where my involvement in all of this should end.

 

Happy birthday to me.

 

Thank you to everyone who reached out on social media today – It really means a lot to me. I appreciate the friendships I’ve made over the last decade and hope they continue for many more birthdays to come.

 

(taken from https://docs.google.com/document/d/1H5IX20Id_Xi_saEKxcNBkTSQHr_6xcUTR85M5K5s15M/edit)