Holy Crap! What the Hell?

[akirlu]

I think I've come up with a new gimmick for SF fan- and writer-charity fund raising. Sell doodles. By famous people. Only skip all those silly other famous people who only net a one or two hundred bucks per doodle, and just get doodles from Neil Gaiman. Holy crap.

Poor Billy Mumy is going for a song.

Comments

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm not bidding on any of it, but a quick scroll through the list shows that Neil is one of only two names I recognize of these "famous people", and the other I'm not completely sure of and don't have any information about what they do. (Neil is somebody I've known since Mike Ford introduced us in Brighton in 1987. Given the connection to Dreamhaven etc. I'd most likely have heard of him anyway, though.)

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

There are quite a few actors; I take it that's not something you pay attention to?

[carbonel]

Seth Green and Gillian Anderson have Neil beat, but I'd take the one by Gahan Wilson if I had my druthers.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

I missed the Wilson, but did see one by Sergio Aragones.

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

I missed the Wilson too, I do recognize that name.

Weirdly, I also recognize Seth Green (there are other actors much more prominent, and even actors equally prominent in the same show that I know him from, whose name I wouldn't recognize). Just random, or where it comes in the credits, or something.

And, responding to your question elsethread, no, I don't see many movies or much TV, and then I don't particularly focus on the performers.

[stevegreen.livejournal.com]

Seth's also busy as a writer/producer (Robot Chicken. His donation is also less of a doodle than a rather nice illustration.

[stevegreen.livejournal.com]

There's also one by Garry Trudeau.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Yep, and Jim Davis, but Aragones and Wilson are more my style.

[stevegreen.livejournal.com]

I thought the Davis was just a signed print.

Ah, and Fred Hembeck, too.

[bohemiancoast.livejournal.com]

We had several Neil Gaiman doodles at Eastercon for fan funds. It did occur to us that perhaps we should have eBayed them instead, but, silly person that I am I rather approve of giving the people who turn out for the fan funds auctions a chance to get something cool. The Sandman doodle did go for much more than any of the others. Though nothing remotely close to this.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Oh, I don't think there's anything at all silly about giving preference to the people who show up at fan fund charity auctions -- I picked up a hand-colored aTom original for a song that way myself. But I do wonder if, say, a Worldcon charity auction might not in fact attract better attendance and higher bids if it had a Gaiman doodle or two in hand early enough to advertise the fact to the general membership before the convention.

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

If the point of the auction is to raise funds for the charity, I can see an argument that you should sell the donations in the way that best raises those funds.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

In the case of fan funds, raising funds for the charity is *a* point of the auction, but not the only one. The fan fund auctions also serve as a species of outreach, awareness raising, and community-building exercise, and for that, giving the people who physically show up a reward for doing so is a valuable thing to do.

[sraun]

I'm not surprised - Neil is one of the few authors who can actually make a significant difference in the size of a convention by his mere presence. I'm not certain what he'd draw for an event with, say, six months notice and no membership cap!