erik daniel

The results of the EC investigation of the NPS 2005 Finals Night Issue has been made public, after first being released for members of the Family to peruse. I re-post it here on a2slam.com, if you care to read it (It's mostly unformatted). It's 8 Pages long or so by my pagination. Isn't there supposed to be some sort of time limit in slam ? I'm going to go ahead and rant a little bit, but not about what you think. Keep reading if you care to find out. This post isn't so much about the Finals issue so much as it is about the EC, the rest of the Slam community, and the disconnect that seems to be mysteriously between them. I have spent some time today reading posts on forums, on livejournals and elsewhere. I caught the post from scottwoods early this morning, and I wanted to keep an eye out over the family, hoping for the best. The feeling that I am getting, is that more than a couple family members believe that the EC is some Covert Ops Organization out to "keep information from the rest of the family". For what reason I can hardly imagine. Now, I wonder if these people could identify the EC by name or otherwise, for if they could, then I doubt there would be this concern. Just to be clear, here they are:

• Scott Woods - President


• Henry Sampson - VP


• Phil West - Secretary


• Delrica Andrews - Treasurer


• Kimberly Simms - Trustee


• Taneka Stots - Trustee


• Taylor Mali - Trustee


• Mike Henry - Non-Voting Member - NPS06/07 Rep


• Steve Marsh - Non-Voting Member - Executive Director


• edit - Bill MacMillan - Non-voting Member - iWPS05 Rep


• edit - Terry Creech - Non-voting Member - iWPS06 Rep


• edit - Don McIver - Non-Voting Member - NPS05 Rep

So now you naysayers know who you are talking about when you say "they". Now you can say with conviction that Delrica Andrews and Steve Marsh are plotting to make sure you didn't get registered in time for NPS, or Scott Woods made sure you had shitty judges in your preliminary round. Just don't do it around me, because you may not like the words that come out of my mouth, or the unabashed fury that will be apparent on my face. Don't tell me those people have less than the best interest of the family at heart, unless you have some serious evidence to back it up.

I'm not saying that you have to like them. Steve and Taylor have rubbed a few people the wrong way for different reasons, and don't get me started on Scott Woods (zing!), but every one of the people on that list take time out of their lives to keep the fire burning for Slam year after year. I look at that list, and I believe we have the most qualified, most dedicated EC we have ever had. (If Deb marsh had stayed on it would have been perfect).

You may be thinking, "Now I know who the EC is, so what ? They are hidden away in their secret EC lair, much like the Legion of Doom ©! How can I find them ?!?". Well, using my brilliant powers of investigation, I managed to track down the elusive EC, BY FOLLOWING THIS SUPER SECRET LINK I FOUND HIDDEN ON THE FRONT PAGE OF POETRYSLAM.COM. And Holy Fucking Shit on a Cracker, all of their email addresses are right there on the page, right next to their names! I know,I am truly an amazing fellow. Seriously, if you have a question about PSi, just ask them. I have personally emailed every one on that list at least once, and guess what ?! They all replied ! It's crazy, it almost like they care what people think or something.

I suppose it's normal for slam poets to rebel against authority figures. I just think there are some evil motherfuckers out there that deserve our rebellion far more than the Poetry Slam, Inc. Executive Council, whose members are so influential and powerful that they are usually unrecognized, unappreciated, and far too often, un-thanked. I for one have benefited from their efforts and those that have gone before them, far more than I have given back to slam, and I never even made the finals.

edits- I added the iWPS Reps who also rule, otherwise javabill won't let me back to Woosta!


Put 'em on the list PSi webmaster!

Don McIver confesses his affiliation to the EC, indictments to follow!