President's Message
November, 2004

Hello Everyone,

Our recently completed Annual Meeting in Vegas was a huge success in my estimation. Chapter Reps, Delegates, Officers, and our new Administrative Director all got a chance to get some quality face time with each other, both at the scheduled meetings, and at breakfast, lunch, and the hospitality room at night. (The Pres didn't get much sleep because my bedroom adjoined the hospitality suite, and I felt obligated to clean up after each night's soiree, not that I'm complaining.)

I think we forget in the age of email how really important it is to see those who we interact with. Distance breeds a bit of mistrust and discontent and misunderstanding that can only be bridged by good old face-to-face communication. I'm glad we finally got back to our annual meetings. I saw a lot of familiar faces, I met some new faces, and had a great time debating and talking and planning and complaining and listening.

I look forward to the year ahead and with the understanding we all gained at our meeting I'm hoping the Guild can do great things for our profession. I'd like to thank everyone who participated, especially Jonathan Combs and Lloyd Dangle who conducted the meetings, and Polly Law who's knowledge of all things Guild and procedural are unparalleled.

As a quick note about advocacy, I sent the letters you wrote to Hugh Hefner via FedEx when I arrived home from Vegas. I received Hefner's response also via FedEx. Although he protests that there is no plan to quit using illustration in Playboy, news releases from the editor hired from Maxim Magazine and since fired by Hefner stated that illustration was no longer relevant and would not be used in Playboy. The December issue included with the letter did have more illustration than had been used in previous months, but not as much as was used previously. I believe your letters made an impact and I hope to see the fruits of that impact in the future.

Remember, letters speak loudly, many letters scream, so write to those who treat our profession unfairly and let's get a little grass roots complaining going on, it's cheap and effective, and it's great when you get a response and some action.

To give you some flavor of the Annual Meeting, I'm attaching below an email sent to me by Richard Laurent, my friend, Guild Delegate, designer, illustrator, painter, and now I find out, ace reporter. I hope you enjoy his observations as much as I did.

J P Schmelzer
President
Graphic Artists Guild

Congrats...the Vegas meet seemed to be a complete success.
I was expecting carnage, fornication and cannibalism.
But that took place outside, on the Strip. Whew!

What I'll remember about this event:

-"Umbrella...I don't need no stinkin' umbrella!"
-The 5.95 prime rib dinner I never got to eat.
-The glow of Camelot Castle outside my window...a testament to our national security.
-The smell of dedication in the conference room prior to each coffee break
-Polly the Law Pirate
-The dental floss left lovingly in front of our room's door by the maid
-The sugar highs...and lows
-Lunch with our fearless leader at that place purporting to be quaintly Mexican
-The frenzy of notes being passed while others sat in lanquorous stupor
-The charm of San Remo in the morning
-Those quaint little villagers passing out playing cards on the street --advertising room service even though you were with your wife, family, mother-in-law, and dog.
-Mark turning to Lloyd and saying, " I think John is kind of like a father figure..."
Lloyd turning to Mark and saying, "...more like your crazy uncle."
-Estimating the total number of ex-presidents in the room
-Experiencing virtual lion piss as a way of better understanding the animal kingdom
-The power of saying the word, 'Staciellen' three times
-The Venetian...beyond baroque...and if you stayed there for a week you would definitely be ba-roke!
-Midnight Cocktails at Bellagio while watching the call girls arrive in droves
-The restaurant at the Venetian SO exclusive that it didn't even have a name
-The mobs of young college grads who gathered around poker tables -- eagerly awaiting the chance to lose all their savings
-The last-ditch attempt of every tourist in the airport to lose what little cash they had left in their pockets

You'll be a fine president, John. Go for it!

Richard

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