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Showerthought: I dropped $300 on a 'free speech' speaker series that never happened
Back in 2019 at my community college in Boise, I paid $300 out of pocket to reserve a room and print flyers for a speaker series about campus free speech debates. The college canceled it three days before because of 'security concerns' and refused to refund the deposit. The flyers are still in my garage. Has anyone else lost money trying to organize something on campus that got shut down at the last minute?
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logan6588d ago
Man, that's rough. $300 for a stack of paper that's now just sad garage decor. I dropped $150 on a 'socialist speaker' event at my school once, and the guy literally forgot which campus he was supposed to be at. Spent two hours waiting by the wrong door with a pizza that got cold and a room that looked like a sad dentist's waiting room. Ever managed to repurpose any of those flyers for something else, or are they just a permanent reminder of your lost savings?
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sage_moore378d ago
Actually that $300 was for the WHOLE setup, not just a stack of paper. The flyers were just a bonus. But yeah, I ended up using them as fire starter for a camping trip. Worked great honestly.
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morgan_king368d ago
Man, that sucks. I had a buddy who tried to put on a punk show in a rented VFW hall back in 2018. He paid $200 upfront and the band from out of state canceled the morning of because their van broke down in Nevada. The hall wouldn't give his money back either, said the contract was for the date not the band. He ended up just sitting there with a stack of his own printed tickets and a cooler of cheap beer he bought for the nonexistent crowd. We drank that beer in the parking lot while trying to explain to confused old veterans why there was no music. He still brings it up every time someone mentions live shows.
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Dang, that's a bummer for sure. In my experience, the only thing that saved a similar situation for me was turning the whole thing into a different kind of event. I had a show fall through once and just invited everyone I knew for a "listening party" with my own stereo and a bunch of records I brought from home. Still cost me the venue fee but at least people showed up and we made it a hangout instead of a total loss. Might be worth seeing if he could do something like that next time, just pivot the whole vibe instead of trying to force the original plan.
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