Note from the Director, April 11

In March strides were taken towards making 2002 a great year for the CBLDF. Our convention crews sent in strong results from Chicago, Texas, and Kansas City; the office experienced a change in directorship and location; and is now aggressively laying the groundwork for a season of extremely cool premiums.

March brought in nearly $3,000 in convention donations, which bodes well
for the Fund as we enter the heavy con season. Steve Harold and
crew brought in over $600 at Chicago
ComicFest at the start of the month. Planet
Comicon in Kansas City brought in over $1,500 in two days thanks to
the efforts of Board Member Friendly Frank
Mangiaracina and his Missouri based crew. Neil
Gaiman was also on con duty for the Fund that weekend, speaking
and signing at AggieCon
on the Texas A&M Campus. Gaiman had nothing but praise for our
Texas crew who raked in over $800 at this lively student-run show. A big
thank you goes out to the hundreds of generous members and donors who
are keeping the Fund strong with their contributions and to our outstanding
volunteers who keep our flag flying across the convention trail.

Right now the 2002 Membership renewals are starting to rush in. If you
haven't renewed your membership, or if you'd like to join the Fund's fight
for free expression, there's never been a better time. There's a new issue
of Busted! coming your way later this month with the inside scoop on Kieron
Dwyer's struggle with Starbucks, an update on the Trouble in Texas,
and lots of CBLDFnews. The next issue comes out in July and will then
continue to ship on a quarterly basis. A subscription to Busted! comes
with your tax-deductible membership and keeps you current on breaking
developments from the First Amendment's front lines. If you're not already
getting Busted!, isn't it time you sign
up?

Later this month we're releasing Potlatch,
the long awaited benefit anthology, and announcing some very cool premiums
that will be coming out this summer. Keep your eyes on this website for
more details soon. And this weekend watch your inbox, because we're making
a fantastic offer to art collectors on our CBLDFNews e-mail list. If you're
not already getting CBLDFNews, you can sign
up here or use the form on this page.

That's not all, but that's all there's time for now, because we're off
to Georgia for Atlanta
ComiCon where we'll be raffling off some cool stuff and making some
fun announcements. So stop by, say hi, and get the latest CBLDF scoop!

Charles Brownstein,

Executive Director