The first case of frustration came when I arrived at the Marriott World Convention Center at 9:20AM waiting in line for 5 hours for Payment Verification??? Payment verification? That's what we all waited on line for, hours on end, just to make sure our payments were made. This couldn't have been done prior to our arrivals there? Wouldn't it have been quite obvious if our payments weren't satisfied beforehand and if they weren't, wouldn't it have been a wise decision to call us informing us to not come to this spectacle BECAUSE of non-payment?
In addition to that frustration, not only did we have to wait on line, but the only thing was we got served water and candy canes! Water and Candy canes with no toilet to relieve us! $1,200 and we couldn't even get a Saltine Cracker?
After I 'served time' online in the 'Payment Verification' line, it was the exact time that my only workshop I was interested in ended [Comedy workshop]. We were given 'a choice': either stay on line, or they 'encouraged' us to go to the workshop and forget about being on line and come back later. Come back to what? Another line? Then on top of that we had YET ANOTHER line to go to for our information packet in which THEY were incomplete. That in itself warranted yet ANOTHER line the next day that lasted a multitude of hours!
I was told months in advance that my routine is to be PG-rated and only 1 minute long. I had practiced and cut down and customized my routine to make sure I ended within the 1-minute timeframe. I get this slip of paper under my door, THE MORNING OF MY AUDITION, stating that I now had 'up to 2 minutes' to perform my act. Gee. Thanks. Water, candy canes, and a 2-minute warning. And I practically chant under my breath endlessly, '$1,200 for this crap, $1,200 for this CRAP!!!'
I also missed the only other 'repeat workshop' because it was at the exact time that my audition was on. So, not only did I pay $1,200 just to be annoyed, but I paid to not attend ANY of my desired workshops. Hence, I was inadvertently set up for failure in many aspects. I am adamant in that I was severely ripped off, amongst thousands of other raw talents that came to this event.
I was told that because 5 year olds will be in the audience, I need to be PG-rated. I was led to believe that I was going to audition in front of not only the judges themselves but an actual audience. No. It was in front of the judges only. To me, that's not a fair assessment. Not to mention, that was NOT was promised to me.
What one Fashion Rock coordinator didn't know, the other did and vice versa. And what the other did know, it was completely different information than what the other coordinator knew about. It was like the blind leading the blind. Can you say 'Ray Charles'?!
Was I coming in the hopes to 'win a prize and get noticed'? Of course not. I am a realist. But, to not even get a chance to go to ONE of the workshops that I came to experience, nor get any ample time to even attempt to network with anyone is absolutely unacceptable to me. I spend half my weekend waiting on a multitude of lines, which left me frustrated and extraordinarily exhausted. I was too tired to mingle and network with others.
Then, to add insult to injury, they had the utter AUDACITY to actually sell us the Fashion Rock Holiday Event on CD for $35!!! Hell, that should have been THROWN in our already INCOMPLETE Information Bags, because we WERE the talent there. $35!?!? Hell, even Columbia Records wouldn't attempt to skin us like that!
You know what I learned in the 72 hours I spent in Fashion Hell? I learned that I made a multitude of people on line laugh and that I don't need a panel of PAID Fashion Rock judges tell me whether or not I'm funny. I've also learned that I will not EVER pay for event to tell me whether or not I'm talented. Yup. I lived and I learned. But quite frankly, I'd like my money back.
Tiffany
Moore, Oklahoma
U.S.A.
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