Gilbert Lawrence writes regarding Eugene's posts,
(You provided a service to Goans by giving us the "story behind the story"
and a segway for others who provided the 'not so pleasant facts' like the
poor attendance.? )
Eugene's posts were largely innuendo and personal attacks. He has provided
information about the committee, organization and planning without being a
part of the committee or naming a source within the committee that has
provided these insinuations. The committee members I have spoken to swear
they have not spoken to Eugene. Only a committee member can talk about the
inside story. Eugene arrived on the Toronto scene only on the Convention
date. His 2 main contributions to the event was to try to get in free when
he arrived, and later to stand up and rudely attack a speaker. There are
better ways to phrase a question and Eugene appears to remain clueless as to
why he was offensive.
The committee members who worked tirelessly to present this convention would
be pleased to work with any other planning committee to provide pros and
cons of our experiences. Why praise an agitator who from the time of his
arrival at the scene of the convention was problematic. How can one depend
on a "story" of personal attacks to form the basis of future conventions.
( It was just that the journalist in me sprung forth when I found that there
were too many undercurrents?)
To my knowledge Eugene is not a journalist, besides writing his personal
feelings on issues and reporting gossip, his claims to journalism can be
held by anyone who writes on the internet.
His final post 4 was heavily edited and denies the Goanet readers to see the
extent of the ramblings of a man who is not in control
( 'not so pleasant facts' like the poor attendance.? )
The academic portion of the convention was planned for 100-120 people as was
evident in the venues we used. It would have been impossible to achieve the
level of interaction and intimacy the convention provided if we had larger
groups. Quite frankly I cannot imagine any room that could have housed
10,000 people for an effective presentation even 20 years ago.
Should the next Convention's goals be to have a much larger crowd, than
their organizational plans and goals will have to be different from the
Toronto group.
We had a 100-110 people, 80 were paid registrants and the rest were
volunteers, observers, presenters.
(It is often an unpleasant task to write about people and groups that one
knows on a "personal" basis and not as professional subjects. )
Neither I nor Kevin know Eugene on a personal basis. My first interaction
with him was at the registration desk at the convention (when he wanted a
free entry, claiming he had already paid) at which point I was courteous and
tried to seek him help from the treasurer, since he claimed to have
pre-paid, but was found to be untrue. I never interacted with him on a
personal basis then or now.
Gilbert there are many positive aspects of the Toronto Convention. Should
you or anyone else serious about hosting the next convention want to take
advantage of the momentum and change in people's hearts, particularly
towards the awareness of connecting with their Goan identity and connecting
with their homeland, then now is the time to move. Join the committee that
is hosting the next convention if it is in your neighborhood
Lisette Saldanha
