Tuesday, October 9, 2012


It hurts to be dead: No Fort Myers cash for Zombicon 2012



                 Grant request not considered, surprising organizers of the expanded event.


More zombies than ever before are expected to flock to downtown Fort Myers this month, but without city help, Zombicon could come up thousands of dollars short.
Since the event started in 2007, Zombicon has attracted more zombies every year. The weekend of Oct. 20, organizers are planning for 40,000 undead souls.
Traditionally, the event consists of tourists and locals in zombie makeup partying on downtown streets. This year will be a different — organizers are putting on their first two-day zombie convention at the Harborside Event Center. It features spectacles such as cast members from the movie “Day of the Dead” and the TV show “The Walking Dead,” a zombie comedian, wrestling, special effects and makeup demonstrations.
All that has inflated expenses from about $40,000 last year to about $160,000 this year.
Zombicon applied for a $50,000 special event grant from the city, but its application was not considered. Instead of considering all applicants this year, Fort Myers City Council only awarded grants to those that received a grant last year, said Christine Tenney, city budget manager, in an email.
Zombicon was not eligible for a special event grant last year because it was not yet an official nonprofit.
This year, Zombicon organizers were shocked to find they had been overlooked.
“We didn’t think there would be any problem with us finally qualifying for the big leagues,” Zombicon organizer Janet DeMarco said. “I think we proved ourselves as an event worth investing in.”
City officials have decided to review the way the grants were awarded this year, Tenney said. A workshop is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 15 — just five days before Zombicon weekend.
The city planned to distribute its allotted $141,500 in grant funds to events such as Art Fest and the Edison Festival of Light. The chosen events have been notified of their awards, Councilman Forrest Banks said.
With city budget reserves the lowest they’ve been in almost 10 years, it’s going to be hard to scrape together money for Zombicon, he said.
“Finding money is tough right now,” Banks said. “We found all the money we can find and it’s been budgeted. Unfortunately, they did not get through into the process.”
An option could be taking away money from other events. Some that received grants did not fill out the grant application properly, Banks said.
There are four events beside Zombicon that applied but were not considered for funding, Tenney said. Those include two events by the Lee County Bar Association, one by the Lee County Black History Society and one by the Lee County Health Department. Including Zombicon, new grant requests total $63,800.

Successful, or not?

Banks said Zombicon’s application did such a good job demonstrating its potential success, the event doesn’t seem to need a grant.
Zombicon originally submitted an application projecting it would make a profit of about $240,000. That money would go toward scholarships to send children to local art summer camps, DeMarco said.
A few months later, Zombicon submitted a revised budget projecting a loss of about $8,700.
The revised budget did not take into account the city grant, and it cut the amount of revenue projected from sponsorships and ticket sales.
“We just kind of went across the board showing great success,” DeMarco said of the first budget. “And it was too successful for them. And as far as reality, by Sept. 24, when everybody was receiving everything, we came far underneath.”
DeMarco said Zombicon organizers would now be happy with a $30,000 grant — down from the $50,000 originally requested.

Optimism

Cody Omara, who worked as a barista at Cafe United in downtown Fort Myers during last year’s Zombicon, said the event deserves a city grant. It brings people downtown who would never come otherwise, and it will be an opportunity for the city to show off the progress downtown has made, Omara said.
Cafe United was beyond packed last Zombicon, he said.
“We had to have a security guard at every door just to make sure we weren’t overwhelmed,” Omara said. “You cannot prepare enough. You cannot stock enough. There’s so many people downtown that every restaurant is full to the brim. Everyone makes money.”
A city grant also could help with post-event cleanup, which was lacking last year, Omara said. DeMarco hopes all of last year’s zombies come back this month. She wants to put Fort Myers on the map with a convention that eventually gains fame equal to that of Comic-Con or the Star Wars convention. 
It’s good timing — zombie events are becoming mainstream, DeMarco said. Holidaytripper.com, a travel website, lists Zombicon at the top of its page titled “Zombie Halloween Events in Florida.” 
Zombie fans are trying to help. An online petition on thepetitionsite.com has more than 1,250 signatures in support of giving Zombicon city funds. Whether the event receives city funds or not, it will go on as planned. It’s too late to back out now, DeMarco said. But there’s no way to tell if this year’s event will be able to raise money for charity, or whether it will leave organizers in debt, DeMarco said. 
It depends how many convention tickets are sold, how many last-minute sponsors commit and whether Zombicon receives a city grant. “But,” she said, “you can’t keep a zombie down.”


~news-press.com

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