by Matt MB » Mon Feb 08, 2010 3:19 pm
I had hoped to get back to this sooner, but I was a little under the weather this weekend. To prevent this from getting too off track, I want to further explain my original opinion and address germane counterarguments and eventually I will get to the more peripheral issues. I'm going to avoid using the cut and paste quotations but I intend to address everything that has been brought up.
I believe a brief biography would be in order, however, to introduce myself to those of you I do not know and to catch up with those of you I haven't seen since leaving the business. I worked for almost 20 years in the Restaurant business in and around Louisville as busser, server, bar manager, GM, Sommelier. About 5 years ago, I decided to pursue and different course having achieved all that I wanted to in the Restaurant Industry. I returned to school to finish my BA in Economics and will finish my MA in Global Finance, Trade & Economic Integration this summer. Next month, I am traveling to Uganda & Kenya to work on a micro-finance project. For those of you who don't know, micro-finance provides small loans to those who would not normally be able to obtain one. Some are non-profits and others are for profits. I just discovered today that a small component of the Lambi Fund is micro-credit services.
In micro-finance, we are constantly questioning whether we are creating positive social change. It is uncontroversial to ask if we are successfully serving the people and there have been problems along the way. Nonprofits and charities have to be scrutinized because they are not subject to market discipline.
So this is why I put forth this opinion. I'm sure it has occurred to some of you that there is a odd juxtaposition of images between a wine dinner and what has happened in Haiti even when all of the sales are being donated. But in those cases, I feel, that the end probably justifies the means.
When a less defined amount of the ticket price is being determined and donated at a different time the risk here is that money is diverted from a more efficient charity. People who work in charities are familiar with this. The hard work of a charity in the context of a restaurant is securing donations from your suppliers. Having worked in restaurants for so long, I understand that it is NOT difficult to secure wine donations for benefits. One has only to look at the recent post about the Park Place event to see the amount of work that was put into establishing cooperation with purveyors. The Seelbach it seems was able to do the same.
There is still time for Seviche to refine and be as successful as these other events. I'm hoping their silence is reflective of their working on improving the event. As a diner, you can't even take a full tax deduction for events that don't have the full amount going to the charity. The food and wine component has to be deducted. (That's how I understand it but I am in no way an accountant.)
It has been asked, "in the end if money is being donated to a relief fund, isn't some good being accomplished?" That's a valid position to hold against my main argument. I think I've made the case, however, why I don't believe so if it pulls money away from more efficient sources. If everyone was going to attend regardless and you decide to donate $20 dollars from each customer, that's a net positive effect. (I guess it must be said that all numbers are for hypothetical purposes.) But if your selling the charity through a press release than you are hoping to attract people based on that information.
It has been suggested by Paul that this is no place to discuss this issue. Its not for me to decide but since there are so many restaurants doing charity work with Haiti it seems germane and it resonated with me because I understand the issues and know the people involved.
A general vibe I get from you Paul (and note vibe is subjective appraisal) is that you seem quite defensive of someone you deem to be in the inner circle of louisvillehotbytes.com. I informed my opinion with quotes like, "If Anthony hosts a dinner, then rest assured many of us are going regardless of where the profits are going." and from earlier, "I (as well as most of this forum) respect Anthony et al and trust that a significant portion of the proceeds will help those in need. While dishonest businesses exist who would love to capitalize upon a cause celebre like Haiti, Seviche isn't one of them." I've never thought of LHO as place where folks go to luv up on one another of a particular clique. Who likes puff pieces and milquetoast? Understandably for many restaurateurs, self-censorship is more important than for others on a sight like this. But I am confident that Anthony can digest the criticism and recover in short order.
A note on Felice. It seems at first blush that most of the revenue is going to be coming from these other folks. Yes, I believe he could probably go the distance on the wine but it appears to be a small portion of what is going on.
And yes, Paul, speaking as a representative of Haitians, speaking on behalf of the forum and understanding with certitude all things Seviche is hubris . . .at least IMHO.
P.S. I did miss the the Lambi fund on my original read. I no way meant to give an opinion of the Lambi fund or rank it in terms of the Red Cross. They appear to be doing a lot of different types of development work. It is strange that they spend so little time discussing the disaster (1 paragraph not on the home page?) I'm sure they are busy. Also interesting is that they have a political mission statement. Anyway, that's all I have to say . . .. Take care, folks . . . You can expect to hear more from me now that I am not constrained by the industry. I might even have some other controversial ideas to express.
