This is great! I knew you all had some legit. concerns still there are some keynote spekers who have not stepped up to the mic yet! Keep passing this on to people in the music community... Power of County! Yeah!

And here's a question I'd like people to kick around. What if there were some kind of State or City run fund for Portland resident/artists of 5 years + who meet a certain criteria in the way of accomplishment. Kind of like programs in The Netherlands where the State supports the artist as a sort of Ambassador of Culture? 5 artists a year, maybe it pays their utilities or rent for a year + fringe bene's? Something to offset the slanted artist income Dave was speaking to concerning working artists. Give them a year to focus their efforts...
Is that way too liberal of a concept? It would sure be progressive for the states...and put some honor back into representing a region.

-Adam M