Somewhere around the end of August, I got a call from my partner at songs.com who told me he was helping Janis Ian put together an "online auction", how they were planning to sell over 300 items of her career memorabilia, and asking me if I'd have some time to help out here and there. As usual, I said "sure..whatever".

Little did I know.....
Looking over the list of things for sale, the preliminary designs for how to accept the bids, and how to keep track of the bidders, I decided to jump in and make a few additions. That began my 12-18 hour per day experience with one of the most successful Internet adventures I've participated in so far. Eight weeks later I was looking over nearly 4,000 e-mails, 1100 hours of work, had communicated with more than 500 loyal Janis Ian fans, and was doing my best to keep up with Janis, who had EVERYTHING packaged, weighed, insured, labeled and ready to mail. All that, and not one serious complaint...not one serious technical failure, not one disappointment. It was an amazing experience which resulted in raising over $65,000 for Goddard College, Janis' mother's alma mater. Amazing.

I've probably written more than a thousand pages of "web code" for songs.com, and I don't think I've ever "stepped in" to the middle of any of my client's home pages or web sites to make any kind of a personal statement. After all, the work I do for my musician friends is a work for hire, and there's no place for comments from me in it...but I can't help but speak up here; the work was just too amazing an experience to not share with you my own gratitude and amazement at the loyalty and enthusiasm of you...Janis' fans. It was you that made the auction the success it was...I just kept the machinery running...you were the life in it.

So let me say 'Thank You' for the experience, and invite you to "browse around the yard", so to speak. All the items have been mailed to the folks that bought them, Janis is already working on her next project (with the same devoted enthusiasm, no doubt), and well, I'm on to mine as well. But the auction? I'll never forget it...it proved to me that the best in people still rises to the top when they're working together.

I count Janis Ian as one of my dearest friends and am inspired by her dedication to you. I just thought I should share that with you.

My very best regards,
Your faithful auctioneer,

Michael Camp