I've been to fourteen Folk Alliance conferences since 1994, and I don't think the atmosphere on floors 17-18-19 was any more chaotic than usual this year. I've never really found the late-night private showcases to be a good opportunity for performers to present their music in anything resembling a decent listening environment -- that's what Performance Alley is for now -- but rather a chance to participate in a huge party. But I can see how a musician who was hoping for a chance to present his/her music in the best light might be disappointed.

There have been attempts at volume level enforcement in the past that seem to be only sporadically enforced. As for the number of guerilla showcases, that's limited by the number of music rooms. But I'm sure that the FA organizers would welcome comments on both topics or anything else relating to the conference.

For me -- my "business" conection to the conference is as a music journalist -- the fun is in the socializing, the chance to hear old friends again, and the chance to discover good people who I haven't heard before. Sometimes I even learn things too! Anyone catch the Maybelles, the all-woman old time band from Brooklyn? Or the Ian Tyson tribute concert? The folk-rocking Strangelings? Or from the contemporary songwriting genre, the wonderfully harmonious Sons of the Never Wrong or the utterly charming and perpetually energetic Women In Docs? Those are just five of the fifty or so showcases I heard over the weekend, and it was well worth the thousand mile trip!