Pubdate: Tue, 1 Sep 2009 Source: Herald, The (Everett, WA) Copyright: 2009 The Daily Herald Co. Contact: http://www.heraldnet.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/190 Author: John B. Davis CRITIC DOESN'T KNOW HIS HISTORY Responding to the Aug. 24 letter, "Mellow gathering goes all corporate," it seems as if the writer knows nothing of Seattle Hempfest at all and makes us wonder if he even attended the event. It also makes us question his motivation for his letter. Seattle Hempfest's production organization is a federal 501c(3) nonprofit corporation. It is not something from which individuals could profit. The board of directors takes no financial remuneration whatever. We are an all-volunteer organization. Water was sold at $2, not $6. Hempfest controls water sales partially for the reason of keeping the cost of it low to encourage hydration. Water was also given away for free to attendees by us at our expense. Booth spaces were not $600. We had a variety of booth spaces as low as $210 and blanket spaces and strolling vendor passes were significantly lower than that. The first Seattle Hempfest was not in Gasworks Park. Gasworks Park was a venue utilized for one year in 1994, the fourth Seattle Hempfest. Anyone that attended the festival in '94 should have known that. Also, how does the writer know in what spirit our event was created if he does not even know when or where it was created? It seems the writer is using criticism of a popular event as a medium to get some press for his event, which he mentions in his letter. The event sounds to me like a half-baked scheme without any planning or research. We doubt if he will effect our attendance. John B. Davis Chairman of the Board of Directors, Seattle Events Producer of Seattle Hempfest - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake