A Wedding and Two Funerals: Monster-Mania, Day Two.

Well - things started well enough.

Somewhat guiltily, I approached Herschell Gordon Lewis Saturday morning, in search of self-marketing advice. I had imposed myself enough on his time already, and the last thing I wanted to do was become a bother. Not surprisingly, however, he was every bit the gentleman I had come to expect, and more. After a quick analysis, he shared his opinion on my best approach and target market, and then, incredibly, offered himself as one of my personal references.

That was... astounding. From both a business and entertainment standpoint, Lewis has long been a man I've held in the greatest admiration, and his offer of endorsement made me feel like Jimmy Olsen getting a slap on the back from Superman. In addition, of course, a man with his monumental standing in the Marketing community can't help but to carry weight on a resume.

(Sad-but-true addendum: After spending so much time with him in discussion, I frankly did not dare to ask him for an autograph - it seemed beneath our discussion, and I didn't want him to think less of me. So I had my friend sneak me one under pretense.)

After what I considered a spectacular public Q&A later in the day, sudden storm clouds gathered on the horizon. The organizer had scheduled Herschell's film premiere at the same time as the Q&A for director John Carpenter, cutting deeply into his prospective audience, and there was additional friction of a business sort that I immediately distanced myself from. As a guy who works 40 hours in a weekend for three pizza slices, I was not a party to - nor, in this case, did I want to be party to - financial dealings between a promoter I've worked with for eight years and a guest I have admired for twenty, and especially one who had proven to be a true friend and ally this weekend.

My fractured relationship with Sid Haig still fresh in my mind, I am all too aware of the concept of guilt by association. I hoped that things wouldn't get worse. But I fear they may have.

After nine hours on my feet and active, I found my time at Lewis' premiere a little shattered - no one gave me a memo on the Saturday Pizza CARE package, so I was driven to grab a quick bite, and a subsequent call of nature made my presence - and sporadic lack thereof - all too obvious, I suspect. At the finish of premiere, we shared no words... Troubling. I hope that time will allow him to separate his perceived slights at the convention from our earnest conversations.

At the very last minute, I was able to snag Bancroft's front desk number from my friend and colleague; sadly, with an apparently high turnover rate, she could not provide me with a contact name. Still, a number and a person on the inside pulling for me is a wonderful gift of coincidence for a position I applied for only a day before. Come Monday, I'll see if I can tactfully exploit them.