Without going back over all the posts on various threads, I'd have to guess that over 90% who have responded are in Danny's corner (which if fine), but at the same time feel that the Behrmans are the lowest life form on Earth and should be severely punished, jailed, or eradicated. Those that feel the way they do have NEVER been on the side of the fence that the Behrmans have and all I can tell you is...it ain't what you might think. I have, in another type of promotion...they're all the same except for the venue and cast of characters.
Between about 20-28 years ago over an 8 year period, I promoted huge sales training, management, and motivational seminars. I, as the promoter, had all of the up front and on-going expenses...as well as the profits at the end.
I would pay a fee to the big name nationally known speaker in those disciplines that was somewhere between $5,000 and mostly $10,000 FOR THE DAY. In addition to that...I paid either the hotel for their ballroom facilities or a convention center, ALL brochure design & printing costs, ALL bulk mail fees for sorting and postage, ALL newspaper advertising (which ain't cheap!), ALL radio advertising (if I couldn't barter for it), ALL additional employees to assist in the promotion, ALL telephone charges, ALL additional advertising and every other nit-picky nickel and dime charge that came down the line. Many of those expenses came up front...and others came at the end of the seminar...HOWEVER, THEY ALL CAME OUT OF MY POCKET.
Man...you want to talk about a GAMBLE! That's why when some dickhead on here starts woofing it up with me (or anyone) to play $20 or $100 for some bullshit pool match talking about gamble and heart...I go into a shit fit laughing attack because putting yourself out for $20-$25,000 every 6-8 weeks makes you see some real gambling in a little different light. Try exposing yourself to THAT every few months and see what it's like.
In the beginning, I really didn't know what the hell I was even doing other than working my ass off about 19 straight hours every single day over a 6-8 week period, which was the time frame to put together and promote a seminar. However, I got the hang of it...became more comfortable...and it was a very lucrative venture for me over those years.
HOWEVER...there was one time when I went out to California at the end of Dec. to promote a seminar in the early part of March which was to be held at the Orange County Convention Center. I brought another person out with me and had to pay him up front and throughout the time period in addition to all of the expenses listed above. On top of it, I rented a place for us to live in Newport Beach (which by the way is EXTREMELY expensive), had telephones installed, paid for and got hooked up with the utility companies, etc.
So, we went to work and really pounded it out. Fortunately in this type of promotion, you attempt to get as many seat tickets pre-sold up front...but you also have a very high number that show up at the door and pay on the day of the seminar. Profit from a seminar like this comes from two sources...ticket sales for attendees and books/tapes/products sold during the seminar. From that, it's how your expenses are paid and money is earned.
After 10 f*#king weeks of preparation, starting at around 5 a.m. on the day of the seminar, the Los Angeles area had one of the worst, most horrific rain storms that they ever had. The streets were flooded, you could barely see 20' in front of the car, and it was a total mess.
I can't even start to tell you the panic, fear, exasperation, and feeling of helplessness that overwhelmed me for the day. The seminar had to go on and it did. If the main speaker hadn't flown in the night before, he couldn't have gone on because planes weren't going in and out of LAX that day.
I don't even know how people got there, but a couple of hundred actually made it out of over 1,000 that would have come either on their pre-sold ticket or at the door. Needless to say it was a bust....MY BUST. There were a lot of pissed off people but no one more than me and I lost my ass big time.
I have to say...I can definitely empathize with the Behrmans. They had one of the worst storms imaginable hit at the time...expenses were flying out everywhere and had to be paid up front, players had to be paid, and very few fans showed up and it too was a bust. Brady has already posted that he just didn't have the money...and you can't get "event insurance" up front in case something like this occurs. It is an extremely tough situation for all concerned. The very fact that discourse continues and attempts to pay after this period of time is still commendable.
In my case, there was at least some empathy from the main speaker and I only had to pay him $5,000 out of his $10,000 fee. (still a hefty sum, considering) I haven't seen any understanding from the pool players saying anything about the prize money and the unfortunate act of nature that occured creating a disaster of an event. And as far as the pre-paids at my seminar, some demanded refunds and got it...others were able to use their ticket at a future seminar that was scheduled down the road months ahead. (Fortunately for THAT)
Unlike the Behrmans who didn't have a lot of experience in big time promotions as I did, nor the ability to hold another venue immediately thereafter to cover the loss...I did. I immediately went down to San Diego and gambled a shit load MORE money and pulled off a quickie promotion in just 4-5 weeks to pay Peter from Paul and got out of the hole. If that one went belly-up because of another natural disaster, I'd still be floating in shit creek. The profit potential for promoting a pool event isn't really even there to begin with due to the small seating capacity and low amount charged for tickets. I wouldn't tackle that under ANY circumstances. BTW...this also happens in the sport of boxing. Don King or some other promoter bills a fight on PPV, HBO, or whatever...and sometimes the thing just doesn't come off due to lack of interest, bad promotion, or a bad gamble. Guess who gets screwed? BOTH the fighters and the promoter...the fighters don't get paid nor their trainers/managers and the promoter gets hammered. Shit happens, and rest assured it's for more than a lousy $1,850 bucks or so that now has Danny in a state of total limbo. And in my opinion...that's HIS fucking fault. He can fight it out in legal ways or however he wants...but he still needs to get off his ass and get on with life...even if it means getting out of pool.
The question is...what would YOU DO?? If you're a pool player, of course...you're going to be there like Danny saying "gimme, gimme, gimme"....I'm broke now and you fucked me"! On the other hand...what if it was ALL YOUR money that went down the shitter and you just ran out due to unforseen circumstances and had no other recourse for restitution??
You can take this post any way you want to....doesn't matter to me...just a little food for thought and why I called it...."Another Viewpoint".
