Apparently, Elam thinks he showed me up by publishing some comment of mine on AVFM. Here is his comment and MY response.

[–]mhra1 1 point 2 hours ago*

Fascinating perspective.

We are on the last day of a membership drive for AVFM in which the number of new subscribers doubled my expectations.

{First, the ICMI 15 cancels due to low support and significant overpricing}

ICMI 15 was cancelled and replaced with a retreat due to staff burnout. The tickets for the original event were ridiculously low compared to the cost of putting on the event. I did not expect you to know that since, you know, you really have no idea what you are talking about.

{Next, Dean Esmay leaves due to "personal reasons".}

And? I can pass your question along to him since we are good friend, talk in some way almost daily and he still writes for AVFM. Maybe his answer can help you trim back on your use of scare quotes.

{Finally, Atilla Vincer (big AVFM supporter) is basically thrown out of AVFM by Paul Elam due to "financial" issues.}

That is correct if you remove the scare quotes. Attila left a bad financial taste in the mouths of many people, including myself, Erin Pizzey, Martin Fiebert, Tanveer Ahmed Al Martin. As is on record that is only a partial list of people who now have serious trust issues with Attila, all about money.

{Apparently, Paul Elam hasn't really given money/supported the DV Toronto event causing significant financial hardship to Atilla Vincer.}

The Symposium was not an AVFM event. It was hosted by the Maltese Charitable Trust. I gave Attila my endorsement and carte blanche to use AVFM's platform to sell tickets and raise donations. Personally, I think that was pretty generous given that Attila owed me several thousand dollars which he was making no efforts to repay. I'd say it is pretty obtuse to conclude that the way I handled this CAUSED Attila financial hardship. Then again, you are SGOTI, so, meh.

{What does Paul Elam do with the money he raises for AVFM besides line his own pockets? No ICMI or help for other conferences provided by AVFM.}

I have not taken a single dime in AVFM revenue since February of this year. My pockets are full of dust as a result, but this was necessary to stabilize AVFM under a different model which is less burdensome to supporters.

{That is why AVFM revenues have collapsed.}

AVFM revenues have surely reduced, primarily because we are asking for less in terms of support. i.e. Ending fundraisers with large financial goals and moving to a simple memebership model in which MRAs could support for as little as $5 a month.

{AVFM has become a joke of an organization that has been in disarray for the last year.}

Easy to say for SGOTI, and there is a little truth there. We have indeed been in a period of transition. Content has dropped, along with it some traffic. Revenues have decreased, along with our abiiity to do activism and support other efforts like the DV Symposium. All part of rebuilding into a more stable and less less burdensome platform for the sake of activism. Thanks SGOTI. Your comment is biased, short on facts and the like, but it did provide a good example for me to go on record here with a reponse to much of the drivel being posted about AVFM right now. I will use this comment in the days ahead so I do not have to repeat myself. Cheers Paul Elam

[–]fundude12[S] 2 points 57 minutes ago*

Paul,

ICMI 15 was the biggest failure for most MRMs that are highly concerned about AVFM. Are you honestly trying to say you can't put on a conference for less than 650/person? Thats insane considering the sparse lineup of speakers. Are you seriously arguing you can't put on a conference for 200/person at the most?

How do other groups put on conferences for 200/person with only 100-200 attendees then? Maybe you should ask Jared Taylor at Amren (WN group that is also considered "fringe") how he pulls it off. His tickets run around 200/person. He runs conferences that have only 100-200 people attend.

If you were more transparent about the finances, you'd have more credibility. The biggest problems with your pricing include:

  1. Why would you would need "45 volunteers" that have to be flown into a conference that will have at MOST 200 attendees. That is just ridiculous.

  2. How much does the venue actually cost for 100-200 attendees? Why not make it a shorter 1 to 2 day conference? A venue for that size can't be more than 10K/day.

  3. Cost of flights for speakers, hotel, etc shouldn't exceed 1K/attendee with approximately 10 speakers. That should equal about 10K in revenue.

  4. "Security" costs for such an event should be approximately 5K at the most.

  5. Add at MOST 5 volunteers for a conference of 200 people for "setting up". You should have enough local Texans to do that without having to pay for a flight or even hotel. I can't see why the Revenues required for this event needs to exceed 40K at the HIGHEST. 200 attendees at 200/person should cover the necessary revenue for such an event.

Concerning the Atilla situation: He appears to be ONE OF MANY who have left you organization due to similar concerns. To write such a negative and hostile diatribe for a guy who literally volunteered for you and spent his OWN money is truly shocking.

Furthermore, the lack of transparency towards your "fundraising" is another aspect of AVFM that has probably caused the funding to dry up. What do you spend the money on Paul? It clearly isn't on CONFERENCES, employees ( free volunteers), court cases, domestic violence shelters, etc. Where did the >100K go that was donated to AVFM besides your pockets?