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A message from the President: Club X - Leatherfest XI SummaryDecember 03, 2001To all Club X Members, Leatherfest XI Attendees and Friends: Leatherfest XI (LFXI) marked the first major Leather Event for Club X since the San Diego Six (SD6) incident in October 1999. The last Leatherfest hosted by Club X was in April of 1998. As stated during the opening remarks of LFXI, "Leatherfest has moved from a 4-level parking garage to a 4-star resort." With a staff of over 30 volunteers, the LFXI took well over a year to plan. The staff of LFXI produced an awesome event that the Leather/ BDSM/ Fetish community comes to expect of Club X and of Leatherfest. All who attended LFXI had an excellent time. Leatherfest XI marked the return of Leatherfest, the return of Club X, and that we were back, and back in style! Leatherfest XI was held at the Riviera Resort and Racquet Club in Palm Springs over Labor Day Weekend. The event was very well received by all attendees. There were over 50 remarkable workshops to attend, a huge and well stocked vendor area, a fantastic pool & Jacuzzi area, a relaxing resort, the first ever Boy and Girl Training Academy conducted at Leatherfest, and to top it off, the biggest dungeon ever seen with Leatherfest at over 27,000 square feet. The only thing that Leatherfest XI did not have was plenty of attendees. In order to insure that Leatherfest XI had exclusive use of the entire resort, LFXI signed into contract a guarantee sale of rooms at the resort. There were over six hundred people that attended Leatherfest XI; however, the attendance was not enough to cover the costs of holding the event and the number of attendees staying at the Riviera was not enough to book the resort per the contract. Leatherfest XI is now contractually obligated to pay the Riviera Resort the difference of the "lost" revenue between the actual number of rooms booked and the number contractually specified. The difference works out to approximately twenty seven thousand dollars ($26,700 exactly.) Added to that, are extra bills that Leatherfest XI incurred in setting up the event. The total still owed by Leatherfest XI is approximately $30,000. A hundred more attendees at Leatherfest XI would have booked enough rooms and enough registrations that Leatherfest XI would not be facing a $30K shortfall. The debt LFXI incurred is a large amount. It is far in excess of the annual operating budget of Club X, the parent organization of Leatherfest. While Leatherfest XI itself was a success and met all of its operational bills and expenses, the debt does remain. While thanking the Leatherfest XI Directors, staff, and volunteers, the Board of Directors of Club X, have now stepped forward to resolve the debt burden and clear the way for the planning of Leatherfest XII. All in all, LFXI was a huge success. It was perhaps the best Leather/ BDSM/ Fetish event of the year. Leatherfest XI, and Club X have been nominated for Pantheon Awards for Large Event of the Year and Large Club of the Year. This is not bad for an event that has not seen the light of day for nearly three years. The event moved from San Diego to Palm Springs, changed the time of year it was held from early spring to late summer - and had the misfortune to occur just as the US economy hit its first recession in almost a decade. Resolving the debt with the resort is the last of various issues to deal with before moving on towards Leatherfest XII. Leatherfest XII WILL take place, we just have to wrap up Leatherfest XI first. In the coming weeks, Club X will be doing what we can to resolve the debt with the Riviera Resort. We will keep you informed of our progress via our website and press releases. We welcome your inquiries and will certainly be looking at fund raising options. We just completed a fantastic, "Fall Leatherfestival" that had over 120 attendees. Club X will carry on, Leatherfest XII will happen, and we will continue to have safe, sane and consensual fun. Club X and Leatherfest are not going away. With pride, Richard Chatterton
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