The B&B I can only imagine what this group of 30 or so people looked like and how they interacted - would have been worth it just for sociological observation. You probably had at least one guy show up in rubber boots, denim cut-offs, buffalo furs around his neck, and a hockey helmet with a sign that said "the end is nigh" - just in case Lori showed up.
The Scatmans or should I say MrsCramer's "titans of business" probably came with collection plates and locked the doors when people entered the room. The old, shiny to the point of being reflective, blue suit jackets and khaki shorts probably encouraged a few people to throw in everything they had - watches, shoes, eyeglasses, condoms. The situation has to be made to appear dire to increase fundraising - that is why you hold these meetings in two star hotel conference rooms. If it were summer, the Scatmans would be holding these things in the middle of a canola field, and sculpin could even perform a few SLI baptisms in the nearby streams.
The image I have of sculpin at this meeting is that of someone who strutted in like the second coming, prophesizing and enlightening to the masses, with Rinky ready to hold his balls in his throat. "Tell me the truth! Praise! Praise! What will happen to our people?!"
"You must pay to play my SLI shareholder - take out a second mortgage and feed your kids cat food if need be - we CANNOT lose" At this time, jon_doe was probably itching to do a demonstration on cunn..ilingus - male volunteers acceptable.
I suspect the room had that special smell of desperation, preferred stock cologne, regret and oil grease. Nothing like two dozen tradespeople getting fleeced for a SECOND time. "Is Tesoro still a world class deposit, er, uh, is it?" Sculpin replies "absolutely - actually, I think there are about 300 Chinese investors scouring the property digging dirt with their hands as we speak......"
If I organized the event, I would have set up at least a half dozen phones with a direct line to suicide watch. Not even kidding - losing your life savings is one of the hardest things that can face a person. It can happen due to a small business failure, market crash, illness, etc. But when it happens because a cement head dumped all his money into a mineral exploration stock, it can be difficult to explain, and downright embarassing.
Like, even if I were a SLI shareholder - I would NEVER show up to one of these meetings. Reason: utter shame. These guys, in a rent by the hour hotel, had to look each other in the eye and see the pain and the regret.
"Uh, yeah, I dumped in $125k and my HELOC of $100k and now I have $15k left......can't tell my wife, or she is GONE. What do I do? Ok, I will give a bit more money for a hazy legal fund where there is no plan - because I hate that current SLI management has no plan."