Quote:
Originally Posted by Scruffydog777
They never questioned me and I listed the value of the cd's as bein 1,300 dollars but they never mentioned anything about taxes. I honestly think they do a lot of profiling and I don't think I fit the typical smuggler, tax evader profile.
As far as what I think the letter should say, this is more or less along the idea of what I was thinking.
Dear Alizée,
I'd like to apologize for not thinking to thank you for what you did for us at the Virgin Megastore last month when I was there. I was in such a state of disbelief, never thinking this dream come true would ever take place, even up to the last minutes, that I was so ill prepared for this event, that I never thought to do the obvious of thanking you. It meant a huge amount to me personally and to this forum. There are no words that can express how grateful we are. What you did for us with this private autograph session, the gold pens, is so classy and so typical of the beautiful young French woman we all know as Alizée, that just adds another reason, to so many others, why you wil be so endeared in our hearts as no other who has come before you..
Merci beaucoup,
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Those are genteel sentiments, Scruffy, and no one here has done more heavy lifting than you to really promote Alizee. But the REST of us now ALSO have an opportunity to GET REAL at long last. Let me explain.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Karlalizee
send her a big pile of euros.  |
This is a cute jest, but maybe less removed from serious reality than one might guess. (Don't worry, Karla, I won't sic the Clown Patrol on you.
)
In my post <a href="http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showpost.php?p=152308&postcount=93"><i>Paying to keep the MAGIC alive: La Possibilité Du Siècle</i></a> I argue the need for serious artistic patronage, even of a famous artist like Alizée, and suggest that a foundation to which donations could be made would be a means of doing it in a dignified way. Among the things I wrote was:<blockquote><i>What does the... [donor]... expect in return? If a foundation existed, the answer would be clear: nothing but the knowledge that the donation helps the cause... That is not to say a €100 donation might not bring a signed thank-you note or a €1000 donation a short (e.g. 30 second) personalized thank-you video.
...If America was not full of crooks ...one might have aspired to accompany the recent Open Letter to her with a NONTRIVIAL check aggregated from signer donations. (N.B. I intend NO insult to our GENEROUS infrastructure providers!!!) And I suppose much less trust might have been needed simply to bundle a bunch of smaller individual checks payable to her directly, rather than AAm.</i></blockquote>I doubt Alizée or a delegate reads every post on every Alizée fan site - of which there are many, especially in Latin America. But were Alizée to have read what I wrote above, would she be naive to possibly dream of a stipend of say 50 x €100 + €1,000 = €6,000 as post-facto reciprocation for the <b>private</b> half-hour session she, Etienne, <i>et alia</i> granted us? (That pro-rates to €120 per CD recipient, for those bad in math.)
In the context of a hypothetical "Win lunch with Alizée her entourage" videoconference lottery, I had earlier <a href="http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showpost.php?p=149528&postcount=1">suggested </a> that perhaps €10,000 might be appropriate payment for two hours. This is just €2,500 for a half hour, rather less than the €6,000 computed above, or only €50 per CD recipient on a pro-rated basis.
And you can look at things another way. If Alizée America sends a trans-Atlantic "ambassador" (albeit in fact it was the generous donation of one Scruffydog), the expenses for this are easily €1,000 (in this case, partly a benefit for employment WORK). So would it be too strange for the Alizée entourage to aspire to receiving an honorarium of €1,000 as well? (That's €20 per CD recipient.)
Perhaps Lefty might say what gross margin Alizée and Institubes sees on the sale of a CD. I would not be surprised if it was less than a couple Euros. That means no more than a lousy €100 for the 50 elaborately personalized CDs provided via the half-hour session, stipulating the session was critical to closing these 50 sales in the first place.
So what sort of thank you do EACH of the CD recipients want to express to Alizée? The pawltry €2 thank-you of the sales margin? Or a €20, €50 or even €120 thank-you, as variously computed above?
If you think the whole idea of an Artistic Grant is silly or insulting, think again! That is basically something Institubes is <a href="http://institubes.myshopify.com/products/rob-dodecalogue-subscription-world">trying to secure</a> for their client artist Rob. Their proposal reads in part so:<blockquote><i>From June 2009 to June 2010, for twelve consecutive months, Rob will write, record and produce an unknown number of songs... Each month, a new record will be released... The whole thing is ambitious, highly elusive and perilous. What if nothing comes up? ...What if the label folds? More importantly, in the age of instant obsolescence, of dwindling life expectancy, what the hell do we think we’re doing? Should we trust you? ...As of today, I do not know if these recordings will ever be compiled...</i></blockquote>Even with all the uncertainties, they are soliciting your kind patronage in the personal amount of €300. If they aspire to get €300 from a SINGLE person, can't Alizée America's nearly 2,000 registered members - including 50 fortunate customized CD recipients - come up with an Artistic Grant to Alizée of AT LEAST €1,000? And €3,000 or even €6,000 would be much nicer. Yes, friends, it comes down to "Money talks, bullshit walks!" The question simply is this: Is Alizée America just a load of bullshit or not? I don't know how much Alizée or her staff watches what we do, but I'd be surprised if they were not curious about the answer to this simple question.
We have a chance to set a precedent for patronage. We may say we adore our Princesse Lointoine, but there no longer are any kings, at least not in republics like France, Mexico and the USA, so there will be no more royal patronage. Perhaps Proletariat Patronage is a bit too optimistic a dream, but why not some Bourgeoisie Beneficence? Is our spirit and our means so thoroughly broken that we cannot manage an Artistic Grant? Surely not every last member of Alizée America is a pauper.
We will soon have 50 happy autographed CD recipients, who paid Alizée America about €1000 for this merchandise, as anyone not wearing an aluminum-foil hat can verify from forum postings. If Ben and Scruffy have not yet PROVEN they can be trusted with our hard-earned money, I don't know what more they can do! We know they can get an Artistic Grant to Alizée - a check in her name sent US certified mail, return-receipt requested, to Institubes in Paris will do it. The ONLY question remaining is this - can the REST of us step up to the plate and pledge a total of at least €1000?
The Grant may do enormously more good than just the limited, if honorable, amount of money conveyed. It will establish a <b>precedent</b> for the palpable value of the generous no-strings GIFT of the half-hour private session and 50 personalized CDs. Perhaps Alizée and Institubes can do similar future sessions in Paris with others who want to sponsor what they are doing and understand their time is limited and precious.
Let me remind you about something I wrote <a href="http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showpost.php?p=156263&postcount=254">here</a>.
<blockquote><i>I have no idea what role a "fan club" like Alizée America might play in helping Alizée succeed in the US market. We should not feel hurt if the Alizée people thank us for the offer tendered in the Open Letter, say they will let us know, and then never contact us again. They have to budget their time and effort in the most productive way. They are not being rude or ungrateful. They must succeed.
But if we are asked to do something, it will be very important that we execute well, because any first task would be a TEST of our talent and sincerity. If we drop the ball, don't count on playing another game.</i></blockquote>Alizée and her associates may be far too proud to even suggest they be palpably rewarded for the wonderful private audience we enjoyed with them. But whether you like it or not, our reaction to their beneficence IS an <i>implicit</i> TEST, perhaps not very different from the one posited above. When you go to an elegant restaurant and your waiter does a truly extraordinary and unexpected job, do you simply tell him thanks? Or do you remember he has hopes and dreams of a better future, no less than do you?
We are all aware there is the Great Recession and not everyone is doing well. And even those who are doing well may be stretched trying to help family, friends, and community which is not. But if you are rich, perhaps you could replace a few meals at a fancy French restaurant with some at McDonald's. And if you are not rich, perhaps you can replace a few meals at McDonald's with some home-made sandwiches. It is not impossible that Alizée is worth more than any ONE of us here. But ALL of us put together are much wealthier than she is.
Ben has asked if I and a couple of others at AAm will work on promoting AAm and Alizée. I deem that license to take the following initiative. To learn if the Artistic Grant idea can work, I have created a poll I solicit you to answer <a href="http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5608">here</a>. The poll is anonymous, to spare participants potential embarrassment, so please do answer honestly! I especially hope ALL of the recipients of autographed CDs will take part. If Scruffy will share a complete list of recipients with me, I will PM each of them to read this posting and participate in the poll.
There is one final reason this idea has great potential. Have you ever heard of ANY fan club awarding an Artistic Grant to its respective artist? Neither have I! That's what makes it newsworthy! When Alizée accepts the award, we issue a press release to the major media outlets in the United States about it, which we hope causes someone to run a report on how thoughtful consumers are dealing with the threat to artistic production following from media piracy. Don't you think an important question raised in such a report would be: Why THIS artist, especially considering how hard it is to sell French music in the US? This could give Alizée some important exposure which lands her work in the US and helps her make important professional contacts.