i'm sorry that i have to reactivate my multiply site by starting with these grievances. but as a parent i really felt we were cheated and somehow exploited by the organizers of the grand go-see last sunday and i felt i should do something about it. it's our first time to join such casting calls. some of you may know that am not fond of joining this auditions no matter how some people push me to join one for inigo (humility aside) because we don't have the patience for the whole ordeal of queuing and casting. but i joined this one because i thought it will be convenient for all of us particularly for the little tot.
to give you a background, i saw here in multiply last june the announcement that mossimo is in search for its next print-ad models. as stated in their mechanics, i sent the pictures of inigo thru the my fame and fortune multiply site and waited for their invitation for the go-see. we had one. the process of joining was clearly stated in their invite that's why i decided that we push thru with the audition. but this didn't happen and we arrived and left festival-mall's mini-trade hall totally disappointed.
here's my draft letter, i wish to submit this soon to whatever government agency/ies responsible for such events.
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This is to raise my concerns regarding the Mossimo Baby Grand Go-See which happened last 4th of July 2010 in Mini-Trade Hall, Festival Mall in Alabang, Muntinlupa City. I received an invitation (attached) from one of the organizers of the event, My Fame and Fortune agency, more than a week earlier for the go-see for my son, Inigo Bustamante. It was mentioned in the invitation that we only need to register between 10:00 am and 1:00 pm and be back by 1:30 pm and wait for our designated number to be called for the casting. We arrived at the venue past 11:00 am and I was surprised and dismayed to learn that more than 1,000 kids aged one to four years old were invited for the one-day go-see. But I since I still had faith on the process mentioned in the invite I continued on with the registration and my son was number 434. We took one of the limited seats provided inside the venue and waited for the casting to begin. Please take note that I was also with my nine-month old son who I decided to bring along since he’s still breastfed, and my cousin who I tagged along to help me with my kids.
Twenty-minutes had passed when I became curious on what was going on the other side of the hall so I decided to check what we were missing. I realized that the photo shoot for the kids have had already started in one of the corners of the hall but to my shock there was a long queue which the invitees had to brave so they can get their chance for the photo shoot. It was now more appalling for me since; 1. the long queue was not mentioned in the invitation, and 2. we were not also informed by the people in the registration that we had to line up for the photo shoot. I spoke to a lady, the only one who was manning the photo shoot , and she told me that it only takes several seconds for each kid to get his/her picture taken so I can expect that the line will move fast. But we queued for almost three hours. It was almost 3:00 p.m. when we approached the improvised studio which the organizers set up in the other end of the hall. Some of the kids I saw who were standing in line along with their parents were already cranky and crying; some already fell asleep on the arms of their parents. I felt that both parents and kids were exploited in that event.
After my son’s turn for the shoot, we were left clueless again on what to do next. There were not enough personnel to man the event and most, if not all, of the invitees were left to fend for themselves like getting the print-out of the picture and giving it to the judges. It is only when I asked one of the guards that I learned that we have to wait again for our turn to hand my son’s picture to the judges and be screened; and this process of waiting and screening will take another hour or so. I can see the crowd camping outside the room where the judges are seeing the kids from where we stood. The place was in utter disorder and no one was controlling the crowd to think that were some small kids. At this point I decided that we leave the place as I can no longer let my kids (including my baby who was waiting outside the hall with my cousin) to wait longer and suffer. We left home not only disappointed that we didn’t meet our goal for that day but more than this, we felt we were cheated because the whole process of auditioning or casting was not what they stated in the invitation. We acted based on the information given to us. It was our first time to join a go-see or a casting call and the reason why I let my son join is because I thought the whole process will be convenient for him.
Hence; I am writing to your office to inform you of what I consider as exploitation. I also want to raise these other issues, in particular:
- With the expected number of kids joining the go-see, not to mention the parents or guardians who will be accompanying them, the organizers should have allotted more than one day for the event to fairly accommodate all the invitees. Also, the venue was obviously small for the expected crowd. The density of the people was heavier than what have should been allowed that in case a commotion happened, stampede is likely to follow. Worse, there were not enough seats provided for the parents and the kids. Some were already sitting on the hallway of the mall.
- The event was undermanned to properly organize, inform, and secure the public. I don’t have enough attached pictures to prove this but I can attest how a lot of people—adults and kids alike were clustered in some of the areas as they wait for their turn since the announcements were not clearly audible.
I hope this letter will merit appropriate actions from your end. I have no intentions of joining again the casting call but I think it's my responsibility as a parent to report such misconduct and/or poor event management especially when there are small kids involved . Should you inquire further on my complaint, you may reach me at this number __________ or email address _________. Thank you.
Sincerely,
MARIE GRACE BUSTAMANTE
Concerned Parent
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below is the only picture i was able to capture during the actual photo shoot of inigo. my son, i think it's the same with the other kids, was only given maximum of 10 seconds in front of the camera and one shot from the photographer and... that's it! i was glad that inigo cooperated and posed and smiled. had he been like the other kids who after waiting for two hours or more for their breaks were already fussy or weren't uncooperative at all i think i would have cried. hehe.
sayang ang smile noh? :)
