05/28/2026
Southern Voice - 13 May 1999
Hotlanta River Expo addresses drugs, financial issues
by LAURA BROWN
The theme for this year's Hotlanta River Expo, scheduled for August 12-15, will be "Rite of Passage"—a reference, organizers say, to the coming millennium and the 21st anniversary of the annual circuit-style event.
"Twenty-one is the age at which you become legal in every sense of the word," noted Andy Philhower, HRE vice president for advertising.
But this summer's event could also signal a rite of passage for Hotlanta River Expo organizers, who will seek to move beyond the reputation for illegal drug use that has become associated with circuit-style events in general and the financial questions that have dogged HRE specifically the last few years.
Earlier this year, the Gay Men's Health Crisis, New York's largest AIDS service organization, announced that it would stop producing the Fire Island "Morning Party" because the circuit party fund-raiser had become too associated with drug overdoses and arrests.
Because the Morning Party also took place in August, the cancellation could mean hundreds of party-goers from around the country who would have attended that event will now come to Hotlanta River Expo instead. The influx brings challenges as well as benefits, Hotlanta organizers acknowledged in an interview this week.
In 1998, Hotlanta saw its own signature Saturday night party shut down early by authorities after ambulances responded to at least three overdoses, reportedly caused by the drug GHB.
Also last year, HRE pledged to donate the entire $10,000 in net proceeds from the event to AID Atlanta, which planned to use the money to launch a public service campaign about the connection between substance abuse and unsafe s*x. Instead, HRE gave the AIDS service organization only $4,000 and an "I.O.U." for the remaining $6,000, after expenses for the 1998 weekend added up to far more than what was projected.
As planning for this year's Hotlanta River Expo moves into high gear, HRE's Philhower, as well as HRE Vice President of Finance Keith Davi, met with Southern Voice to explain the event's structure, efforts to curb illegal drug use, and financial concerns.
Unusual circuit party
Founded by a group of friends "before the term 'circuit party' was even coined," Hotlanta River Expo definitely doesn't fit the usual circuit-party mold in either structure or purpose, Philhower explained.
Large circuit-style events tend to follow one of two models: Either they are produced by private party promoters who want to make a profit and then sometimes make a donation to a charity, or they are produced by the non-profit organizations themselves with the specific goal of raising money for the group itself, such as GMHC's "Morning Party" or Project Open Hand's "Masquerade."
Hotlanta River Expo, however, is produced by one non-profit corporation—Midtown Inc., the registered Georgia non-profit doing business as Hotlanta River Expo—and donates the net proceeds to another non-profit—in this case, AID Atlanta.
And unlike events like the Morning Party and Masquerade, the purpose of HRE is the party itself, not raising money.
"The primary goal in our eyes is to present something the community will enjoy and provide entertainment, and the donation is a fringe benefit of the event," Philhower said. "The sole purpose of having Raft Race is not to benefit AID Atlanta or other organizations. It's to have a good time."
Combating circuit drugs
But for some gay party-goers, especially those who frequent circuit parties and all-night clubs, "having a good time" has become synonymous with taking illegal drugs. After last year's overdoses, HRE leaders said they are taking a variety of steps to make sure the River Expo doesn't end up like the Morning Party, where one party-goer died from a GHB overdose last year, although not at the event itself.
"We are not advocates of drug use, but we are not blind," Philhower said. "We know that a majority of the people that come to these events are going to use drugs, and we've put together a committee this year… to deal directly with the drug problem. We don't want to lose the event because somebody is not able to control themselves."
AID Atlanta earmarked the HRE donation last year to the agency's PARTY program, which works to educate gay men about substance use. AID Atlanta PARTY volunteers will provide educational materials and condoms at this year's River Expo, and the HRE web-site features an anti-GHB message.
"We are looking for ways to hold individuals liable for expenses that might be incurred by Raft Race because of their misjudgment or lack of control," Philhower added.
GMHC decided to cancel the Fire Island Morning Party because "the drug use that has become associated with the Morning Party has become inimical to our mission of fighting for the health of the le***an and gay community," but HRE organizers and AID Atlanta Executive Director Tony Braswell said they disagree with that approach.
"Instead of saying, 'No, we are not going to do this anymore,' I think the better thing to do is to try and educate people," said Philhower.
"My concerns about substance use by the gay population in this city are there every single weekend. There's nothing unique about River Expo that makes it any different than the weekend before or the weekend after," Braswell said.
"I think it is AID Atlanta's job to be involved with every possible opportunity to work with the gay community to educate people about the dangers of substance use and improper s*x."
Where the money goes
In addition to questions about illegal drug use at last year's event, Hotlanta River Expo has long been the subject of speculation over financial matters and just what becomes of the $100 or more the weekend's thousands of participants spend in order to attend all of the events.
"A lot of people look at me and say, 'Somebody is pocketing the money. Where does all the money go? Are you getting money?'" Philhower acknowledged. "I'm offended by it because I don't take anything except a free weekend pass and a free hotel room for countless hours of volunteer work."
Contrary to those rumors, Hotlanta River Expo has no paid staff, Davi and Philhower said. "Not one," Davi added. "No one gets a dime."
Board members and committee members who volunteer a certain amount of time receive free tickets to official Hotlanta events, and the eight board members stay for free in the host hotel during the weekend. But even those costs are limited, Davi said, because board members share hotel rooms and the host hotel gives HRE free hotel rooms based on the number of HRE guests who register.
Midtown Inc. is registered as a non-profit corporation in Georgia, but the organization that produces the River Expo has not yet received federal 501(c)3 tax-exempt non-profit status, although an application is pending.
While tax returns for federal non-profit groups are matters of public record, according to the Georgia Department of Revenue, tax returns of groups that are only registered as non-profits with the state are not.
Davi declined to provide copies of Midtown Inc. tax returns, but he did provide a detailed document showing what he said were the actual and budgeted revenues and expenses from last year's Hotlanta River Expo. The figures show a series of budget overruns of varying amounts that added up to a large shortfall over projected revenues for the event.
Based on the '98 budget, organizers of HRE had hoped to end more than $74,000 in the black. Had that happened, Davi said Hotlanta would have kept $10,000 to $15,000 for "seed money" for the next year, and donated the remaining funds—as much as $60,000—to AID Atlanta.
Yet of the seven major events that made up last year's River Expo, only two—the brunch and actual river rafting event—came in under budget. The remaining five went over in amounts ranging from $93 (the Mr. Hotlanta contest) to $12,752 (Saturday night's signature party).
"It was mainly smaller things that just added up," Davi said of the huge overrun for the Saturday night event. "There were a couple of unexpected expenses that were not in the budget plan, but they are in the budget this year."
Davi said that the 1998 River Expo had revenues of slightly more than $240,000, but cost more than $245,000 to put on, roughly leaving the $6,000 shortfall in the AID Atlanta donation. But the financial statements show only $5,040 in "contributions," not the $10,000 pledged to AID Atlanta.
The statements included line items for each of the seven events that make up the Hotlanta River Expo but did not detail the expenses for each event or identify the vendors who were paid.
This year, organizers said HRE plans to make good on the $6,000 still promised to AID Atlanta from 1998, plus make an additional donation from the 1999 event.
Davi and Philhower said HRE volunteers are taking a hard look at financial planning, eliminating unnecessary expenses and encouraging committee heads to adhere more carefully to projected expenses.
"I don't want to say we are not professionals, but we are not professional party promoters, we are volunteers," Philhower explained. "If we did this as a career, maybe some of the financial outcome would be different, but we are definitely focusing on making it a more profitable event."
"We do have a better handle on it this year than we have ever before," Davi concluded.
