Critique from Dominique

So Dominique, the lady that screamed at me on Saturday night of Pride, made a post in a forum with her critique of Pride:

i'd like to see a feedback webpage like there was for Winterfest. there are lots of things i liked, and many others, frankly, that will make me 2nd think attending next year.

the dance was fun. in years gone by, the "after dance" socializing was more fun than the actual dance. being herded out like a bunch of criminals by the line of security personnel and trucks was so incredibly insensitive. would that you could have heard the comments. it really dampened an otherwise perfect night. so if the arrogant organizer wanted to go home, open the gates and go home. its a PUBLIC park, not his private little kingdom. when questioned, his response was more arrogant and insensitive than the criminal roundup he presided over [bold and italics added]. we never had problems in the past as security was posted all night.

it never ceases to amaze me that the same mistakes are made over and over and over again because the past organizers seem to be excluded or totally discounted. there were too many stages, placed too close together, with the sound systmes way too loud. i couldn't hear the political stage because of the noise from the dance floor. i couldn't enjoy the acoustical stage because the main stage and wells fargo music was too loud. i couldn't enjoy the main stage because it was too bloody hot. there were more people squished into too small a space.

contrary to the opinion of the new Pride organizers, there WERE 20-30,000 in attendance in years past. that we didn't have tickets to verify attendance does not change what many of us remember.

ok.. done bitching.

I'm glad the Grand Marshall reception was returned to Memory Grove. It is a fabulous, warm, charming, inviting venue. The food was incredible, as were the speeches.

The Dyke March was also incredible. We stretched back nearly 2 complete city blocks. Having the dykes on bikes leading was also fabulous, especially when they revved their engines so we couldn't hear the religious psychos.

Fran's opening on Sunday was up to her usual fabulocity.

The best thing of Pride is meeting up with people you haven't seen forever. It truly is a family reunion. Pride and reuniting. Yup. That's what Pride is. I pray this fund raising event doesn't lose sight of what Pride really is all about.

-Dominique

I love this letter because it shows how naive, and frankly, how dumb people can be. People complain about events that they didn't help to run and act like they know everything.

I also love the part about me. Sure, send me home and lets see Pride be successful. Also, I think Jere said it best when he wrote about her comment about the square being a public park: "Well, no, not technically. From Friday to Sunday, we own a rental lease on that property and we can kick anyone out whenever we want (that's how we are able to deal with protestors, drunks and troublemakers). I'm sorry she felt her "perfect night" got ruined by our need to clear the park quickly, but I'm not losing sleep over it."

She also complained about the amount of people at Pride, then said that in past years there were more people than this year. And I love how she "remembers" 30,000 people at Pride when the Police (AKA crowd counting professionals) said this year was the largest.

The only thing I'm really sorry about is that she couldn't enjoy the main stage because "it was too bloody hot." Next year, I'll make sure to send an email to God.