We have a thing in the planning stages - one of the seven
(now eight) surprises.
We would like to "produce" a meet-and-greet with Julie in Washington
DC on April 27th.
I'm going to need a lot of help, and it's possible that we'll
take a few steps in that direction
and find out it won't work, but we're going to try.
Why?
Can't get too specific, but as just one example, Julie has a
cracked tooth and she needs $1100
just for that, and that's just one of a bunch of things
she's had to put on the back burner while she
tries to re-build her life that was once all nice and comfortable.
Where?
I don't know, that's part of the help I need.
In 1998, we stayed at a really nice Marriott in Arlington for
$79, so that's a possibility.
I need some people "on the ground" in the DC area to assist with
the planning.
I think we need a brand-name hotel chain because security will
be a factor.
I want the hotel to provide the security, so we won't be doing
this at The Buttercup Inn.
I want an armed cop next to Julie the entire time, and another
armed cop at the door.
What'll
it cost to attend?
I attended one of these for Susan McDougal, so I'm using that
as a blueprint.
It was $100 a ticket and they served a nice, fancy meal.
The more parts this production has, the more there is to go wrong,
so my thinking is
to go $50 a ticket without serving a meal. Is that
too low? Too high?
For Susan, they also had a "high rollers" room. Perkel
crashed that for us,
so we got to chat with Susan like the high rollers, but I have
no idea what they paid.
My guess is $500 to $1000. So we're considering having
one of those.
The plan would be for Julie to speak for 45 minutes or an hour,
and then take questions.
After that, depending on the size of the crowd, she could mingle
or have a receiving line,
to meet people individually or sign autographs or take pictures
- whatever she wants.
There are many things to consider but I must be blunt.
We can't do this unless a lot of people commit up-front.
It won't help to have a fund-raiser that loses money.
I can't even imagine the costs until we find a venue.
I'm guessing if we rent 30-40 hotel rooms we can get the speaking
room free.
We need to have a certain amount of people commit, (meaning pay
up-front) for this to fly.
If 50 people send in 50 bucks each, this'll probably work. We
have no idea what to expect
as far as a crowd, either. If 250 people commit, we could get
a better deal on rooms,
but we'd need more security - that kind of thing, so all plans
are fluid.
I think we need to know where we stand by March 5th.
This may be a well-intentioned pie-in-the-sky idea, but Julie
needs help.
Considering what she did for Democrats, the Constitution and
our country,
it'd be nice if a lot of people would support her by attending
and to say "thanks."
Meeting Susan McDougal was, so far, the highlight of my "political"
life,
and I think meeting Julie will be something you'll remember forever.
But since I have no idea what I'm doing, I need help.
I need people in the DC area who can provide assistance.
Another thing: We need a camera crew. I need something
better than Ernie with a camcorder.
Maybe some DC Democrat is reading this and would like to volunteer
his crew to film the day
so we can sell copies to the people who weren't able to make
the trip to DC.
Julie has agreed to this one event, but maybe others are possible
IF this one works.
I have set up a special mailbox for inquiries and volunteers
- juliefest2002@yahoo.com
We need information and volunteers in the area.
One consideration: Maybe we could have a cash bar with
the proceeds going to Julie.
Wouldn't it be fun to do shots of Chinaco Anejo
for $10, knowing Julie would get $8
every time you did a shot? We'll have Grey Goose, too.
Koresh knows I'll be donating :)
That's why we need people on the ground, because DC liquor laws
are different than Maryland
laws or Virginia laws. Maybe the only way to do liquor is thru
the hotel, which is fine unless
Julie won't get a cut and then why bother? We're not trying
to make Marriott richer.
So here's the deal:
I need a bunch of people to send in $50 before March 5th.
If only 20 people are in, this idea will die and your money will
be refunded.
It's very possible the hammer isn't big enough to make this work.
Maybe in 6 months or a year we'll be big enough, but things can't
wait.
But if 100 people commit, we'll know we have a plan and we can
move forward.
Sidebar:
We're holding this in or near Washington
DC. We will attempt to have some well-known faces besides
Julie at this event. If we frame
this right, maybe we can make this a "can't miss" event for big Democrats.
Wouldn't it be cool if we could get a fighter
to introduce Julie? Any politician who helps this event succeed
will have bartcop.com writing
good things about them for a long time.
I need suggestions for possibly available
DC celebs.
I will also shamelessly ask our internet
friends to help promote this event.
This isn't a bartcop.com
thing, this is a Julie thing and it just can't wait.
Imagine what it's like to have a cracked
tooth that you can't afford to fix.
Add that to the loss of your home,
your friends, your life, your security etc etc,
and it's all because she refused to cave
in to that horrid Starr monster.
If we do this right, we'll all have a good time. We'll get to
meet a real hero who risked
40 years in prison because the Republicans didn't like getting
the red-ass from Bill Clinton.
Julie could've turned on Clinton and saved her home
and her comfortable life!
Then she could've fixed her damn tooth the same day it broke.
It's not fair that she's had to suffer this all by her damn self!
Nobody has helped her.
The Democrats told her she was "too hot."
The Clinton's can't really do anything until Robert Ray gets
a new hobby.
Nobody but a few struggling friends has helped her and now we
have a chance to do right.
By the way, if anyone reading this can get a message to Bill Clinton:
"Bill, you owe Julie. If Julie had caved in,
Kathleen Willey's story would've had
more credibility and that vote in the
Senate could have gone the other way."
Wouldn't it be something if we had a REAL
celebrity introduce Julie?
This is just in the planning stages.
Maybe some big-time DC Democrats with big pockets
could get involved and comp some of these
expenses to increase the benefit to Julie.
So
here's what we need:
I need some DC-area people to send me their
phone number so we can talk.
I need someone with connections to coerce
some DC celebs into helping.
I need someone with experience advise us
on what to do and what not to do.
But mostly, I need to know if this has
a chance of working, and for that,
I need the commitment and promising "I'll
be there for sure" won't do it.
We have to have the money in-hand before
we can start writing checks.
Send your inquiries to juliefest2002@yahoo.com
BTW, Julie hates the name "JulieFest2002,"
but we have to call it something,
and I sure don't like the sound of "JulieCon."
Any ideas for a better name?
You high rollers be sure and contact me, too.
The high roller's room at Susan McDougal's fundraiser was full.
We were thinking $250 per couple for the high rollers room.
I don't know if that's too high or too low - I don't know what
I'm doing.
But I paid $300 for three tickets to see Susan McDougal and had
the time of my life.
So for $250, you could enjoy a little Grey Goose with Julie before
she speaks.
Be sure to put "JulieFest"
in the title when you send money.
Snail mail will work too, just don't wait until March 4 to mail
it,
because March 5th is the day we decide if this will work or not.
We need help, we need DC celebs, and we need your commitment to
attend.
We may be reaching too far too fast with this project,
but it needs to be done and it can't wait.
By Koresh, it may just be twenty people, but there's no more maybe
to this.
I'm throwing caution to the wind and will start throwing plastic
at this.
I talked to Julie last night, and she feels badly about this whole thing.
She told me she should be paying YOU people, for all the help she's
gotten.
We went over some details, and she said instead of her giving a speech,
she'd rather
just mingle and talk to everyone individually. Also, she said back
when she used to throw
cocktail parties (in her fabulous, paid-for home) she removed the chairs
from the room
so people wouldn't plop down on a couch and speak to the same 2 people
all night.
So, at her request, we'll clear the chairs (maybe a few lining the walls
for those who get tired)
and she said alcohol would be great for helping people mingle. This
will be Julie's cocktail party.
She said she might do a question and answer session, which would be
fun, because people
will have lots of questions, but mostly she wants to meet you and talk,
talk, talk.
During our conversation, she mentioned in passing,
"If I can avoid the wolves at the door, I
can get this book finished."
For most people, that would just be rhetoric, but Julie Hiatt Steele
has had the biggest wolf on this planet,
the American government, after her for four years, maybe longer, and
her fears are not imaginary.
She's not out of the woods, either, until Robert Ray gets a new hobby.
If you contribute to this event, you can literally say, "I
helped Julie write her book."
It's hard to write when your home rented apartment
is falling apart and you have no job or money.
I'll bet there are some people reading this who know what I'm talking
about, but add to that
Ken Starr's monsterous jihad against Julie - who didn't even do
anything wrong!
So, if you've been waiting to send your $50 in, waiting to see if this
was really going to work,
wait no longer because as soon as I hear from Dennis C, our man in
DC, I'm going to start
writing checks and once we have a venue we can advertise.
This is going to happen.
Another thing:
Sometimes I get excited about stuff and get a little carried away,
but there's a chance some big dogs might attend.
Not Clinton, but when Julie was being threatened with 40 years in jail,
she met some powerful people and they live in/near DC and she's inviting
them.
Remember, this is ME speaking, not her, so if nobody "big" shows up,
Julie didn't promise anything other than she'd make some phone calls.
The names she mentioned to me have been on these pages.
Trust me, it could happen, and if/when we get confirmation I'll post
it.
But think about this:
If you read in the next issue after An
Evening with Julie Hiatt Steele
that some totally hueueueuge and famous people attended and
shook hands and
posed for pictures and you weren't there, aren't you going to kick
yourself?
We still need a film crew.
bartcop.com reader Margie suggested that once we get a
film crew on board,
maybe people would send in $25
in
advance for a copy of the night's videotape.
I would think the video would have behind-the-scenes footage of Julie,
lots of mingling footage,
her question-and-answer session and maybe even some of the after party.
We may have to settle for Ernie and his camcorder, but I hope not.
Sidebar:
I just checked the special juliefest2002@yahoo.commailbox,
and reader Kathy
suggested we have this at a hotel near the airport,
which might minimize car rentals and cab fares, etc.
Also, Bob in Oklahoma has volunteered to drive
his 7-person van to DC
to help with moving people around - isn't that
a damn nice thing for him to do?
I realize I'm rambling, but I'm waaay scattered anyway, and this big
project with
all the excitement has me more scattered than ever but it's worth it
to help Julie.
I'll think of more and add it later, but...
This is going to happen.
So tell your friends and make your reservations.
If everything totally breaks down one hundred percent,
we'll all go over the the Red
Sage near the White House and drink heavily
while listening to Julie's stories and then we'll tear the roof
off the dump.