Andrew J. Lederer

Good morning.

I should say, before I continue this thing, that I am not at all offended by Steve Bennett not asking me to become part of the blog section of the redesigned site. I know I made a big deal of the fact that I wasn't initially offered a Fringe Blog this year, but that was because I had done them the previous two years and because -- except for me -- everyone and his brother seemed to have been invited to do one.

I think Steve has not just the right but the responsibility to decide who is "important" enough to receive such play. I presume he's trying to benefit the site by having "desirables" collaborating with and, by implication, endorsing the enterprise. From his perspective (as well as, perhaps, from the perspective of reality), I simply don't make that cut.

I am not a lofty comedic beacon of success, rather an ordinary citizen, and there are plenty of places for us Ordinary Joes to hold forth on this site.

I would argue, however, that I am competitive when it comes to blog popularity, as I did not join the official Fringe Blog roster 'til midway through the fest and, since that time, I've tallied about 3000 hits -- about half the number of Peacock, et al -- in about half the time. (I've probably had a competitive number of hits per post as well, since many of my posts predate the festival, making the total number of hits misleading in terms of this calculation.)

At gigs, I've been meeting people who've been reading the blog. It's as if we already have a relationship because they kinda know me already. I appreciate having been given the opportunity to foster these relationships and, as I said last night, intend to pursue them in this venue or elsewhere.

That's it. I will continue the saga shortly.

Andrew

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