Showing posts with label letters to juliet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label letters to juliet. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Even A Nice Butterfly Can Get Pushed Too Far!

Even A Nice Butterfly Can Get Pushed Too Far!

Shame on you iVillage! There was supposed to be a Review of Letters To Juliet here today, but there won't be. And I was pretty much dared to tell you why and so I will.

My first dealings with iVillage was years ago. I worked in Staffing and I was a Talent Manager who placed IT professionals with various companies. At the time, they were one of my favorite accounts. My talent liked being placed there, I liked my contacts there and it was happy times all around. Well NOT anymore! That was then, and apparently this is now!

My first dealings with iVillage as a blogger did not go very well. The event they held awhile back in conjunction with Dove and Gallo wines did not start or end well in my opinion. Now I exclude Dove, Gallo and the beauty brands that were there and I also exclude the folks working the venue they were all very nice.

Going in there were two tables, those who had invites and were on the guest list and one for those who were walk ins. I wish I had said I was walk in sans invite. That line ran smoothly. When I get to the front of the 'invites line' I was asked my name. I attend enough events that I do the following on auto pilot. I say my first name and automatically spell out my last name. Pronouncing my name phonetically some people will automaticlly begin looking under the wrong letter so that is why I spell it. My last name does not begin with an 'A' to find it you invariably have to flip pages on your guest list to get to it. The exasperated rep didn't even flip one page and declared 'You are not on the list' NEXT! I informed her I was, but my name could only be found by flipping the first few pages. I kept my patience and handed her a business card, 'perhaps this will help'. She pocketed the card and did not look for my name and said 'You are not on the list.' thankfully, someone else came around her, and asked me for another card which I produced and she flipped the pages and Lo and behold my name was there. Not a great begining.

Then I asked for my gift bag and was told not until the end. I was OK with that. Then I noticed tons of people milling about the event at it's mid point with the gift bags. I went up and asked for it again, I was told no on the way out. On the way out, (which was before the end of the event by the way) I smiled and said I am on the way out, may I have a bag? and was told 'There are none left' and I asked directly why I was not given a bag when I requested it a half hour ago when there are clearly tons of people milling about the event with a bag in their hand. A shrugged shoulder a dissmissive click of the tongue and eye rolling was her response.

Why on earth would they invite bloggers to events and be so rude?

I tried to shirk this off as an isolated incident until yesterday. I arrived way earlier than necessary (5:30 pm for a 7:30 pm screening) to make the line for the 'Letters to Juliet' screening that iVillage sent me an email asking me to post on my blog. (I will gladly produce that email upon request, I've kept it just in case!) The confusion there was outrageous, no one knew what was going on. Even the staff in the venue/theater said they didn't know what 'the deal with the ticketing' is. And they touted this as a fun night out for my readers, HAH! I'm so glad I didn't waste my readers time. (While the staff of the theater weren't informative, they were not rude, I can't say the same for the event/screening organizers).

After waiting on that long line, even going inside and asking several times, I finally get inside and get told I needed to have a different ticket! I  noticed that the people closer to the front went up to the desk and by the time I got up there I witnessed many leaving in disgust. And with good reason. If you are inviting bloggers to attend an event and invite their readers, keep track of the readership of each blog, my blog has over 1,000 and that is not counting the other bloggers and their reader count, if you invited over 4,000 people and only had 400 seats, why didn't you have someone out with there a clicker like most screenings. Once you hit your seat count you put up the cones and END THE LINE. Not too difficult, logical even. But iVillage proved that the golden rule and logic both seem to elude their staff. But I digress. So I get to the front, and have this (bottle) blonde woman in a skirt shouting at me "well too bad you should have been here earlier!" I told her I was there early, two hours in advance is more than sufficient, then she shouts again "well I doubt you were here this early or I would have seen you" (calling me a liar!) and then she shouts this gem 'Well too bad!'. I said what did you just say to me? and she repeated that and some other stuff too, and I shouted back "oh I am definitely going to write about this", and other people chimed in that they were too (I sure hope they do!), and she looked at us all and said "Well go ahead then!" Write it all up I don't care!' But when asked her name by ALL of us at the desk at that moment, she refused to give it. What a coward! I wanted to snatch her from behind that counter by her hair and beat her to a pulp! She's lucky I have learned to live by what I write!

I am a motivational writer and I enjoy sharing tips with others on how to live their best lives. But sometimes people mistake kindness for weakness; and nice for stupidity; sometimes people can push even the most patient and nicest person too far. And yesterday was it.

I am absolutely disgusted with iVillage! Do they think being part of NBC Universal gives them the right to treat people that way?

I hope the other bloggers she did this to write about it too. How dare she? Shame on iVillage!

They certainly are friendly enough when they send the invites and want attention and write ups, too bad they are not capable of following through at the actual event.

I came home last night fuming at the way I was treated and by having my time wasted. I waited a full 24 hours before putting fingers to keyboard. Hoping the angry immediate emotional response to the situation would mellow by the time I began to write, but it hasn't. I am still fuming at the way I was treated, especially since it wasn't necessary, especially since it was preventable.

And if her response to me is going to be that by the time I got up to her she had been yelled at by so many other people she was exasperated, well my answer to her is the one she gave me originally 'TOO BAD'. Just because others had been angry toward you gave you no right to be so *Witchy (substitute the 'W' with a 'B') to me.  My time was wasted, I was treated with a level of rudeness I don't find acceptable in the least.

Everyone is used to my raves, because when I like something I can't help but shout it from the rooftops. I  live the by the motto you are taught when you are young 'If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all'. Well you know what? Not this time. This time my RANT is being shouted from the digital rooftops. Enough is enough iVillage, I for one, am NOT going to take it! Bloggers time should be held as valuable as you hold your own. That simple. And as your rude employee dared me to go ahead and tell the world because she didn't care (and trust me she used other wording), well then HERE IT IS, enjoy it, this one is for you! My first RANT!

I doubt I'll even bother renting this movie thanks to iVillage.

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