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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Hi Sue and Tom,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>We at Rendezvous always appreciate hearing from our
supporters and critics. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>The main thrust of Sue's suggestion/criticism is
valid. She is communicating her feeling that gender diversity in our
Rendezvous performers is something that she and many others value. She is
right that two of the last three years, one might question that any effort has
been made by us, because the performing acts have been sadly lacking in
gender diversity (though the festival three years ago had two headliners who
were black and Hispanic males). She is also right in thinking that we
value such diversity, too. We are aware of the desire for female
performers, which we share. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>The following explanation may mitigate some, but not all,
of Sue's criticism, and we simply will try to do better in the
future.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>The Rendezvous Board's Programming Committee is sensitive
to and shares a desire to find a variety of musicians, and we do not purposely
end up with a bunch of white men, as happened this past year. Last year,
for example, we offered our most coveted spot, the Saturday headliner, to
Grace Potter. We thought we had her, but, she ultimately declined
after a long wait, because she was given an opportunity to perform the
same day at the much bigger Denver Mile High Festival. We filled that
Saturday spot by sheer luck with a highly talented guitarist, Sonny Landreth,
who was only available that late in the game at a price we could afford because
he didn't have a gig that weekend. Sometimes that is just how it works in
this business. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Sometimes, it's worse than that. Last year a
different band, some rhythm and blues musicians from New
Orleans, cancelled over the Fourth of July week, <EM><STRONG>two weeks
before showtime(!),</STRONG></EM> and I somehow managed to fill that spot from
San Francisco while on vacation. But at that late date, I took the
first act that accepted among the "bands of acceptable quality" to whom I had
sent desperate inquiries about their availability. A blues band from
Spokane with four white guys was the first to get back to me, and they got the
job. In my flurry of emails inquiring about availability,
several of the bands were led by females, but the guys were the first to
accept and got the job.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>We knew last May, when we lost Grace, but then had a
chance for Sonny, that Sue would probably complain about our lack of gender
diversity, and we knowingly went ahead with Sonny, anyway. Sue is a
squeaky wheel on the topic, and her relentlessness and love of music is why we
love her, and we appreciate the reminder when we haven't done as well as she
might like. After Grace declined last year and before we approached Sonny,
we checked out the availability of Marcia Ball, another acclaimed performer, but
she too was unavailable. Sonny is a highly acclaimed guitarist,
Grammy nominated, and at that late date, he was in our judgment, the best
available bang for the buck by a long shot. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Our absolute bottom line is price and quality, and not
diversity, though we do try to obtain a diverse line-up. In my
opinion, our high water mark in hiring quality performers since I have been
involved with programming is Mavis Staples, who happens to be black and
a woman, but also a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer. I wish we could meet
that standard every year.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>We will do our best to make sure that we get multiple
commitments from female artists this year, Sue. We were already aware of
how last year came out in that regard and we discussed it at a programming
committee meeting over Thanksgiving and are addressing it. We already have
made a Thursday night headliner offer, pending for the last several
weeks to a woman from Brooklyn, New York who is trying to arrange routing with
other western venues. Obviously, there are plenty of capable people,
men and women of varying colors, who play great music. We will keep
trying to bring quality music by diverse performers and hope you will continue
to support us.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Tom's suggestions for a particular performer is
noted, though I must comment that we generally try not to repeat our acts, even
good ones like the Uppity Blues Women. Since Rendezvous is so
infrequent, it seems to us that bringing new acts is the best
option with only six choices per year (three nights x two performers that we can
choose [aside from classical night, which had many female participants and
clearly was not the subject of Sue's criticism]). We don't have a "no
repeat" rule, but it is our definite preference. I'll check out Gaye's
solo stuff.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>As always, we thank you and the community for your great
support. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Bruce Livingston</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Rendezvous <FONT face=Arial>Vice-President
&</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Programming Chair</FONT></DIV></DIV></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=suehovey@moscow.com href="mailto:suehovey@moscow.com">Sue Hovey</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, December 17, 2008 11:42
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Spam 6.09] [Vision2020]
Rendezvous survey</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I just completed the online survey from the
Board of Directors of Rendezvous and lodged a concern about their almost total
disregard of female artists. This isn't the first time I've called it to
their attention. I think I've lodged a complaint just about every year
for the past four or five years. Last year they had only one
female, a really fine young MHS performer, Shiloh. There were no other
females performing on that stage Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. This is
the norm, not the exception. If you share this concern with
me, would you please add a comment to the survey. I think
there will be no parity, or even consideration of parity, until it
becomes a significant issue. I'm not even considering staying home; this
is my celebration, too. I relish being a member of a community that
prides itself on equity and fairness--and I believe the members of the
Rendezvous board feel that way, as well. Would though, they would
practice that belief in a more substantial way. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>And, yes, I know in the past there have been some
remarkable women performing on the Rendezvous stage--Tish Hinojosa, the Dixie
Chicks, and Kate Campbell were all wonderful, as was Mavis Staples--I was
hoping Mavis' appearance was the beginning of a trend, but it
didn't happen. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sue Hovey</FONT></DIV>
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