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!   

[Jurgis]

Sanjeev,

 

I appreciate CoBF a lot.

 

I see three reasons for the attendance fall off:

1. People are disappointed with Fairfax.

2. People are disappointed with Premier.

3. Politics threads on CoBF push people away.

 

Not that explanation will make you happier...

 

I am not attending this year.

 

Best regards and best luck

 

Edit: I started poll which may show other reasons.

[Parsad]

Sanjeev,

 

I appreciate CoBF a lot.

 

I see three reasons for the attendance fall off:

1. People are disappointed with Fairfax.

2. People are disappointed with Premier.

3. Politics threads on CoBF push people away.

 

Not that explanation will make you happier...

 

I am not attending this year.

 

Best regards and best luck

 

Edit: I started poll which may show other reasons.

 

Your theory could be correct, but as we've seen from the poll...disappointment in Fairfax and Premier is less of a factor.  Politics also could be ruled out, as stats show the number of active users and readers is the same or rising in the last two years on COBF.  Politics may roar its ugly head once in a while here, but it certainly doesn't show up at the annual dinner.  So, I think that eliminates all three.

 

What I've noticed is that many of our older users have become disengaged from the board and the dinner.  Success tends to propagate a sense of comfort and perhaps even a degree of apathy.  You forget that you weren't so rich once, or that you're smarter than you really are and have little to gain from those newbies who have come aboard.

 

Maybe like other things, these things run in cycles and this is the end of this run.  Who knows!  But I thought I would make that post to shake a few trees and wake people up.  Cheers!

[Jurgis]

BTW if person buys $100CAD option and wants that to be donation (i.e. they won't attend), is there a way to easily indicate that?

 

Or other easy credit-card/paypal donation option for non Canadians?

[Liberty]

I really enjoyed the dinner when I went in 2013, thank you for your hard work organizing it. I'm not really the traveling type, unlike many others, though, and with a young kid, I haven't been able to make in the past few years. This year I was hesitating between it and CSU agm. I ended up deciding on CSU because I've never been before, but I'd be sad if the dinner disappeared because I'm definitely considering going in coming years and it's a quality event and a good chance to meet some of the great people from this community you've built.

[rolling]

stats show the number of active users and readers is the same or rising in the last two years on COBF.  Politics may roar its ugly head once in a while here, but it certainly doesn't show up at the annual dinner.  So, I think that eliminates all three.

 

What I've noticed is that many of our older users have become disengaged from the board and the dinner.  Success tends to propagate a sense of comfort and perhaps even a degree of apathy.  You forget that you weren't so rich once, or that you're smarter than you really are and have little to gain from those newbies who have come aboard.

Could it be that older users becoming disengaged from the board had a higher likelihood of attending the dinner?

 

Newbies might be:

- living outside canada/north america (which makes attending much harder), especially if they are

- poorer (being more recent to investing would grant that)

- not engaged with fairfax (since fairfax was an opportunity almost 10 years ago but has been lagging in more recent years)

 

Thank you for you effort, I am recent to the board and surely hope it will continue to be an haven for investors out there

[Spekulatius]

I am guessing  at most new members of this message board don't even own FFH. I don't own it and I know some other ones that joined that don't own it either. With no ownership in FFH, One is much less likely to attend an investor event that is related to FFH.

 

I personally have never been to any investor event nor have I been to a shareholder meeting. I have been investing for over 30 years.

[Packer16]

I have never met more interesting folks in one place, it is even better than Berkshire, who are interesting in talking about investing for 4 days straight.  It is like the message board on steroids.  If you have not attended I would recommend.

 

Packer

[JayGatsby]

As a newer member, what is the event? I guess I've been asleep at the wheel! Is it limited to Fairfax shareholders?