How would you feel about submitting your work ahead of time to a panel of judges before slamming — in other words, having your writing juried before being allowed to perform it?
And — what size of purse would have to be on the line to get you to travel for this event? (Head to head — not team oriented.)
What else would have to be in place? Free rooms, workshops, etc?
Take these questions in the broadest possible sense — I’m being hypotehtical here, with an eye toward translating thought into action on a yet to be defined timeline.
Dark Matter 
January 6th, 2004 at 3:35 am
doubt i’ll do much slam-related travel this year,
but this is very, very, appealing.
January 5th, 2004 at 7:57 pm
y’know…
that might actually be the only way that i’d be interested in slam again…
January 5th, 2004 at 7:44 pm
I would love a competition like that, maybe that is the next step for people who love slam, but have moved beyond the entry level, so to speak. ‘
I don;t think I;d care about purse, more about how the event was run and who else was involved, and a chance to sell merch and a cheap hotel.
January 5th, 2004 at 7:23 pm
what would it take to get people to show up…
real press coverage. not the local news channel doing a 30 second spot that may or may not air but a contingent of national media of the print and broadcast variety.
and your winner is…
then BOOM! organizer grabs the poet by the arm and brings her/him to a press circle and the questions begin.
you know… like other large events do.
all poets want to be immortalized and i think the chance to have their name, face, and work appear in the national media would be the biggest incentive to get them to show up.
o.b.puttin.it.out.there
http://www.geminipoet.blogspot.com/
January 5th, 2004 at 6:37 pm
If at least two of the five judges were respected poets themselves, that would be ideal, in my view. I’m still cobbling together a rather lengthy essay that supports this.
January 5th, 2004 at 6:28 pm
Re: By the way…
It went well. Extremely well, from what I could tell. Good turnout and lots of love from an impressive mix of people well beyond the usual suspects. It was rather inspiring to see.
January 5th, 2004 at 6:06 pm
By the way…
How did the benefit go?
January 5th, 2004 at 6:05 pm
NO!!!!
I’m pretty much not involved with that, except for the peripheral task of co-editing the anthology. (That fact is well known and cool with all the the Worcester organizers, by the way. My disaffection with PSI is pretty universally known; can’t see myself involved with them again anytime soon.)
Nope — no specific event is planned as of yet; I’m thinking of staging it myself.
January 5th, 2004 at 5:59 pm
yes
that would be awesome.
i’ve traveled across country for free and no purse when it’s been an event that i really believed in.
January 5th, 2004 at 5:57 pm
In a heartbeat, I would do it. But you’d be setting up some academic poets for an unbelieveably bloody and awful massacre. I have to think more carefully about purses&whatnot, because that’s never been much of a motivator for me.
January 5th, 2004 at 5:55 pm
Interesting…
Some sort of pre-selection process would definitely make it more interesting for me, both as a potential performer and audience member. I think who the judges are would greatly affect the level of its appeal, though. A diverse trio of accomplished poets would do the trick.
The purse wouldn’t make too big a difference for me as I wouldn’t go into it thinking I might win, but I could it see it influencing some one way or the other. Complementary showcases/workshops/seminars would be great, too, and a much stronger draw, I think.
In any case, a free room is always nice. 🙂
Is this for the iWPS?
January 5th, 2004 at 5:53 pm
Actually
I would be highly interested in an event such as this.
Ann Arbor did something of the same thing with the Midwest Slam League where it was totally a paper competition. Judges got copies of one poem from each team and then made their choice. The person who won then had the opportunity to perform their piece.
As for the $ option. I’m with Daphne. If the event were close enough that I could drive, I would come. Otherwise I’d be happy with some sort of subsidy be that housing or something to that effect.
As for the purse? It’s not all that necessary for me. If I enjoy the other folks who are slamming or will be in the area, I’m usually game. On the other hand, if I had to fly out, I would need some sort of hope to regain a little of my expenses. Then again this sounds like a great idea for an event so it probably wouldn’t take more than me being accepted into the event to entice me.
love love
January 5th, 2004 at 5:19 pm
Very helpful.
I’m working on ideas to try and pull more seasoned poets into a performance competition that might attract a different audience from the standard slam crowd…shift the paradigm a bit, so to speak.
January 5th, 2004 at 5:02 pm
see, i like the idea enough that it might pull me into slamming for it.
as far as what it would take to get me there, it would probably be nothing if i was in the area, or a partial subsidy.
hope that’s helpful.