Readings, Rated
Printers’ Ball: Nerds Get Shut Down
Friday, July 20, 2007, Printers’ Ball; Zhou B. Art Center (1029 West 35th Street, Chicago).
Yes folks, last Friday’s much lauded and highly-anticipated Printers’ Ball got raided by the cops and busted up after only about 2 1/2 hours. Chicagoist and the Reader both covered the bust-up, and THE2NDHAND posted a story about it.
The issue, apparently, was that the Zhou B. Art Center lacked some of the permits and licenses to hold event of this size. Per the Reader’s article, the “venue lacked a special-event license and adequate exit signs and routes for the upper floors.” My former employer and host of this event, the Poetry Foundation, was not at fault on this issue: their understanding was that all licenses and permits were squared away. It’s too bad that all their efforts for the Ball only came halfway to fruition.
There’s a theory (maybe a conspiracy one) going around that the city used this event as an “example” of sorts, since a hearing was held two days before the event to discuss (per Time Out Chicago) “Chapter 4-157, an ordinance that would require club and event promoters to be licensed every two years. We’ve examined the document, and frankly, we’re frightened by the barriers it introduces to the party-promoting business. It would require a license applicant to carry $1 million in liability insurance, be fingerprinted, undergo background checks and pay a fee. In short, it sounds potentially devastating to small venues and events.” The Chicago Reader also posted about this, noting, “RECENTLY THE DALEY administration proposed an ordinance that would require independent event promoters to get licenses, and the definition of “event” was broad: the rules covered everything from boxing matches to circuses.” The ordinance isn’t set in stone yet, but will likely happen, sez the Reader, “Expect to see a new version hit the table in the next few months — I’m sure it’ll only target promoters who don’t have the pull to get a closed-door meeting at City Hall.”
Literago doesn’t speak legalese, so if anyone cares to weigh in on this and give an interpretation, we’d welcome it.
Ah, well, the first 3 hours of Printers’ Ball were a blast, and I know for a fact that thousands of copies of publications were snatched up by the 400+ partygoers almost immediately. Here are some Flickr photos, by the way. Success was had–it just should’ve gone on longer…
Hey, thanks for linking to my flickr photos! I would have appreciated an email to let me know.