As I am writing this, I am at what must be the worst event I’ve ever experienced. Let’s start at the beginning shall we? The event was slated to start at 9pm, but it’s supposed to be something pretty big….I mean it was promoted as Pre-VMA party and Gifting Suite located at the MTV office no less, so Zia and I arrived promptly at 9:05 to find a short line. It started off well enough, an announcement was made mere seconds after we arrived requesting all press to come to the front. (This is where it starts to go downhill), we press people were told to follow a young man as he ushered us to the event, we were given nothing, no badge, no wristband, etc. I made it a point to ask (while VIP guests were given wristbands) didn’t press need wristbands as well and was told no we didn’t. The head PR person even made it a point to introduce herself and I gave her my card. So up we continued to the 11th floor where new designers/companies would be promoting their wares.
Another few seconds and we were there only to see a small crowd of people waiting outside, thinking nothing of it, we walked up to the door, announced we were with the press and was told that they’re not letting anyone in at the moment…..hmmm…..um…funny thing is there were people already inside. Who were they you may be wondering, well there were people still setting up for the event (again, which was supposed to start at 9pm), some “celebs” (reality show castoffs – what’s less than Z list?) and what’s this? Some press people are inside? What? Then why are other press people kept outside (there were at least ten other press people being kept out as well). I don’t understand why if the event is not ready, why let some press people in and keep others out. By this time it was 9:30pm and we’re still waiting, the poor girl at the door who didn’t look a day over 15 yrs (and I’m not saying this because she had a young face, she really looked very under aged), didn’t know a thing about what was going on. We heard that they were waiting for celebs (again why are some press in and others out), then it was that the DJ wasn’t here yet (this was evident as while waiting in the increasingly sweltering elevator bank, the only sounds were the complaints from us press people). During al this time, they were letting people in, who were they, they didn’t look like celebs to me? Then people were entering through a back entrance while we at the front we stopped. Where is the press liaison? Where is a table with information on the companies showcasing their products? I could have been in and out before all the madness started. All I wanted to do was to speak to and interview these new lines but alas they seemed to care more about the party than anything else (I hope the vendors didn’t pay to be a part of this, if they did, I suggest they ask for a full refund ASAP).
After waiting another 15 or so minutes, I decided that was it, I couldn’t it anymore and left the crowd headed to an elevate all the while proclaiming my contempt for such an ill-planned and ill-organized event and oh what a story I would be writing about it. At that very moment, the owner of the event space overheard I and a few other press people and asked for all press people and ushered us in to the event in the same back way that the previous crowd at the back went through. I thought we were finally saved and quickly started looking for the vendors so I could be done and leave….oh how wrong was I. It seems all but three vendors were on the main level and only two (Seraphin Cognac and Xumanii – I will actually discuss them in separate posts) had reps and product information, all the others were in the upstairs offices and you’ll never guess……it seems you need a wristband to go upstairs. The wristbands press were told they did not need. Let’s see if I can understand this…you have an event to promote your clients’ products and then you deny press access to speak with those clients. I may be wrong but I think that’s a problem. I even went back to the same PR person and asked about the vendors, product samples and information but got nothing (thank goodness for the Seraphin rep, Patrick who gave me a drink to calm me down). Leaving the event annoyed and feeling like I wasted my time, I ran into the PR person yet again and told her that I never got to talk to anyone upstairs about their products because we wouldn’t get upstairs without wristbands, all she said was sorry – really??? That’s it? Just one word? Well, I’m sorry Goodgirl PR, that was VERY BAD and you have a problem on your hands because not only were multiple press people saying out loud that this was the worst event they’ve ever been too, your VIP guests and at least one rep from the companies showing their products were saying the same thing. Even someone who I never saw and I guess worked with the event apologized profusely to me on my way out. I suggest you call up the Daily, Expose NY or HauteLook for advice on how to do a real gifting suite because what I attended was not it.
PS. You can’t interview a company rep while music volume is at a decibel of a thousand
