A Disappointing Experience...
...@ 2010 Orlando EyeCon!
In a cyber world that continues to grow, we bloggers of this fast developing industry need to stand united, since because of people like us, conventions, TV Shows and other outlets generate more income without paying or obtaining anything in exchange. Therefore, since we live in a "word of mouth" industry, which has been confirmed by writers like Malcom Gladwell in his book the Tipping Point, we deserve the right to have a better and equal treatment.
Meanwhile the Tipping Point for us wasn’t the one that we learned in college which explains "the magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire." Instead it was something completely irrelevant and opposite: the disappointing experience in which we were treated unfairly and inequable has other press members that attended the convention, therefore meaning that our Bloodylicious Truebloodholics followers aren't as indispensable.
Consequently, all of the excitement that we had to, once again, attend the convention came to a halting disruptive, disrespectful departure, in which we were accused of being liars, among other things. They took a simple misunderstanding to the extremes, by adding their own conclusions and making it extremely personal instead of business. Let’s just say that it came up has a distasteful surprise, followed by an overwhelming support from our peers; Which reminded us of another great quote from Mr. Gladwell, “The key to good decision making is not knowledge. It is understanding. We are swimming in the former. We are desperately lacking in the latter."
But now, on to the actual convention…We arrived on Friday November 4th to an uneventful and underwhelming event, in which, some of the appointed persons to assist the actors were extremely arrogant and difficult. Something that was extremely peculiar to us since it wasn’t because of the actors’ demands to do so. PS: Don't get us wrong but we do understand if the actor didn't want the attention...but if the actor is the one wanting the attention and leading the conversation, why interrupt him.
Regardless, we had hope that the convention was going to be better organized compare to last year and because of this we decided to participate and even purchase a vendors table. Nonetheless, it was not a profitable event to have participated in, since there was no sign for the vendor’s area. The event was located at a hotel adjacent to one of the biggest malls in Orlando and even didn't have a sign for people in the mall to have knowledge of the event. If a person didn’t have a wristband or badge they were not authorized to access the vendor’s area. Which we found completely ridiculous since it should be something that any person can access so they can actually purchase items.
Even so these are basic marketing tactics and techniques, we believe it would not have made any difference since the event was barely promoted and didn’t even announced the vendors. Furthermore, the pictures, autographs and other items were so overpriced that customers couldn’t afford anything else aside from that. Which was really unfortunate for actual guests that travel from New Mexico, Virginia, Houston and other states, which paid extreme high amounts of money and still didn't receive the "VIP treatment" that might have been promised to them.
And, please note that we do understand that there are rules and regulations for these types of events. More so when you have been working in the industry as an Experiential Manager, planning and coordinating these types of events for over 8 years, but there are ways of communicating, perhaps actually responding to emails.
What is more disappointing and even hurtful is when the organizer of the event, informed us of certain things we were allowed to do and without notice kept retracting his words, without giving further explanation. So unprofessional was the organization of the event that in more than one occasion, we saw how bad they treated their own staff members, taking them to the point of insult and making them cry. More upsetting is the fact that these staff members are unpaid for their work and overworked. All in all the convention was VERY frustrating. If it weren’t for the actors, that at all times, were nice, the experience would have been even worst.
For next year I encourage them to actually hire a professional event company so they can at least assist them and give them some tips of how to do a real event and if it is not an inconvenience, take some etiquette classes. Remember, "Practice isn't the thing you do once you're good. It's the thing you do that makes you good."
Sincerely,
Truebloodholics
PS: Please feel free to share your experiences with us here!
Meanwhile the Tipping Point for us wasn’t the one that we learned in college which explains "the magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire." Instead it was something completely irrelevant and opposite: the disappointing experience in which we were treated unfairly and inequable has other press members that attended the convention, therefore meaning that our Bloodylicious Truebloodholics followers aren't as indispensable.
Consequently, all of the excitement that we had to, once again, attend the convention came to a halting disruptive, disrespectful departure, in which we were accused of being liars, among other things. They took a simple misunderstanding to the extremes, by adding their own conclusions and making it extremely personal instead of business. Let’s just say that it came up has a distasteful surprise, followed by an overwhelming support from our peers; Which reminded us of another great quote from Mr. Gladwell, “The key to good decision making is not knowledge. It is understanding. We are swimming in the former. We are desperately lacking in the latter."
But now, on to the actual convention…We arrived on Friday November 4th to an uneventful and underwhelming event, in which, some of the appointed persons to assist the actors were extremely arrogant and difficult. Something that was extremely peculiar to us since it wasn’t because of the actors’ demands to do so. PS: Don't get us wrong but we do understand if the actor didn't want the attention...but if the actor is the one wanting the attention and leading the conversation, why interrupt him.
Regardless, we had hope that the convention was going to be better organized compare to last year and because of this we decided to participate and even purchase a vendors table. Nonetheless, it was not a profitable event to have participated in, since there was no sign for the vendor’s area. The event was located at a hotel adjacent to one of the biggest malls in Orlando and even didn't have a sign for people in the mall to have knowledge of the event. If a person didn’t have a wristband or badge they were not authorized to access the vendor’s area. Which we found completely ridiculous since it should be something that any person can access so they can actually purchase items.
Even so these are basic marketing tactics and techniques, we believe it would not have made any difference since the event was barely promoted and didn’t even announced the vendors. Furthermore, the pictures, autographs and other items were so overpriced that customers couldn’t afford anything else aside from that. Which was really unfortunate for actual guests that travel from New Mexico, Virginia, Houston and other states, which paid extreme high amounts of money and still didn't receive the "VIP treatment" that might have been promised to them.
And, please note that we do understand that there are rules and regulations for these types of events. More so when you have been working in the industry as an Experiential Manager, planning and coordinating these types of events for over 8 years, but there are ways of communicating, perhaps actually responding to emails.
What is more disappointing and even hurtful is when the organizer of the event, informed us of certain things we were allowed to do and without notice kept retracting his words, without giving further explanation. So unprofessional was the organization of the event that in more than one occasion, we saw how bad they treated their own staff members, taking them to the point of insult and making them cry. More upsetting is the fact that these staff members are unpaid for their work and overworked. All in all the convention was VERY frustrating. If it weren’t for the actors, that at all times, were nice, the experience would have been even worst.
For next year I encourage them to actually hire a professional event company so they can at least assist them and give them some tips of how to do a real event and if it is not an inconvenience, take some etiquette classes. Remember, "Practice isn't the thing you do once you're good. It's the thing you do that makes you good."
Sincerely,
Truebloodholics
PS: Please feel free to share your experiences with us here!
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