 |
|||||
|
|||||
|
Bob Laurent, President of Interfilk, is from Oakland, California, and better known as the man behind Wail
Songs. The other officers were Vice-President Bill Sutton in Marietta, Georgia;
Secretary Gary Anderson in Pasadena, California; and Treasurer Spencer Love in Milford,
Massachusetts. These were the four originating officers and each also serves as a regional
director for an area.
At the 1993 OVFF, the officers invited three new directors to join, based on suggestions from the filk community. Kathleen Sloan, in Arvada, Colorado, for the Southwest; Mary Ellen Wessels, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, for the Midwest; and Judith Hayman in Hamilton, Ontario, for Canada. Each was recommended because of active contributions to the filk community. In addition we have "unofficial" Interfilk members: Persis Thorndike (also married to the Treasurer), who serves as official Interfilk bookkeeper; Dave Hayman, who assists Persis; and Brenda Sutton as general advisor. At every con we seem to acquire a few new "Friends" of Interfilk and we're always glad of their help. Interfilk does not have a general membership. The Directors are chosen by invitation of existing directors. They may resign at any time or be removed if that is necessary. There is no remuneration allowed and for the most part the directors absorb their expenses as well. But we have the pleasure of working with a group of people who also love the filk community. Interfilk's incorporation specifies the twofold purpose of the organization. First is the provision of travel expenses for filkers "who would significantly contribute to the filk con and who would otherwise be unable to attend". Second is "to promote cultural exchange" among the varying regions of the filk community. That's why Interfilk was able to achieve the status of a California registered non-profit organization under Article 501(c)(3) of US Federal tax laws. We are also currently working on registration under Canadian law. To raise those funds for travel, Interfilk runs auctions at each of the North American filk conventions and Worldcons. The first official auction was at Consonance in 1992, with almost every filk con hosting an auction since then. The directors look for donations of items that fans think other fans might want to buy. The results have been gratifying thus far, with about $7,000 raised by the end of 1994. Early auctions raised $200 to $300. More recent ones have approached the $1,000 mark because of some unusual and unique donations. Because of community generosity we are able to consider sending guests further and sending groups more often and to be able to establish a small cushion against potentially leaner times.
Auctions aren't the only fund-raiser. Various people have made cash donations or run smaller fund-raisers. An increasing source of funds comes from the generous donation of royalties by songwriters and performers. Following the example of Leonard Zubkoff of Dandelion Digital, producers have made it easy to make donations right on the release forms. It's always difficult to decide which filkers to send to what conventions. As far as possible, the conventions receive guests in rotation. In 1996, there will be four cons hosting Interfilk Guests, the greatest so far. The long term goal is to send a guest to every filk convention, every year. We try to find a guest to suit the con and who would not ordinarily be attending the con. We look for filkers who have something special to share. We ask that a filker take to a con the music of their area, and bring back some knowledge and music of the area they visited. The bylaws refer to the dissemination of filk music -- in simple terms: sharing. Interfilk has spent about $5,000 on travel expenses for the ten Interfilk guests sent so far. We provide the travel and the hotel room, the host con provides a membership and whatever guest favors they prefer to give. The guest is asked to be a part of programming as the con requests. The directors are always on the lookout for the filker who's gone unrecognized as a guest, or the up-and-comer whose talents deserve notice. Performers, songwriters, convention organizers, and listeners are all Interfilk candidates. The only standard is that there is a contribution of note to the filk community. Usually one of the Directors meets the person or group or has them recommended. We also try to meet a con's needs or requests, where possible. There are a few people who will NOT be Interfilk guests: those who have been Guest of Honor at a North American Filk Con, those who've already been an Interfilk Guest, and the Interfilk Directors. Each of the North American filk cons has had an Interfilk Guest at least once. The thirteen guests/groups have come from all over the continent, and two from Britain. Overall the reaction has been positive on all sides. For Interfilk, it has been gratifying to watch the filk community become a little more aware of what is happening further away, and to bring together filkers who would otherwise not have met.
|
|||||
|
Interfilk thanks Bruce Adelsohn and Spencer Love for the domain name and web hosting. |
|||||
Interfilk tries not to take itself too seriously. At OVFF, FilKONtario and the NE Filk Cons some
of the Interfilk directors (and friends) have gained notoriety for entertaining while fundraising. It
remains something of a mystery to Mary Ellen, Judith and Kathleen that their
"Wenching for Interfilk" schtick has received so much attention. We've had "
mathoms*" like the infamous
Harry Hemp, an appalling hemp macramé, donated by Deborah Weiss. People make bids NOT to
receive that! (*Mathom: a word devised by
J.R.R. Tolkien in The Hobbit to describe presents
that no one really wants but which are given and received in good humor.)