And the Rivvie goes to....

I thought this year I could expand on the comments I made last time on the the phenomenon of the campaign tchotchke, so I came up with the idea for giving awards for achievement in various non-official ways. It seems only fitting to call these awards "the Rivvies."

Best Tchotchke

There have been some good ones over the years: Tom Lee's mini-bats with "It's a whole new ball game" printed on them (2001), the campaign button with Keith Marugg's faced photo-morphed into the Mona Lisa, the little tree stumps distributed by Gordon Stump, the tiny percussion instrument on a key chain from Barbara Owens in 2007, and of course Ray Hair's famous Can of Whup-Ass, made infamous when Ken Shirk actually opened one and released a wave of noxious gas. (I heard speculation afterwards that Ray had managed to get his hands on some surplus US Army rations for really, really cheap and had simply re-branded them.)

There were some good ones this year as well, although none on the level of Whup-Ass. Ray's plastic horns found a second life as tower building blocks. But my personal favorite was probably Gary Matts' package of cookies, followed closely by Bob-McGrew's t-shirts. I'm told the cookies were actually pretty good. I haven't tried on the t-shirt yet, although the packaging was pretty neat.

A special mention should go to the very elegant 2GB USB drive given by the AFM to all delegates as part of their welcome package. Not only was it a neat design; it had not a single thing on it. Elegant and classy both - not to mention useful.

Best improvement at the Riviera

The Queen Victoria pub remained unopened during our stay; that might have won otherwise. So the best improvement that was actually open was the Indian restaurant in the food court.

Most missed from previous Conventions

The person most missed by most people was undoubtedly Bill Moriarty, who was unable to attend due to illness in the family.

The race for thing most missed had only one contestant: the Splash Bar, social hub of every previous AFM event of any kind held at the Riviera. Lew Mancini told me that it had fallen victim to the local Health Department's inexplicable and pettifogging concern for patrons' exposure to the toxic mold that had prospered in the flooring under the bar for eons.

Where is the Tea Party movement when we really need them?

Best moment

Tom's introduction, in the hallway outside the Election Committee room, of Ray Hair as "the next President of the AFM." Not only was it wonderful news, but Tom handled it with tremendous grace. "Nothing became him so much in office as the leaving of it" (with apologies to Shakespeare's Scottish play).

Worst moment

For me, when I began to lose my temper at essentially being shut down while I was trying to do something positive with Resolution No. 4.

For the Convention, the disregard shown by some delegates to someone who was about to propose a way to deal positively with Resolution No. 3. For the record, Eddy's delivery of the committee report on my three resolutions was not his finest moment either.

Weirdest moment

The nomination of Tom Lee, which consisted of a delegate ( I believe it was Michelle Jones from Orlando) reading the complete text of Article 19, Section 3 of the Bylaws, followed by the words "I enter the name of Tom Lee into nomination for the office of President" or something equally perfunctory.

I heard speculation that this was actually an attempt to sand-bag Tom, which would be odd behavior on the part of someone who Tom presumably hand-picked to nominate him. But Tom did seem noticeably off his game after this happened, and the Convention shortly thereafter jumped into warp on its way to the Twilight Zone for consideration of the financial package in part because of that.

Biggest train wreck

The heretofore mentioned trip to the Twilight Zone, aka the discussion on Day Two following nominations. Francine Schutzman caused the first derailment by pointing out that the Bylaws required that Recommendation No. 1 had to be disposed of before nominations could be held. This was an excellent point, although I found myself chastened when I remembered that I actually written the resolution that resulted in the relevant Bylaw (memory is the first thing to go, and I can't remember what the second thing is…).

All kinds of weird shit then began to happen.

The second-biggest train wreck was on Day Three, when the financial package proposed by the Joint Law and Finance Committee met a wall of opposition from locals of all sizes and was narrowly defeated on a standing vote. This was a good thing, as the third-biggest train wreck was the fact that, through a series of miscommunications, there was no petition ready and signed to demand a roll call vote on JLF's financial package.

If six delegates - out of 273 - had voted differently on the standing vote, the original JLF package would have passed. That would not have been a good thing at all, especially in light of what eventually did pass. So not only was that the third-biggest train wreck; it was also the scariest moment.

Most gratifying moment

…for me at least was when the Canadian exemption on the exclusion of musical theatre (Canada, remember?) contractors from Local boards was removed. It was a small victory substantively; what was gratifying was that, after several conventions of the delegates and player conferences fighting like junkyard dogs over this one, everyone behaved as if it was a complete no-brainer this time. Sometimes change just comes on tip-toe, I guess.

Best recreational moment

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right? But, for me, it was getting to go swimming three times. Whatever else one might say about the Riviera, the pool is very pleasant - cool, non-ostentatious, and strangely intimate in scale for being surrounded by tall buildings.

Runner-up was the meal I had on Day Two with the ICSOM Governing Board and friends at the Wynn.

Best new service for AFM delegates

Wifi provided by the AFM staff. This supplemented the wifi that the Film Fund has provided both this Convention and last. I avoided using either out of an abundance of caution regarding the use of employer or union resources in campaigning (not that I thought I was campaigning, but I'm sure some disagreed.) But it was a valuable service to many delegates. Staff in general were very helpful, as is almost always the case with AFM staff.

Best Lines

A tie between Harold Bradley's line in his farewell address on Day Four (“old guitar players don't fade away; they just go somewhere else and play out of tune”) and how an AFM staffer greeted me on Sunday (“Welcome to the Unity Conference!”). When all was said and done, of course, he was proven more correct than either he or I could have predicted.

Most emotional moment

No question here; it was Tom's farewell speech. It was obviously a very emotional moment for him, especially when he thanked his significant other, Teresa Gafford, for her support over the years (at which point she received a standing ovation) and when he told the delegates “your trust in me over the last nine years is one of the greatest, greatest honors I've ever had.” He also spoke at length about his days in the Marine Corps band as a pianist at the White House and the Marine Corp Commandant's Residence, and they were stories worth hearing. The standing ovation he received was sincere.

Best speech

Ray's acceptance speech on Day Four. I thought it was the best speech I've heard at an AFM Convention since retiring president Mark Massagli urged delegates to increase the pay for future officers in 1997.

Nastiest shot

This has be limited to public shots, of course: what little I heard offline was at least as bad as what would expect (although surprisingly free from attacks based on strictly personal behavior, at least).

The clear winner was the document distributed on the last day by the “CONCERNED MEMBERS OF LOCAL 4,” who urged DELEGATES to “PLEASE ELECT LENNY TO THE AFM SECRETARY TREASURERS POSITION. THIS MAY SAVE OUR LOCAL 4 CLEVELAND…PLEASE ELECT LENNY TO SAVE OUR LOCAL.”

Attacks like this really shouldn't be anonymous. And people should give anonymous attacks no credence - most especially when they are WRITTEN IN CAPITAL LETTERS and suffer from questionable grammar.

First prediction for 2013

I predict that the 2013 AFM Convention will be held at… the Riviera Hotel. And, for all its flaws, that would be a reasonable decision. We all know how to get around the Riv, what's in the immediate neighborhood, and how to get to the glitzier things in Vegas.

But I could be wrong. It happens all the time.

Comments

[Bruce]

I'm with Tony on this one. Had Tom been re -elected he would have certainly destroyed this federation. In fact during his Southern conference speech and his openng speech he brought up the fallacy that dumbing down our collective bargaining agreements would somehow force recording work to migrate out of the recording centers and save the small locals. It was nothing more than a declaration of class warfare to try and get himself re elected. Thankfully , this time, common sense prevailed.

Bruce

[Matt Good]

I thought the new blue nylon lanyard for delegate badges was a major improvement over the usual "light bulb chain" from previous conventions and is worth a mention.

[Tammy Kirk]

Most emotional moment(s) for me were musical. The Rob McConnell arrangement of "Oh Canada" on the opening day was fabulous. It's not been used the past few conventions and I've missed it. The second emotional moment was Brother John McCutcheon with fellow Local 1000 delegates leading us in "Solidarity Forever". That was a truly joyous moment.

[Donna]

yoiy cant move on until you let go of the bitterness. Your candidates won and im sure president ray hair would say the same. Everyone also includes tom lee, harold bradley, bob mcgrew and billy linneman. Lets start now respecting one another. Im in if you are.

[Antony Cooke]

Actually, not such rude comments, Donna - only an expression of how many people (like me) feel after years of torturous abuse, and witnessing our once great union being weakened in every way as it was turned into a battlefield. But I do believe that now we can truly move on, and put the AFM back into working order. That's my wish for everyone in the AFM - we should be a union in every way, for every member, regardless of professional role.

[Donna]

If you keep it up with the rude comments, our new officers and board do not stand a chance of making any change, the bitterness will continue and three years, from now we will be moew divided. I for one would like to see them succeed. Lets all help them out by rrespecting each other.

[Antony Cooke]

Most emotional moment?

"No question here; it was Tom's farewell speech. It was obviously a very emotional moment for him, especially when he thanked his significant other, Teresa Gafford, for her support over the years (at which point she received a standing ovation) and when he told the delegates “your trust in me over the last nine years is one of the greatest, greatest honors I've ever had.”

It's hard to feel any empathy or sympathy for a guy who betrayed every tenet of unionism, and even human decency or ethical behavior, simply to serve his own personal purposes and ego gratification. Perhaps the standing ovation was in spontaneous gratitude that finally he's gone.

[Paul Harwood]

Let's hope the Riv makes it that long. I think its fate is in the hands of its creditors. It is close to Chapter 11 these days.