Where is the Loyalty? Where is the Support?

[Parsad]

I was about to go to sleep tonight, but decided to come downstairs and post this on the message board because I'm quite f**king pissed off!

 

This is the 12th Annual Dinner we are doing in Toronto this year.  What started out as a little gathering for me and 9 friends in Joe Badali's Restaurant, with Francis Chou doing a fly-by and then sitting, answering questions for 2 hours, grew into what some are now caling the "Fairfax Lollapalooza!"  12 years later!

 

Each year, little by little, it has grown...with some 165 attendees in 2015 and 148 attendees in 2016.  In total, we had raised $130,000 for Crohns & Colitis Canada in memory of JoAnn Butler, when we started dedicating the event to her in 2010.

 

But this year, something is different!  I don't know what, but the ticket sales have fallen well off pace and there has been much less interest.  To the point where we may have to scale down the event next year or eliminate it all together!  Yes, you heard that right...maybe eliminate it all together!

 

First, you should note, I do not and have never received a single penny for the work that goes into putting this together each year.  Second, outside of support from Fairfax, Francis, Pat Hios, a handful of donors and volunteers, I do all of the work.  Alot of time and alot of effort, and frankly alot of love goes into this!  All of the speakers donate their time and effort with no fees...in some instances, I pay to fly them in and put them up. 

 

So you may ask, what the hell is Sanjeev venting about...this is his thing and nobody asked him to do this.  And you are absolutely correct!  But alot of you have benefitted indirectly from my generosity...be it from the great event we put on each year, or from the fact this board is relatlvely free for the user, and has made a shitload of money for some of you and will make money for many of you newer users!

 

To those that have bought their tickets already this year, whether you may or may not attend, I thank you for your support!  To the one attendee, who couldn't make it out the last three years and sent a lovely check for Crohns & Colitis Canada this week...thank you so much!  To Fairfax, who give of their time and money with such humility each year, there is no event without you guys!

 

But where are the rest of you? 

 

- Where are all those cheap, rich bastards as Wayne Gretzky put it last year at the dinner? 

- Where are all of you long-time attendees who have become cynical and fickle over the last year(s)? 

- Where are all my rich hedge fund friends managing anywhere from tens of millions to billions of dollars!

 

I don't need your quarterly or annual newsletter.  I don't need the annual book you send me.  I don't need a pat on the back.  I don't want you praising me when you see me at some event.  I don't want you calling me to ask me how I can get you in touch with Fairfax because you have some great investment idea or business you want to sell.  I need your support for this dinner!

 

I hope many of you are still coming!  I hope some of you get pulled out of the darkness by this post and decide, hey I'll send a check in or buy a ticket, or sponsor a silent auction item...or maybe just give back in some little way!  I know you guys haven't disappeared, and I know you will see this. 

 

You can buy your ticket at www.cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca .  Scroll down a little bit and the ticket button is on the left hand side of the homepage. 

 

You can send a check made out to "Crohns & Colitis Canada" and CCC will send you a tax receipt.  Mail to:

 

Premier Diversified Holdings

Attention:  Sanjeev Parsad

#301 - 3185 Willingdon Green

Burnaby, BC  V5G4P3

 

You can contact me directly if you want to make a corporate donation or donate a sponsorship item:

 

[email protected]

604-679-9115 ext 205

 

Otherwise this may be it!  Maybe we've run our course and call it a day!  But that would be a God-awful shame.  There is no other event like this in Canada, and outside of Berkshire's AGM, anything similar elsewhere costs people an arm and a leg! 

 

So whereever you may be, please take note of my pissed off post.  Think about how you benefited when Fairfax was warning about collateralized debt, or the massive thread on Bank of America that many of you got rich out of, or when you discussed how Fiat was so damn cheap!  Actions speak louder than words...so I'm asking you to act!

 

Cheers!   

[KinAlberta]

bump

 

Best of luck!!!

 

Today, my best friend (since we were 5 yrs old) who has long had crohns is now fighting cancer in his lungs. He's never smoked but had kidney cancer which after being given the all clear, returned in his lung.

 

I chalk it up to a horrible domino effect of colitis, then crohns, massive amounts of drugs, multiple surgeries, multiple stresses, loss of a good job (where he was highly respected) and life slowly approaching poverty due to LTD insurance that doesn't protect him from inflation...

 

 

I think Buffett's quote below could be modified to include: equally worthy but unable to work hard citizens.  (Through no known fault of theirs, society still seems to punish them):

 

"A market economy creates some lopsided payoffs to participants. The right endowment of vocal chords, anatomical structure, physical strength, or mental powers can produce enormous piles of claim checks (stocks, bonds, and other forms of capital) on future national output. Proper selection of ancestors similarly can result in lifetime supplies of such tickets upon birth. If zero real investment returns diverted a bit greater portion of the national output from such stockholders to equally worthy and hardworking citizens lacking jackpot-producing talents, it would seem unlikely to pose such an insult to an equitable world as to risk Divine Intervention."

 

- "How Inflation Swindles the Equity Investor", Warren E. Buffett, Fortune May 1977

 

[DCG]

Could it just be that Fairfax has become a bit of a mess of a company in recent years, and people no longer have a lot of faith in Prem Watsa, and a lot of people that used to be Fairfax shareholders no longer are?

[LC]

I wish you guys the best of luck raising $$. I'm still too poor to justify the expense...one day I hope I can contribue meaningfully. You guys are top-of-the-list quality. My wife and I sponsor education where we can, in poor areas of the world and also in poor areas of NYC, but you guys have a great cause. Hopefully some well-off members can realize the great deal you are offering! :D