Promoter Johnny Chisholm, known for his “One Mighty Weekend” parties, has announced that he is pulling out of Gay Days weekend 2010.
Despite a year plagued by bankruptcy and lawsuits, Chisholm had planned to host a series of pool parties dubbed “One Mighty Reunion Events.” But the original promotion at OneMightyReunionEvents.com was changed to a cancellation on April 21, citing “a series of setbacks and broken promises over the past year.”
The message assigns some blame: “This past year has been punctuated by speculation, pessimism and outright hatred, by some in our own community, towards our organization. Despite what has been written, it has never been our intent to mislead our customers.”
The message also promises that attendees who have already booked packages will receive a full refund or a reduced rate for just the hotel room. The letter is signed by Chisholm and Ted McCrary, his manager for previous events.
Circuit party website JustCircuit.com also announced the cancellation, and assigned responsibility: “The actions by bloggers associated with other Gay Day weekend events continue to damage the success of the overall weekend.”
JustCircuit also said there were a “sizable number of hotel bookings at Buena Vista Palace” and hinted that Chisholm may return to the Gay Days weekend circuit scene. “One Mighty Reunion Events did not announce a full withdrawal from the Gay Day weekend market and will leave open the door for future planned events,” the site said.
Tony Hayden, who runs the circuit party website TheCircuitDog.com, said he has received anonymous tips to his website that the real reason for the cancellation is that Chisholm did not book enough hotel rooms by the Buena Vista Palace’s deadline.
Chisholm did not return calls for comment.
Watermark took a closer look at the Reunion events. The absence of Chisholm’s name from the web site, company registration and marketing materials led to conjecture that this was designed to distance Chisholm from the weekend event in light of his problems the previous year, lawsuits and recent bankruptcy. Calls to the Reunion host hotel, the Buena Vista Palace, confirmed that the event was a “Johnny Chisholm party,” as did other sources.
Chisholm and his company, Chisholm LLC, gained notoriety as producers of “One Mighty Weekend,” which included the huge theme-park events that have monopolized the Gay Days Weekend nighttime party scene for several years. But last April, less than two months before scheduled event dates, Chisholm announced that he had moved Friday night’s Beach Ball to the Buena Vista Palace, and Saturday night’s One Mighty Party to the Gaylord Palms convention hotel on International Drive. Then, just three days before One Mighty Party, the venue was switched again, also to the Buena Vista Palace. Attendance plummeted. After the switch, some ticket holders complained to Watermark that they were unable to secure refunds.
A lawsuit brought by two of Chisholm’s investors confirmed that the Pensacola-based party promoter was experiencing serious financial problems. On March 8, 2010, Chisholm LLC was dissolved by a judge in a bankruptcy ruling. Many speculated that would be the end of Chisholm’s lengthy high-profile involvement with Orlando’s annual big gay event. That appears to be the case—at least for 2010.
