To: Tom Pearson Subject: RAW Year In Review-2001 Greetings from Guam and Best Wishes for an upful New Year! For the non-math-minded out there, please bear with me as I am a High School math teacher in the daytime, and this will obviously affect my reporting methods. RAW began the year 2001 with a former member rejoining RAW, and with the joining of Reggae veteran Tony Chin #1564. The year ended with three new members signing up on December 28th, #1635 Millard Borrowes, #1636 Prince Ganja, and #1637 ReggaeTown.com. Two come from the US, and one from England. The three list their membership categories as "producer," two also list themselves as "Performing Artists" and one is also a "writer." A wealth of talent to be welcomed as RAW members. 2001 also saw our first members from the countries of Zambia, #1594, Iyah Binghi Mutale "Blacka Macka I-tal" Ndeke, and Ethiopia, #1607, Benyam Erdachew. In total, 74 new or former members joined RAW, 61 from the US and 20% coming from outside the USA (Canada, England, Ethiopia, France, Ireland, Jamaica, New Zealand, Philippines, and Zambia). Our membership numbers decreased in 2001, due to a number of reasons, Some no longer work within the Reggae industry, others decided RAW was not for them, and unfortunately, we had a high number (5) of members who passed away. Our total membership at present is 769, 592 coming from the US (77%) and 177 coming from other countries (23%). RAW is represented by members in 52 countries, almost half (25) of those have a single RAW member Forwarding the Reggae Vibe! What can the rest of us do to help these solitary soldiers? I am pleased to report that the Guam RAW posse increased its membership by 150% in 2001. We are a small (10 members) but very pro-active group here, working together with a united goal. I also found it interesting that both Guam and New Mexico (which is where my irie sister, Joanie #693, lives) have exactly the same number of members. Roughly 40% of RAW members have websites, and almost twice that number have an email address. 2001 also saw our two largest categories, Performing Artists and Committed Reggae Fans, with exactly the same number of members, at 224. Approximately 20% of our membership is overdue in renewal dues, not a good sign, as this prevents us from going forward on a number of projects for which financial funding is required. Almost two dozen of our members are "LOST", meaning they have moved from the address listed for them in the RAW database, and have not sent in an update. Some things that occurred in 2001: Two RAW Chapters were founded, one in Serbia, the Reggae Power Movement #1505, and the other in Vancouver, Canada, RAW BC #1592. We are still in the process of trademarking the RAW logo, thanks to the help of Inga Scheckel #622, and Daniel Frankston, #495. The government moves quite slowly. We applied for, and received, bulk mailing status in the state of Connecticut, which is where our Off-line Coordinator, Zipp Thompson (#784) lives. This has allowed us to reduce the cost of our domestic mailings for the print version of our on-line newsletter "Wha Gwaan in RAW?". Unfortunately, the US Postal Service eliminated the Overseas Airmail Printed Matter classification, so this savings has been offset by higher foreign mailing costs. Four new members joined the RAW Board. They are Joel Spencer (#1273), who takes over as DJ & Label Coordinator, replacing Jimi Fari (#794), who finished his two year term; Gary Garrett (#694), RAW's Website Coordinator; and Kyle Russell (#1586) & Lee Marshall (#1595), who will serve as Performing Artists Co-Coordinators. This last position is still in its infancy, and Kyle and Lee will be in touch with RAW Performing Artists very soon to solicit their input for making this an effective position. A post to the RAW Forum in late December by one of our members inquiring about the plans and goals of RAW for the year 2002 elicited hundreds of responses, with some great reasoning and interaction from other members. There was a strong sense that RAW needs to focus on some attainable goals for the near future. Some immediate results of the ensuing discussions were a project thought up by Daniel Frankston (#495) to create a RAW Benefits CD, which will be made available to RAW DJs for airplay. Daniel is currently seeking input from interested members who want to get involved. You may contact him at or (415)-387-1368. Evan Reiffel (#547) had a chat room set up within 24 hours, and we hope to start a series of regional chats soon, with the purpose of allowing RAW members to "meet" with others in their region and provide input as to short range and long range goals of the RAW organization. The first such chat will be held on Jan 24th in the Central US region, to be hosted by Sister Irie (#23). Anyone willing to host a local chat should get in touch with me as soon as possible. The RAW chat room is located at www.hgmweb.com/RAW/rawparachat.html On January 1st, a chat was scheduled to take place with the aim of forming a committee of dedicated persons, who will develop a RAW Constitution and set of bylaws, to be finished later this year. As I edit this report, that chat did take place, and was attended by half a dozen plus members. RAW is actively seeking one or two non-US members to join this committee. If you are interested, please contact Evan (#547) at by Jan 11th. We received no viable proposal for a Conference in 2001, although there are meetings taking place to organize one for late summer 2002. More information on that will be forthcoming as details become available. Each member of the Board has been requested to submit a year-end report in the coming weeks, and I will make those available as they come in. Once December bank statements are received, a financial report will also be made available upon request for anyone interested. In communications with some of those who have decided not to renew their RAW memberships, I have noticed some similar concerns. They are 1) RAW seems very US-oriented, 2) RAW seems very West Coast US oriented, and 3) those leaving have felt that RAW has not done anything to help them. With over three-quarters of our membership living in the US, and 30% of that segment residing in California, I am not surprised by sentiments 1 and 2 above. But how do we change that? It is important that those living outside the US contribute and let us know what is happening in their section of the world. The same is true for those living in states other than California. As for the third concern above, I found it interesting that in almost every case where the leaving member felt RAW has not helped them in any way, it was also true, that I had never once (or very rarely) received any news from those members of their runnings. It has been stated many times before, and is worth repeating, each member needs to USE the RAW network to make it work for them. If you are an Artist, send us news of concert dates & new releases; if you represent a Record label, let us know what you have coming up in the near future; the same can be said for almost every category. Committed Reggae Fans, let us know of events taking place in your area, concerts you have been to, bands you have heard. Send in your news, so we can let the rest of the RAW family know about it. The on-line news-letter "Wha Gwaan in RAW?" is intended for exactly this purpose. Items to be included can be sent to me at The RAW Forum is a place where members can post messages intended for the inner-workings of the RAW organization, its goals and aims, and how we can work towards achieving them. It is a good place for DJs to post playlists. Members can also use the Forum to ask questions of other members, when needed. Papa Pilgrim once expressed the following sentiments, which still apply today: Folks often ask me what RAW can do for them. My standard reply is "Nothing, unless you are willing to do something for yourself. RAW, the world's largest Reggae network gives you nothing more than keys. You have to insert the keys, turn the knobs, and open the doors. Once you've opened the doors the rest is up to you. If you don't use the keys RAW provides, nothing happens and you'll be dissatisfied with your RAW membership. Using the keys provided by RAW is your best bet to find what you seek by joining RAW." For RAW to work, all of us must take part. Volunteers are needed in a variety of areas, but please make sure you can really commit to helping before offering. I would like all RAW members to feel a part of this organization founded by Papa Pilgrim and Rastaman Nane, and also to feel as if they are getting value from their membership. Together, we can make a very positive impact on the Reggae industry, as we Forward The Reggae Vibe...Everytime! In closing, I give thanks to each and every RAW member for the support and kind words I receive on almost a daily basis, and for the wonderful friendships I have made as a result of being a RAW member. Respect! Tom "Jah Son" Pearson RAW #33