Gun Blogger Rendezvous Drops Soldier's Angels

In a previous post I mentioned that Soldier's Angels had agreed to take over management of the Gun Blogger Rendezvous. This was the result of numerous conversations and emails between Soldier's Angels and myself. I agreed to help as I could in the transition, but Soldier's Angels would take over the management and organizing of the Rendezvous.

One of the very first things that must be done is for the contract to be negotiated and signed with the Silver Legacy hotel, so we would have a place to hold the Rendezvous. Normally this should be done in December, as by the end of January the entire meeting room spaces are booked for the entire year. I contacted our guy in Group Sales at the Silver Legacy and told him that things were in transition and that we might be a little slow, but we'd get it done as soon as possible. I emailed and telephoned Soldier's Angels several times regarding the importance of getting this done right away so we wouldn't lose the space. I emailed them again last week, again stressing how important it was to get the contract signed, as there were a lot of other things that also needed to be done before September. The response was "...it seems to appear as the whole burden of the event is being pushed onto SA..." Since we had already agreed that I would sign a contract to transfer ownership of the Rendezvous and all rights to the Rendezvous to Soldier's Angels, I cannot understand how this could have been a surprise to them. They also stated that their staff were not paid enough to take on a project like the Gun Blogger Rendezvous! I'll bet they're paid more that I was for putting on the event for the last eight years...

So, I have now officially terminated the relationship between Soldier's Angels and the Gun Blogger Rendezvous. (Don't worry - Should have some fantastic news on a much better and more efficient organization for the  Rendezvous to join up with to benefit veterans in a few days!)

I took a little time to do some research on Soldier's Angels on the Net. You may want to do the same. It looks to me like the Soldier's Angels of today is a far different organization than it was five or six years ago. One online charity rating website gave them a grade of "D", while another gave them a grade of "D-". If what those site say is true, only 36% of the money collected by Soldier's Angels ever finds its way to the veterans. It is a matter of public record for a 501(c)3 non-profit, and I think their financial form is called a 990. If any of you know how to take a look at their 990 and see if this 36% is true, please let me know and I'll correct this post if it's wrong.