From: "Keio Gamble" Subject: Sad Day - Texas Relays Celebrity Weekend Greetings, I hope this finds you all in great health and high spirits, because what I'm about to inform you of may bring your spirits down, as it did mine. The last time I checked, it was the year 2005, and not 1955........Follow me on this. As most of you know, I am the promoter behind the Texas Relays Celebrity Weekend featuring the Divine Nine Stepshow at the Hilton Hotel - Austin. Well, all of the events at the Hilton Hotel have been cancelled. With time being truly of the essence, on yesterday, management at the Hilton Hotel notified me of some immediate concerns about several matters surrounding the events at the Hilton Hotel - Austin. One of the main concerns is.......... "because of the extensive publicity for this event, we are concerned that a large number of individuals will seek to attend this event and that there will be significant security, traffic, and crowd control issues as a result." (April 6, 2005) The ballrooms that were reserved for the planned events at the Hilton Hotel - Austin has a combined capacity of 2,422 people. Again, the last time I checked, 2,422 people is a large number of individuals. This number is presented and accepted by the hotel in their promotional/marketing material(one of the reasons that attracted me to the hotel initially). The question I am trying to find the answer to is - Why is there a problem with a strong promotional campaign, if your objective is to sell over 2000 tickets? At what point did it become a security/traffic/crowd control issue? Is it the number of people? or Is it the people? FYI - As a remedy for the security/traffic/crowd control issue, I was informed that the attendance of this event had to be strictly limited to 1300 people, which equates to just under 55% of the maximum capacity. I was also informed that I must have a minimum of 40 licensed and bonded unarmed security guards from a security agency that the hotel approves. That's one officer for every 32.5 people, which is ludicrous to me!! Security requirements are usually one officer for every 100 people. Remember, all of this was presented yesterday afternoon, at the last minute. I was told the hotel normally chooses not to accommodate this type/group of people, because of security issues. What type? What group? When did a type or group of people equate to security issues? Is this type or group of people equal to uncivilized? Terrorists? .......I'm just curious, that's all. Keep in mind, the expected attendance included college students, college graduates, and executives and professionals in our corporate workforces. What some would call a well-behaved and well-spoken group of people. Not a security/traffic/crowd control issue at all, in my opinion. Mind you, this event has been planned and promoted since November 2004 (5-6 months ago). All of a sudden, at the last minute, we have concerns? For those of you that can remember the incident in Daytona Beach during the Black College Reunion in 1999 with the Adam's Mark Hotel.........let's hope this is not happening again!!! At this point, what's done is done. The events at the Hilton Hotel have been cancelled. These events include the MajorMoneyModels.com Model Search, the Divine Nine Stepshow, and the afterparties following the stepshow. If you have a room reserved at the Hilton Hotel - Austin, your reservation is still valid. If you choose to cancel your reservation, there will be no cancellation fees. Due to the circumstances, the hotel feels obligated to waive the cancellation fees. Now, I know some of you were just as excited as I was to see the stepshow, and partake in the afterparties................Since my events were cancelled at the Hilton Hotel, here is where I will be, and I strongly encourage and invite you to join me: On Saturday, April 9th at 7:00pm, I will be at the GREEK GROUND CONTROL Stepshow at Connally High School's Performance Arts Hall. This stepshow is hosted by the Eta Theta chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. The address is 13212 N. Lamar - Austin, TX 78753. For tickets and more information about this stepshow, call 214-926-2611 or 214-676-9872. Don't forget, the NFL Celebrity Basketball Game on Friday at 7pm (Delco Events Center) and the Texas Relays Football Classic on Saturday at 1pm (Nelson Stadium) are still taking place......SEE YOU THERE!!!!!!!!!! Log on to www.texasrelayscelebrityweekend.com for information about the other events. All Hilton Hotel events have been cancelled.......Sorry for the unfortunate news. If you have any questions, concerns, or comments - feel free to call me at 214-475-4141 or 512-228-4711, or just reply to this email. :::Keio Gamble::: Omega Psi Phi Fraternity-3-Rho Theta-Spr.'96 President/CEO - Interstate Marketing Group