Re: Update

["James Purchase" <jpurch@interlog.com>]

> think.  He still does not yet comprehend exactly what the showcase entails
> (eg, no idea that it's all on the web, features often lush descriptions by
> the aquascape creators, or that the whole thing is already basically DONE
> but for the judging).

I don't know what Dave expects or wants from me/us. I don't see much that
will be newsworthy in his publishing a winners list sometime in April for an
event which took place at the end of November. The majority of our
"audience" will know what they need to know on November 30th. Publishing the
detailed list in TAG is being done "for the record" and to ensure that every
AGA member gets notified in writing.

> So where do we go now: What *he'd* like to do (the "offer") is for me to
> send him a CD with all of the showcase "images", and he can pick out which
> ones he wants for the two-page spread.  Personally, I think that's
> preposterous (but that's Dave for ya), so what *I* think we should do
> ("counter-offer") is pre-select some nice images *ourselves* that are
> representative of the diversity and print well in color, write up some
> caption and article material, and submit them.  Perhaps, give him a little
> extra so that he can choose, say, five photos out of seven?

This is really up to the AGA MC to decide. I have an opinion, but it is up
to the MC to decide the route to take.

1. If Dave wants a CD, he should pay for it like everyone else. If the AGA
MC wants to _give_ him one, that's up to the MC.
2. The AGA has the right to publish any of the images in any of a number of
venues. Not me, not Dave, not anyone else - the right belongs to the AGA,
and should require prior approval by the AGA MC. It is the perogative of the
AGA MC to preselect any images to send to Dave for publication in PAM. Any
person who is going to use any of the images submitted to the event should
obtain prior approval of the MC before they do so. That would include me - I
would not feel free to use any of the images in any way without first asking
the MC for permission to do so in advance.
3. All publication will require the printing of a copyright notice giving
the name of the entrant who owns the image.

I'm not trying to limit Dave in any of this, but I did this as an AGA member
_for_ the AGA - not for PAM. Dave isn't paying the bills to cover the cost
of the event, he failed to print the event announcment that I submitted to
him well in advance of his publication deadline, he didn't respond to my
request that he donate a subscription to PAM as a prize. I am more than
willing to co-operate with him in getting some material into his magazine,
but my first priority is to get the event wrapped up.

At this point in time, nobody can prepare much in the way of an article for
publication anywhere. We have to await the full unveiling of the web site
and the results from the judging. Once that happens, I'm sure that there are
many different articles which could be written. I'm not going to be
pressured by Dave or anyone else to meet his deadlines until I have had a
chance to _really_ take a look at the whole Showcase. And my FIRST article
will be a Winner's list to be prepared for Mary.

I have been too close to this project for too long to be very objective in
any of this. It will require some time to digest the results before I would
be able to author anything which would be of interest to a general
readership about the signifigance of the event or the entries we received.

James Purchase
Toronto