Originally published: Sept. 20, 2009
Updated: Oct. 3, 2009
[Ed. Note — View our Oct. 3 Editorial addressing this story: “Fulfilling our obligations to serve you”]
A recently attempted and failed merger between three Carolinas LGBT publications has resulted in several accusations, concerns and questions regarding unpublished print editions and pre-paid advertising by several Carolinas businesses and non-profits.
The Asheville, N.C.-based Stereotypd, a monthly LGBT news publication, and the Myrtle Beach, S.C.-based OnQ Carolina Edition, a bi-weekly glossy gay nightlife guide, announced Aug. 22 they would merge under the leadership and direction of Jamie Seabolt, executive editor and creator of OnQ.
Stereotypd business and artistic director Porscha Yount, OnQ‘s Jamie Seabolt and Stereotypd editor Lin Orndorf distributed a press release announcing the merger. In it, Seabolt is identified as the Asheville paper’s new publisher and Stereotypd is identified as “part of the OnQ Network.” A few days later, the new OnQ team announced a merger with the Charleston, S.C.-based Drag Magazine.
By Sept. 16, the situation had devolved into a convoluted series of events, with Stereotypd and OnQ staff each accusing the other of bad business practices and financial mismanagement.
Yount and Seabolt both confirmed the original intent of their alliance was not a full-blown merger. With Stereotypd publisher Ira Schultz and Orndorf, Yount is a part-owner of Out in the Carolinas Publishing, Inc., Stereotypd‘s corporate owner. Yount and Orndorf are life partners.
“The original plan was to share pay for a sales rep and do collaboration on sales,” Yount said.
Seabolt’s and Yount’s statements to Q-Notes regarding how the merger was first proposed and by whom have been in conflict with each other. Seabolt and Orndorf provided Q-Notes with a scan of a handwritten document identified as a “working agreement” between the parties.
In the Sept. 5 document, which is signed by Seabolt, Schultz, Orndorf and Yount, Stereotypd was to be split evenly between “OnQ Network” and Stereotypd.
Seabolt said a new publishing company was to be formed by Yount and Orndorf for their share of the Asheville publication. Although identified as “OnQ Network LLC” in an electronic edition of Drag Magazine’s September issue, Seabolt has not yet filed any legal paperwork to incorporate. Seabolt said he has begun the process to file with the North Carolina Secretary of State.
In two press releases on Sept. 16, Stereotypd and OnQ announced the merger between their publications and Drag Magazine had been called off; differences in business practices and artistic direction were cited as the main cause of the split.
SC Pride sponsorship soured
More than a month before the announcement of the failed merger, Seabolt signed an advertising contract with Ryan Wilson, president of SC Pride, for the group’s upcoming Sept. 12 festival in Columbia.
Wilson said his organization paid $650 for a series of five full-page ads in five consecutive issues of OnQ Carolina Edition. Seabolt confirmed the transaction and Wilson provided a signed contract. According to the document, SC Pride was given a 50 percent discount on OnQ ad rates. The ads were to begin running July 24 and end Sept. 11, Only two print editions, published July 25 and July 31, were ever produced and distributed.
Seabolt said he contacted Wilson to tell him he was having problems with printing, but Seabolt never informed Wilson the print issues would never be produced.
“I told Ryan Wilson we were having trouble printing,” Seabolt said. “When I told him that, I could have possibly two days later got enough money from advertisers to make the issue work.”
When the money never came in, Seabolt was unable to produce the first OnQ August issue. He said he never informed SC Pride of the issue’s failure because Wilson said he was too busy to discuss the matter.
Wilson said he was never contacted by Seabolt regarding printing problems.
“We never had a conversation about ads,” Wilson said. “There was never communication on Seabolt’s part to me or to Clay [a SC Pride volunteer] about printing issues. I don’t believe that conversation ever occurred.”
In an email dated Aug. 17 provided by Seabolt, Wilson asks Seabolt to respond to a sponsorship agreement between OnQ and the SC Pride, which included the five full-page SC Pride ads and the 50 percent advertising discount .
“I am CCing Clay on this email so that you have his email,” Wilson wrote. “He will follow-up shortly so that ya’ll can work together since I have been and will be otherwise occupied on executing the bigger picture of the whole week. Please reply back to both of us with your agreement so that we can move forward with securing the tent and other equipment that we need.”
Wilson alleges Seabolt did not respond to the Aug. 17 email until Aug. 25.
In an email from Seabolt to the SC Pride volunteer, Seabolt wrote, “I am on the road today and actually am moving out of my apartment tomorrow. I will try to answer your questions as soon as possible when I can get to a computer.”
After a follow-up email from the SC Pride volunteer, Seabolt responded on Aug. 28 and confirmed the details of the sponsorship agreement.
“I am on the road all week so at present I dont (sic) have a printer to print, sign, and resubmit,” Seabolt wrote. “I am good to go with all that I had promised Ryan VIA phone, text, and e-mail. “I wont (sic) be able to submit you a ‘signed’ contract until Monday.”
Despite the assurance he would fulfill his end of the sponsorship agreement, Seabolt never produced OnQ’s two August issues or the first issue in September.
Joint contracts unfulfilled
Starting sometime in August – one joint OnQ–Stereotypd advertising contract was signed Aug. 21 – advertising for both publications was sold as package deals. Funds collected from some of the new contracts were deposited into the Out in the Carolinas Publishing bank account, according to both Seabolt and Yount.
The two disagree over where the money was supposed to be directed.
In one transaction with a gay business in Greensboro, N.C., Seabolt said he told Yount to “put the money in our accounts,” and alleged Yount convinced him it would be better to use Stereotypd‘s credit card processing system over Seabolt’s PayPal account.
Both Yount and Orndorf said Seabolt was the one who told them to use Stereotypd‘s checking account and credit card processing.
“All along Jamie kept saying until we get banking accounts straightened out that we have one bank account that things go into and we’ll transfer money to other accounts to pay for things,” Orndorf said. She said the plan was to either pay for OnQ’s printing or give the money to Seabolt so he could complete the transactions.
Seabolt said he had no access to the Out in the Carolinas accounts and funds that should have gone toward September production never met his hands. He claimed those funds went to pay off old debts incurred by Stereotypd, including a bad check written to the publication’s print broker. A check to Seabolt from Out in the Carolinas also bounced. Orndorf and Yount said arrangements were made to pay their print broker and other obligations in full.
Seabolt claimed a combination of financial difficulties led to interruption in OnQ’s August and September production.
“It was a matter of money,” Seabolt said, adding several advertisers had yet to pay him for ads run in OnQ. “You do with what you can and if you don’t have the money to print you either skip an issue or do electronic only. All paid publications are finding it difficult to find paying advertisers and getting them to pay on time.”
He alleged September production for Stereotypd was interrupted due to financial mismanagement on the part of that publication’s staff.
“All of the money from all the new sales from OnQ, Drag Mag as well as Stereotypd was absorbed,” he said. “The money disappeared covering Stereotypd’s old debts through its old publishing group. I had to make the decision that we had to cut Stereotypd’s issue for September because there was no money to print all three.”
Orndorf told Q-Notes her publication has been having trouble keeping up in a bad economy and floated the idea of combining their September and October issues long before talks of a merger took place.
“It has been a hard summer for us,” she said. “It really has carried over from the spring. We started having clients not paying on time and some clients not paying at all. We’ve always had one or two in the past but then we had like ten. It made it very difficult.”
Seabolt offered no explanation as to why he did not have access to financial accounts of a newspaper of which he had been named publisher.
In another joint OnQ–Stereotypd advertising agreement, Seabolt offered Asheville’s Blue Ridge Pride four full page color ads spread across both publications in issues to be published from Aug. 28 through Sept. 25. But neither Stereotypd‘s September issue nor OnQ‘s August or September issues were ever published.
Blue Ridge Pride’s Amy Huntsman, who signed the advertising agreement with Seabolt, said she and others began looking for print copies of the publications and could never find them.
“There was a breach of contract,” she said. “We would be getting four full color ads. One in Stereotypd in September and two in OnQ for September and one in OnQ in October. We paid for half the amount due for that.”
Huntsman said Stereotypd has taken steps to resolve the situation.
“Because of the breach of contract, we were refunded money from the folks at Stereotypd,” Huntsman said. “They are being generous and working with us and giving us some comp things for the misunderstanding and lack of follow through.”
An OnQ contract with Blue Ridge Pride, provided by Yount, shows the group was supposed to pay $262.50 on several dates. A total of $525 — two payments — was refunded to the group by Stereotypd.
Schultz confirmed that advertising payments were refunded to both Huntsman and the Greensboro business.
In a third unfulfilled contract, Seabolt collected a $200 payment from Columbia nightclub H20 for three ads which were to run in OnQ Carolina‘s Aug. 27 and Sept. 15 issues and Stereotypd‘s September issue.
A contract, also provided by Yount, was signed by Nikki Williams on behalf of H20 and Seabolt. It includes a notation documenting the initial $200 payment on Aug. 23.
Seabolt said he approached Williams regarding the situation and discussed arrangements to make up for the missed print issues. He said Williams found the agreement acceptable. A phone call to Williams by Q-Notes went unreturned and Q-Notes was unable to confirm these details with her.
Missed issues the norm?
Failure to produce issues of OnQ Carolina Edition, either in print or electronic-only, seems to be the rule rather than the exception and points to an alarming trend of inconsistent production and misleading sales pitches.
OnQ’s first printed edition, dated Oct. 10, 2008, appeared at 2008’s NC Pride festival. It was followed by a second print edition on Oct. 24, 2008. On Nov. 7, 2008, OnQ published its third issue. OnQ’s fourth issue didn’t appear until December. At the time and until now only the front cover of the lone December issue was ever published on the magazine’s website or Myspace account.
Other published issues included issue number five in February which was distributed electronically in PDF or JPG photo files on its website and Myspace account. Seabolt did not begin keeping a regular print schedule until OnQ’s sixth issue, published May 8, 2009.
Seabolt claims the only issues he missed were in January and that electronic versions of his magazine were distributed to readers via email in February, March and April.
Seabolt declined to provide PDF files for the missing issues of OnQ.
“I see no point in sending all of my past issues as it should have no involvement in the article,” he wrote in an email.
The issue numbers of OnQ Carolina Edition’s publicly archived issues – whether on Myspace.com, the publication’s website or on issuu.com – all run sequentially from from one to twelve.
Seabolt said he did not begin printing the publication until May 2009. However, a November 2008 email from former account executive Michael Woods to the manager of the White Rabbit store in Charlotte shows OnQ said the publication was already in print and had thousands of copies distributed across the region.
“OnQ Carolina Edition is the only North & South Carolina based gay publication that is 100% digitally produced, environmentally productive, and 100% color,” the email read. “It is a bi-weekly publication that prints no less than 5000 copies that are distributed throughout North & South Carolina.”
The publication’s 2008 media kit and rate card also contained similar misleading information.
“OnQ prints no less than 36 pages per issue with a press run of no less than 5,000 copies every two weeks,” the media kit read.
Several OnQ issues have fallen short of Seabolt’s 36 page count guarantee. The media kit also claimed the publication was distributed to several hundred locations.
Past scrutiny
This summer’s recent string of events, including Seabolt’s breaches of contract, is not the first time Seabolt has come under scrutiny for alleged financial mismanagement, missed or late print issues or failure to fulfill his end of agreements.
Originally from West Virginia, Seabolt started his first gay publication, GoGayGuy, in West Virginia in 2003. Seabolt claims he operated six papers from 2003 to 2005, including the Pittsburgh-based Get Out Pittsburgh and Cleveland ROX.
Business owners and non-profit organizations tell similar stories about their experiences working or interacting with Seabolt.
In November 2003, Seabolt’s GoGayGuy held a contest in which remaining proceeds were to be donated to several AIDS charities. In an article in the Dec. 14, 2003, issue of his publication, Seabolt wrote the event raised $487 for the Charleston (W.Va.) AIDS Network, the Tommy Kersey Foundation and the Tri-State AIDS Task Force, according to a Dec. 16, 2003, news article in The Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette.
The article also stated Seabolt planned to donate the money to the AIDS organizations at Christmas. The organizations had not yet received the money and one group sent Seabolt a letter asking for a detailed account of the funds raised and a check for the group’s share by Jan. 6.
Four days later, The Gazette reported Seabolt would send the money to the three organizations.
In his interview with Q-Notes, Seabolt claimed the daily newspaper had contacted him “the day after the event,” and that he’d not yet had a chance to send the money to the charities. According to the Dec. 20 Gazette article, Seabolt’s contest had ended on Nov. 16.
Seabolt also allegedly ran into troubles in Pittsburgh, Penn., where he operated Get Out Pittsburgh. The area’s established LGBT newspaper, Out (which predates the national Out magazine), filed legal paperwork accusing Seabolt of infringing upon their trademark.
“We served him with papers to have him quit using the name because of the similarities with our newspaper,” said publisher Tony Molnar-Strejcek. “He ignored them and we never got a response.”
Molnar-Strejcek said he attempted to track down Seabolt when he packed up, moved out of his storefront office and seemed to disappear. Shortly thereafter, Seabolt stopped publishing Get Out Pittsburgh, along with his other publications.
“At that point, we discontinued any legal action,” Molnar-Strejcek said. “It wasn’t worth it and ultimately, he did what we wanted him to do – stop using the name.”
Seabolt said he wasn’t infringing on anyone’s trademark and said he contacted LPI Media, owners of the national Out magazine at the time.
“Get Out Pittsburgh wasn’t infringing on any trademark because officially, according to the copyright database, the public rights to ‘Out’ was registered to LPI Media,” Seabolt said. “I approached LPI media explained to them my situation and they said if there were any lawsuits that were taking place it should be between LPI Media and the Pittsburgh organization known as Out.”
A sales and marketing professional, who said he worked with Seabolt in Pittsburgh and has asked Q-Notes not to use his name in print, said Seabolt left writers unpaid and had trouble sticking to deadlines.
Seabolt said he never missed an issue of Get Out Pittsburgh and only one issue was ever late. In that one instance, Seabolt said his printer refused to run the publication because the press manager found the issue’s back page ad to be offensive.
He said he left no one unpaid when he stopped publishing the paper.
Molnar-Strejcek said he spoke to several writers who were looking for Seabolt at the same time he was.
“They wished me good luck on finding him and if I had the opportunity to talk to him to let him know they wanted to be paid,” Molnar-Strejcek said.
Seabolt said he stopped publishing all of his papers in April 2005.
“It was going so large, so quickly, I was burned out,” he said. “I was done. Over it. I knew I could make a lot more money and have a lot less headaches working for corporate America.”
Pointing the finger
The turmoil resulting in shared disagreements between Seabolt and Stereotypd staff has left both sides feeling burned by the other.
Seabolt said his claims can be supported by documentation, much of which has been examined by Q-Notes. He said he intended to take legal action against Out in the Carolinas Publishing.
“You really have been fed a lot of false claims by Porscha [Yount] that they can not (sic) supported (sic) with documents,” Seabolt wrote in an email to this writer. “I wouldn’t think it worth the risk to run her ‘gossip’ to try and make me look bad, which would result in Regent Media getting involved.”
Regent Entertainment Media, Inc., is a subsidiary of Here Media, which owns and operates Gay.com, The Advocate and Out magazine, among other products.
Seabolt was named a Mr. Gay.com 2008 Community Leader. In several emails to Q-Notes, Seabolt claimed he was a “Regent Media property” as a Mr. Gay.com titleholder and insisted this news article must be run through and approved by Regent Media’s legal team prior to publication.
Seabolt said others are attempting to make him “look like the kind of person who does not make good.”
“I do make good,” he said. “I’m a national community leader for a reason. It is not because I’m scandalous…Regent Media did their research, too, and I still won my title.”
But both Yount and Orndorf feel they’ve been the victim of a scam. Over time, Orndorf became more uncomfortable with Seabolt’s business practices and tactics.
“It gradually became clear to me that it was much more like a Ponzi scheme than anything else,” she said.
Yount echoed Orndorf’s thoughts.
“I definitely feel like I’ve been taken for a ride,” she said. “I feel really stupid right now. I can’t speak for the other people on our staff, but I think that sentiment is fairly shared around these parts. I feel like I’ve been completely conned.”
Yount and Orndorf said the deal moved too quickly. They didn’t have time to investigate finances or draw up any legal paperwork.
Seabolt insists he’s done nothing wrong, but said he’s often found himself in highly controversial moments.
“Why do I always catch so much heat? I don’t really know,” he said. “I’ve been asking myself that for 28 years. Sometimes there are just problems in a community and sometimes it is easier to just point fingers to the most visible person.
“I’ve always made it my habit to be seen and be out there because it makes people feel more comfortable in being involved…but the consequence is that you’re always the target. It is easier to point fingers toward the person that everybody knows.”
Good job on this article and thanks to Q Notes for bringing out into the open.
I have read your article, I see a hidden agenda by Q-Notes and vendetta to produce a story. They meaning the 3 companies may have had creative differences, there may be different business practices and I see the same issues on both sides of the street with the 2 main businesses. They both have missed issues and they both have missed advertising. I personally have exprerienced the same kind of problems with Q-Notes / Front Page over the last 12 years. Since I currently no longer need to advertise I do not have those issues but it has be more than clear over the years that this type of business is a major economic challange. I Wish all of them well and well know how challanging it is now more than ever. Good Luck to you all.
An example of good, solid reporting on Matt Comer’s part and while I’m saddened by the current of the story, having at one time been involved in regional gay journalism, I’m not at all surprised by any of it.
Just wanted to say it seems less than productive that one GLBT resource would attack another. Aren’t we all supposed too support each other? I have personally meet Mr. Seabolt, he seemed to be a genuine and hard working. I have also seen OnQ magazines around Greensboro all the time. However I have also meet Mr. Comer and being an UNCG student I am shocked he has the nerve to bash anyone. Perhaps Q Notes should have Mr. Comer write an article about how his underage drinking stunt destroyed the respect of UNCG’s Pride organization!
I think it is quite one-sided to point fingers to only one publication. Other gay publications that “serve” the Carolina’s are far from perfect. Why single him out? I agree, Mr. Seabolt is a very easy target. At least he can be seen out in the community trying to spread goodwill and be a positive gay face. Where is Q-Notes at all of these events? What about Out in Asheville/Stereotypd? Those publications are only seen at pride at best. If Mr. Seabolt we’re not well known for all he does it wouldn’t even make this article juicy enough for you to print. I think he has succeeded in building a good reputation during a rough time. Not only is he battling an economy but he is battling all of this hate from publications that are not able to hold their own. Remember when Q-Notes was 80 pages? As we all can see, it is no longer. People aren’t perfect and I am sure Mr. Seabolt is no exception. My point is, you are highlighting his poor execution and the faults he is facing during a poor economy… both of which are hardly criminal. My question is, why haven’t you ever pointed out any of the achievements or his positive moments? You point out in this article that he is a national gay.com winner – but did you ever run a story to announce his achievement when he won it? Again, run the whole story, please don’t waste your journalistic talents to simply try and run your competitor’s name through the mud.
Drama Drama….. I am somewhat surprised to see this kind of trash in print on Q-Notes. Matt this is beneath you; you lost some points my friend. I would expect you as an editor would put more enfaces on the Employment Non Discrimination Act [ENDA] hearings that are scheduled in Washington DC for tomorrow, Information to our community about the most important legislation in the history of our community is not even mentioned in Q-Notes. Please remove the entire article shading your competitors and focus more on what is pertinent to our community.
Janice Covington
Lord Help Us as a Community when a Icon of our community turns on a struggling competitor. It saddens me to see that a community leader such as Q-Notes takes on another community leader in trying to trash them for trying to do great things. I have seen both Q-Notes in the community in the past but less and less in the present If you want to talk about Jamie when YOU Matt live in a Glass House and you should clean up your own back door before going after other people. I have seen Jamie in a lot of locations building relationships and trying bring the community together. Not like you running from location to location to gossip on negative issues. I have seen Jamie struggle in a hard economic times to produce a great much needed quality publication. I have seen business owners come up to him and produce every excuse in the world why they could not pay their bill or why their payment was returned for none payment, yet he took it on good faith that they would follow thru with payment. I am sure that all publications have the same issues…. as a growing business, you spend a lot of times in the ditches building a grass roots business if your going to one day make a difference. I have seen a lot of big corporate sponsorships come into the area that have NEVER graced the Carolinas before because of Jamie and his tireless and thankfulness efforts. The other community leaders that you have enlisted in this vindictive agenda have their own issues and have their own agenda and they got you to do their dirty work and you fell for it? If there was ever a story with two sides this is one. I have seen Jamie run ads for people in trade for sponsorship instead of pay. I know that Q-Notes has done the same thing, I have seen him personally get out and help raise money for a lot of important organizations to the GLBT community and I have seen them thank him for his help….I have seen him spend hours on the phone getting sponsors to give merchandise and other items to be sold to help raise money and I have seen them receive the funds. I know for a fact that you did a survey of business owners and non profits and did a pick and choose as to who you wanted to report. I know for a fact that you did not allow many of those you call a chance to tell both sides of the story, Where are the stories of how Jamie got Huge sponsorships and big names to appear in this state in multi locations and the business owners and patrons benefited from those events?? Where is the praise of Jamie getting the states Noticed by big Corporate Sponsorships thru his networkings….Why would the Icon Q-Notes get involved in a person business matter and not be objectionable and on a non bias coverage, rather than getting sucked in to taking sides….. is sounds like kids in the sand box who invited other kids to play with their toys and did not like the way the played so they wanted to throw them out of the sand box…..Why did Q-Notes takes sides in this issue?? It is clear…their is a personal issue MATT and you have put Q-NOTES in the middle of it…..it appears all you are doing is spreading gossip? Where is the required documents from the other side…… You wrote it was Jamie’s idea to put the money in their account ??? Good for you Jamie…. Money is missing from that account where Jamie had NO access ??? why would you bring this comment into the conversation or the article if Your Not Personally involved in trying to discredit a competitor….SHAME ON YOU MATT you are too smart to professionally drop the ball and put your ICON in Drama…………if your suffering in sales ……..speading drama and not reporting the whole story only discredits you and your Brand….Way more than Jamie……get out of the fish bowl and look at this objectively ..Shame Shame Shame…..Be Professional the gay community deserve a real story not drama…..there are a lot more important issues that violate our very quality of life and rights to be caught in DRAMA
Disappointing. The degree to which Q-Notes used this article to irresponsibly color in the eyes of the public the misfortunes of a well-intentioned business agreement surprises our community. This story was unnecessary, long, drawn-out and meddlesome. While factual reporting on such issues is very important, Q-Notes must be a responsible, unbiased source, practicing better discretion and civility. Couldn’t this article have been written in better taste, in much fewer words? I agree with Janice . . . remove the current article in its entirety.
The old appeals to racial, sexual and religious chauvinism, to rabid nationalist fervor, are beginning not to work.” ” …this business of who I am and weather I`m good or bad, or achieving or not, all of that`s learned along the way.” “It`s just a ride…and we can change it any time we want. It`s only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings of money…” “…to realize that I had the game wrong, that the game was to find out what I already was.” “We were saying how very important it is to bring about in the human mind the radical revolution. The crisis is a crisis in consciousness. The crisis that cannot anymore accept the old norms, the old patterns, the ancient traditions. And, considering what the world is now, with all the misery, conflict, destructive brutality, aggression, and so on, man is still as he was. He is still brutal, violent, aggressive, acquisitive, competitive-and he has built a society along these lines.
gay drama….is just drama.
boycott the paper…it’s useless trash.
After dating Mr. Seabolt for the last month. Personally assisting with both the SC and NC events and losing nearly one thousand of my own personal money trying to help him with everything this is the actual statement I must make. It is not that he is a con-artist or a fraud or a thief. He is just a failure to put it simply. he shoots a mile higher then he is ever going to be capable of reaching. Then the aftermath is what everyone is fussing about. He is never going to be successful in the entertainment and media world. As long as he tried and people support his efforts there is going to be disaster in his wake. There should not at this point be one person that does not know this that should. So if you get affected it’s your own damn fault!
[Ed. Note — Comment edited to remove unsubstantiated claims, per Q-Notes community discussion and website terms and conditions.]
Good job on this article and thanks to Q Notes for bringing out into the open.
Well well well! I agree with people’s opposition about “slashing” Mr. Seabolt or anyone in poor business practice’s. However, I personally “worked” for OnQ Carolina for a VERY short time. Having caught onto Jamie’s EXTREMELY poor and anything less than viable business practices. I have been involved in conversations that he has had with advertisers as to why issues and ads that they had paid for in advance were not printed. I have been at the banking institutions and in the midst of his “trying” times with the lack of funds. Not necessarily his fault, but a lot of the troubles could have been limited had he practiced better business skills. I was present at the dinner table when he signed the contract with SC Pride and Ryan Wilson. I was at the luncheon with Jamie and Mr. Shultz when the idea of a merger was discussed in Asheville. I was a “red headed step child” at Pride Charlotte. I was truly involved in his crisis. I however had an insightful experience with Mr. Seabolt at Pride Charlotte, and left him high and dry without a way back to Myrtle Beach AFTER he proceeded to talk to me less than human! I AM an adult and so I deserve to be treated! That having been said, it is a VERY tough economy for EVERYONE, and businesses and advertisers should all be cautious of one another. A very sad but beneficial