Tara has been a veritable pit bull in her determination to resolve this issue- and I seriously doubt it would have come to a successful conclusion without her tireless efforts and the efforts of the others at CSTS to gain the return of Equality Now's rightful due.

Speaking as a Dallas Browncoat- I'm very appreciative that she has restored the reputation of the Texas fans. We've got too many good folk to let a bad apple spoil the barrel.

Thank you, Tara!

MikeTMC (Jayne_Statue) | September 05, 20:54 CET

Nice work, Tara. Thanks for making the statement and getting as much info as possible out to everyone. I still wish we had more info on what really happened in Denver and that some kind of criminal charges were brought in both cases, but I'm glad the money all ended up where it was supposed to go even if it took over a year and a lot of work.

IrrationaliTV | September 05, 21:10 CET

I think it's pretty awesome that two of my fellow Browncoats (what up mike and tara!) clued me into this post before I seen it on my own.

This past years event was amazing. I will brag--I drove Tim around. Airport, hotel, grocery store, etc etc...he was an absolute gentleman and may I add--funny? As if we already didn't know.

I am glad that this issue has been put to rest and now we Dallas Browncoats can look to the future. CSTS 2009!!!

death is my gift | September 05, 21:10 CET

Yay, Tara! As a Dallas-area Browncoat, you have my thanks and my admiration.

cronopiogal | September 05, 21:20 CET

Nice job Tara and Co.

Does anyone have the totals for this year's event? I wonder if the drama from a few days before this year's showing had any impact on this year's take. (I'm sure it must have but there's certainly no way to know if it was a positive or negative impact.)

Either way, the right people got the money and balance has been restored to the galaxy. I wish all my WHEDONesquey friends a wonderful weekend!

alexreager | September 05, 21:42 CET

F.Y.I.- alexreager - the 2008 totals were posted in the linked statement: $4,318.64.

MikeTMC (Jayne_Statue) | September 05, 21:48 CET

Thanks MikeTMC. Over $4,300 is a very impressive amount to donate! Nice job Dallas.

alexreager | September 05, 22:14 CET

As a Dallas Browncoat, I'd like to thank Tara, Beth, and all those involved in getting this resolved. I always knew you would.

rican | September 05, 22:34 CET

Out of interest how does this year's global tally compare to this time last year?

Simon | September 05, 23:34 CET

Wayback Machine says around $111,000 as of this time last year, although I think (don't remember) that was before it got revised downward somewhat as estimates became actual tallies.

The One True b!X | September 05, 23:42 CET

So it would be fair to say it's a bit down on last year? Did we peak? As that would be annoying.

Simon | September 05, 23:44 CET

Well, two answers to that, I think: One, I think it will be down from last year, personally.

Two: This time last year, almost all the cities had reported estimates. This time this year, we only have a count of 27 confirmed donations out of 42 -- in part because of the tightened reporting requirements wherein totals aren't being posted until officially received by EN.

(Beth or Miranda can probably fill this in better. I'm just piecing together what seems the likely situation.)

[ edited by theonetruebix on 2008-09-05 23:49 ]

The One True b!X | September 05, 23:47 CET

Thankyou Tara for doing an awesome job, you are truely the best in everything you do.

jaynesgal | September 06, 00:07 CET

I think we may have peaked financially, especially in the current economic state. But based on the attendees in SoCal, we haven't peaked in fan interest and excitement. It was still a fun event, just didn't get as much money per person.

And we are one of those slacker cities (3 in SoCal) who haven't reported a final total yet. Lynn and I have been hacking out the spreadsheets this week and hope to have the final numbers this weekend. I didn't realize how much work it would be having to split to the 3 citiies all the costs, fees, etc. that came to us in one lump sum. Remind me to plan for that next year. (Also to try not to have Comic-Con planning with a lot of the same people)

danregal | September 06, 00:23 CET

I'm not sure "slacker" is a term that could much be applied to Browncoats in California.

The One True b!X | September 06, 00:29 CET

Some Cities are continuing to increase their donation and attendee numbers, but as someone noted above, the economic situation did make it difficult for others. New Cities were added (esp. in Australia, and England) Old cities were lost, just like in the previous year. It is hard to say if we have peaked financially or not. We had the same number of cities this year, but more screenings i believe. I am hopeful we wil match last years donation total. As B!x pointed out, we have had more rigorous rules about posting totals for cities. This is to ensure that money reported to global as donated makes its way to EN. We also have new methods of payment this year. Credit card donations seem to be processed only once or twice a month (from what I'm hearing from people who have donated this way) which means there is some lag on these cities donations being posted on the main page. We also had some issues with our hosting company this week resulting in our website being down for a number of days until Dragon*Con was over and it was able to be sorted out, so we may see a few more cities go up in the next few days.

Don't forget we had some late screenings as well, so these tallies will come in late too.

Adelaide is another city that has not handed in its donation yet, but as we have posted publicly on the forums, we are holding a BBQ fundraiser mid September, which will add to our donation considerably, and ultimately be more money to EN, otherwise our finances are all in order and sorted.

Ivalaine | September 06, 01:12 CET

In Toronto, we made about $2,000.00 more this year than last but still came nowhere near Portland's tally.
I do think it is too early to tell how we did compared to last year. 20 or more cities that haven't reported in yet, is a lot.

Lioness | September 06, 01:14 CET

http://www.cantstoptheserenity.com/

Is the London screening still on for September 20th? It isn't listed at the top anymore but the linked website says the date. It seemed there were two or more cities with screenings in September still to happen. Anybody remember where else?

2008 Ongoing Tally = $71,693.15*

Anonymous1 | September 06, 02:31 CET

Sydney and I think Atlanta. SLC, Utah just finished theirs.

Ivalaine | September 06, 03:04 CET

As Miranda and Lioness have pointed out, it's hard to tell if we've peaked, or not. We are being much more strict, in terms of how we calculate totals, so you won't see figures until we actually have proof of donation.

(We require proof of donation (scan of check, with usps tracking confirmation), and wait on Equality Now to confirm donation before posting total on the website.)

I agree with danregal, as well. Fan interest is still there, and everyone is giving accounts of new attendees, as well as a number of screenings with increased attendance - but it seems a lot of cities are getting less money per attendee this year. Economic state is definitely a factor, and money just seems pretty tight across the board. (That's the feedback Austin's event received. i.e. One attendee emailed the following comment, "Lots of shiny stuff and prizes, but with $15 for a ticket and money for dinner and gas ... it is tough to do more since we are stretched so thin.")

But, we need to continue to try and raise the goal, as well as the bar. And with all of these talented Browncoats putting together amazing events - I'm sure CSTS will continue to grow and raise staggering amounts for Equality Now.

haldira | September 06, 10:14 CET

I'm still waiting for the bill from the theatre, so we can send in our donation. Unfortunately, while we've been waiting (and I've been bugging them!), the Canadian dollar has fallen in value against the American dollar, so our donation is going to be a bit less than what I had anticipated. We are also donating 10% to a local charity, the BC Womens' Hospital Foundation. I am expecting their portion to be about $200.

samatwitch | September 07, 00:19 CET