Please excuse my wall of text, this weekend was a nightmare. In order to properly explain all that went on a novel needed to be written.
TLDR; Do not support this convention! Artists beware, they treat you like garbage. They gave away my artist table and left me with nothing. When I complained, called security to escort me out. I did not get a refund, and I am at a loss here.
This
weekend was the first time I have ever been escorted out of an event.
The Saskatoon Blitz tried to intimidate and humiliate me by taking
away my artist table I paid for.
Let’s
start from the very beginning. January 2nd,
2015 was the day artist tables were announced. I applied right away
for my table, signing my contract with the rules of the convention.
There wasn’t any place to send my payment to right away, so I
included in the email that I needed to know where to send my payment
as soon as possible. Doing it before a certain date made you eligible
for the early bird rate of $141, rather then the $171 the table would
be after that said date. I received an email back on January 4th
from Dana, the Artist Alley Coordinator, with this reply:
“Wow!
You were quick, you’re the first one! So
for payment you can do it Online (ticketssllag@gmail.com)
for PayPal +2.5 % (which would be 3.55 extra) Online
checkout Is coming soon! (Sorry about that!)”
Okay,
so the application was done. In my head I was contemplating going to
this convention at all. I know they are a small town con, but this
isn’t their first or second year, so it should go smoothly. I’ve gone
before, my friends go, so why not? I now have taken on doing Artist
Alleys as my full time job, so this was business and I should go.
Time passed, and I forgot about sending my payment. I seen on their
website tables are still available and didnt stress, so I used their
online checkout and bought my 8 foot table for the full price. I
didn’t expect the early bird pricing at all, as I didn’t send my
payment before the date it needed to be. After sending my payment on
May 14th,
Dana emailed me back on the 17th:
“Hey
so you paid for the price of a regular table, but I have you marked
down for the early bird table.
So
I can refund you the difference if you’d like. You did come
early. -Dana
A “
Okay,
awesome! Maybe the Blitz is stepping up their game. I reply saying
that I would really appreciate it. In that email it didn’t really
confirm if I had a table or not, so I emailed her on the 29th
to verify. She emailed me back on the 31st, saying it was
and not to worry. I reply back telling her where she can refund the
difference. No reply.
Its
now time for the convention. Its Friday June 12th, and I
email Dana the night. We had an 8 foot table, so we needed an extra
helper. The day pass for the Blitz was $30, and our helper Dylan
could only be there with us for one day as he worked Sunday. I send
Dana this email:
“Hey
Dana, just wanted to give you a heads up that we may be late tomorrow
morning. Our travel plans changed so we are leaving in a few hours (
we were supposed to come today to Saskatoon but
yeah..some things happened). We also have an extra helper coming with
now. Is it possible rather then getting our early bird discount back
could we get an additional pass? Please let me know!
“
It seems very straight forward, as least I thought.
Additional artist passes are $25, but I just asked for a normal pass,
which in their favor would give them an extra $5. All I wanted was
the easiest solution.
Day
1
I wake up at 6:30am to get ready for the 2 hour drive to
Saskatoon. It looks like my helpers are running late, so I send a
quick text to my friend Katrina of Chinook Crafts to please ask Dana
to check her email as I have not gotten a reply from her. I wanted
Dana to know that I would be late. Katrina flagged her down, it was
no problem and the morning went on as usual.
We
rush to Saskatoon and get there right before 10am. The Artist Alley
was open to the public at 10am, so we were very worried that we would
look ridiculous trying to set up the display – but many artists
seemed to be in the same boat and not a soul was wandering the alley.
I was first approached by Emily who directed me to my table – well,
where my table should have been. Another artist was set up there in
booth C1. So we stood the only empty spot in the AA where later they
brought out an 8 foot table. The first thing I notice is that the
alley is set up… classroom style. That
is to say the front of your table faced the back of the table in
front of you, and patrons walked down the aisle in between. Patrons
were 3ft away from cash boxes, stock, etc. It really wasn’t fun to
have traffic behind us, seeing our set up. From patrons I was told it
felt like walking behind a cash register, it was just wrong!
Then
Dana then asks us were our badges are. Well we just walked in, so I
told her we still needed them. I asked her if she got my email, and
she said “Yes, maybe. I dont know, what was it?” I told her about
me running late and getting a badge for Dylan. She said she recalls
and went to grab our badges. She came back with only two badges and
told me I would have to buy a weekend pass for Dylan as she had no
more artist badges. I explained to her it would be easiest if we just
did the switch I mentioned before as he is only staying today. She
looked at me like I was crazy then proceeded to tell me I needed to
go to the front and buy a weekend wrist band, she would refund me
tomorrow. A gut feeling told me I wouldn’t be getting that refund
tomorrow. I again explained to her if we could do it the other way
because he was there for ONE day (which she clearly didn’t
understand) and she said “Sure, whatever I have to go”. Alright.
We sat throughout the day waiting for Dana to return.
The
day was slow, and we didn’t see attendees until after 11:30. The
Blitz didn’t let the attendees in until after 10am, as some vendors
were not ready yet. This is the first breach in the contract, as the
hours are stated 10am to 8pm for artists, 10am to 7pm for vendors.
Late starts cost vendors and artists money. Dana returned to my
table many times not saying anything to me, so I assumed all was
well. She didn’t mention anything about the badge, and because of the
aforementioned lack of artist badges just let it be. From what we
gathered all there was was the green wristbands everyone was wearing
for a weekend, and day passes people were simply let in.
It
was 3pm at this time, and we haven’t even made back our cost of the
table and travel. There was little to no people at the event, and it
was very evident they didn’t reach their goal of 1,200 people for
that day. As it was nearing late afternoon, my two assistants Jared
and Dylan went to go find some food for us. I sat alone at the table,
and Dana came by and informed me the artist alley would be closing at
9pm tonight and reopen at 8am tomorrow. I was confused, and asked her
to clarify if the 8am was set up, or opening? She said it was to open
at 10am tomorrow. As she walked away I realized that 10am to 9pm is a
long, LONG day. I texted my friend Katrina in the vendors room again
asking if she knew the time it was to close. She send me a screen
shot of the contract stating the correct times of 7pm for Vendors,
8pm for artists. I’m going to go by the contract, so I didn’t worry
to much. Jared and Dylan returned, and I told them the hours. They
told me that earlier Dana came by while I was in the washroom and
said it closed at 7pm. So we had three different times here.
I
asked a couple of my artist buddies who were also at the event what
they had heard the hours were, and they had no idea either. Everyone
I had spoken to was saying they were really getting fed up with the
lack of sales, and the lack of communication. I went into the vendors
room to directly talk to Katrina, and at that time Emily came over to
tell them that the vendors hall was to close at 8pm. Again – not
the right time at all. At this point Jared went to Emily, who was
also coming around talking to people, to ask who was in charge to
talk to them and get this straight. Emily said that Laura was the
chair of the convention and she would be the one to talk to. I went
back to the table, and Jared asked for a word with Laura.
Jared told Laura that
he had some major concerns that needed to be addressed. Laura asked
if talking here was fine, but Jared said it would be better to talk
off to the side rather then right in the middle of the vendors room.
He explained to her that this wasn’t going well. Nothing was set up
right, our table wasn’t even there to start out with, the backs of
our booths were to the traffic, with people carrying around REAL
swords and weapons (there was no weapons policy) and there is no
communication here. He added we also had people constantly bumping
into the back of us because of the way it was set up. He then asked
where we are to put our stock and display, as the area in which the
dance was being held was the same room the Artist Alley was in. Laura
told him that after the Artist Alley closed at 7pm we could move it
into the Vendors room. He asked what we should leave, and she advised
to take everything down as there was no lock and no security. She
added she wouldn’t leave any of her personal stuff in there. Laura
ended it with our feedback was appreciated, as she can’t make the
Blitz better without feedback. And that was that.
Jared
came back to the table, told me what he discussed with Laura. And so
the rest of the grueling day went on. I ate my pulled pork on a bun
that I bought from the convention center, and felt really sick after.
I told the boys in the most discreet way possible I was going to go
die in the bathroom. After spending a while in the bathroom I went
back to talk to Katrina at her table to ask how the day was going for
them. After talking with them I returned to my booth to see Emily,
Dana, Jacob (who later I found out was the ‘Head of Security’, in
reality was the host) and another volunteer named Chris. Before I had
gotten there they asked Jared and Dylan if they were artists. Jared
said yes, we are at the artist booth. Jacob replied that they needed
to go with him. The way Jacob spoke to Jared he thought that he was
part of an improv group or something and refused. He really isn’t
into that type of thing. He then leaned over the table to Jared
trying to intimidate him telling him this was a matter of security
and that he was being disrespectful.
They
started asking where I was, if I had a wristband and if I was coming
back. Jared said he didn’t know They had no idea who these people
were, as none of them were wearing badges indicating they were staff.
He felt no need to say anything to them. Right at this moment I
walked up to the table to see everyone standing blocking my table. I
could see Jared was furious but keeping it cool. I’ve been dating the
guy for 5 years, I know when hes super upset. Jacob asks me to show
him my wristband, I tell him I’m an artist and I don’t have one, I
have the badges. He then looks to Jared and is telling him “breathe man, just breathe.” I know this is one of Jared’s anger
triggers, so I brace for impact. Nothing, Jared sits there calmly. So
I ask what the hell is going on here?
Jacob
explains that we are being disrespectful to the staff by asking them
over and over about the times, therefore we are harassing them. All this
time Chris is rolling his eyes at us and huffing with every word. I
tell them that no such thing has been done, and that we just want to
know when we can leave the convention. There was no communication,
and this was just getting stupid. I asked them, if you boss asked you
to stay extra hours after work with no explanation would you be
happy? Dana and Emily argued with me saying that if I didn’t hear it
from them it wasn’t the right time. I told them the only people I
have asked is you two, and I still don’t have a right time. Emily and
Dana knew they had no argument, and just walked away. After hearing
our side of the story, Jacob and Chris stayed behind and tried to
give us a solution to our backs being open. Chris mentioned he
attended a lot of conventions and its just convention 101 to know not
to put your back towards the traffic. He was very concerned with
that, and scribbled down in his notebook a plan of action. Jacob
proceeded to come around the table, and put his hands on Jared’s
shoulder telling him just “To breathe buddy.” Dylan tells Jacob
not to do that, but proceeds to put both of his hands on Jared’s
shoulders and push his stomach against from him behind while Jared
sat in his chair at the booth. I’m very uncomfortable with this and
ask him to stop. Jared was upset by this and left my booth to go sit
with Katrina.
Jacob
went on to say that Dana said we were sneaking Dylan in. I explained
to him no, we had an agreement with Dana to just give him a day pass
and that was all that was said. I explained to him the refund for the
early bird table Dana offered and showed him the emails to prove it.
Jacob said everything was fine, and because it was already 5pm that
he wasn’t going to make Dylan pay. He understood what was going on.
He then said he would refund me, but only $10. I tell him I would
rather just have my full refund back because of all the hassle and
sales you have cost me. They stood in front of my table for almost
and hour with detoured a lot of people to stopping by, I felt it was
fair to ask for my full $30. Chris agreed that is just proper service
to give me the money back. Jacob went to the cash desk at the front
of the convention and gave me $30. He sarcastically apologized and
left.
Its around 6:50pm, and the band starts blaring. The dance is about to start. Any final end of the day sales didn’t happen, as many people couldn’t speak to us over the volume. After
that we waited until 7pm to strike down our display. Our display is
easy to take down, its all cubes, so we took down everything as we
were told to. We loaded it up on our wheely cart and took it to our
car. Multiple artists took down everything and there was an array of
empty tables around the alley. We started the 2 hour drive back home.
End
of Day 1.
Day
2
I
woke up that morning and laid in bed for a half and hour. I was so
stressed out after the first day we slept in a bit. I said to Jared
before we left in a joking tone, “What are the odds our table won’t
be there?” We laughed and drove again to Saskatoon.
We
got to the event on time, and right away noticed there was an artist
who wasn’t there yesterday in our table. Of fucking course. I went to
the artist and asked what was happening. She said to me that she was
sick yesterday, and Dana sat her here. Of course now we are livid, at
this point we have moved 3 times. First from the C1 spot that we were
originally assigned, then the corner table we had, now this. The way
they rearranged the Artist Alley that night did not effect the
placement of my table, I was right on the end. For some reason, Dana
decided rather then putting a new table out for this artist, she just
gave her mine.
We
are 300% done at this point. I’m so mad, I go find Dana and Jacob
tell them I want my money back. This whole ordeal is ridiculous and I
don’t want to be here. My table isn’t here, these aren’t my two four
foot tables. They are also not even the same height, so my 8 foot
display wouldn’t work. Dana reassures me that 4+4=8, so I am still
getting 8 feet of table. I tell her that isn’t the point. At this
point the infamous Brain Self butts in and tells us “YOU KNOW WHAT,
I’m going to go tell that girl thats at your table to move.” I tell
him no, shes set up. She is selling, this isn’t her fault. Dana told
her to sit there, you allowed her to set up. It isn’t fair on her
part, I refuse to sit there. I don’t even care about the spot at this
point, its the whole principal that you guys are screwing me around.
They
ignore me and go to the girl anyway. I run to her table and tell her not to move because this is not fair to her.
Brain then sees the two four foot tables and exclaims that hes going
to just take the two four foot tables and replace it with an 8 foot.
I tell him no, he does it anyway.
Jared and I stand around
in the AA waiting. We watch Brain struggle to carry and set up the 8
foot while taking away the 4 foots. We stand and talk to an artist
friend of mine, finding out that a lot of the artists aren’t happy.
One artist lost over $200 in stock from theft. He put his wares in
the Vendors room, that was only accessible by staff. As we are
talking about this, 3 other artists walk in. They stand by the empty
8 foot table with all of their stock and displays in hand. Its
obvious they are lost and confused. I go over to talk to them and
tell them whats going on. They tell me they had the 4 foot tables,
and now they are gone. So those two 4 foot tables belonged to these
girls, meaning they literally gave their table space to me after they
gave away my table space to another person. The situation isn’t even
salvageable anymore. Jacob is all witness to this, and tells us he is
going to go figure out what we can do. I go directly to Laura again
and tell her my table is gone, you owe me money. Now.
Laura
goes on to tell me that she can’t give me a refund. She said the
convention didn’t do as well as she had hoped and she has no money. I
tell her that isn’t the way that works, I paid for a service, you
didn’t provide and I am entitled to a refund. Laura then goes on to
tell me that she makes no money off the vendors or artist tables, and
she actually pays us $5 to be here. That… isn’t how it works. If
you pay me to be here, where is my $5, and why am I paying you
$170?… She told me to look in the contract and that it says “No
refunds.” I told her that the contract also states “Table
assignment is final and there are to be no table swapping or
alterations to the Artist Alley layout.” Meaning that they broke
their own contract already. She then tells me that she isn’t going to
give me the money, this wasn’t her problem and to talk to Dana. I
explain to her as the Chair of the convention, this is your problem.
She tells me, “Nope, talk to Dana. This is on her now.” Okay
first of all, don’t pawn this off on your staff. I get this is Dana’s
first year, but don’t force your volunteer to pay out of pocket.
We
stand looking over the contract, and Laura points out this clause:
“6. All tables for the Artist Alley are handled on a first come,
first serve basis. A waiting list exists for additional artists who
are unable to acquire a reservation.” She tries to tell me that
because I wasn’t here they gave away my table. I told her that that
is complete bullshit, as that clause is under payment. Its first come
first serve on payment. I direct her to look at the next clause: “11.
Once an artist has made a reservation and made payment, reservation
is final.” She gets upset not being able to find a loop-hole and
tells me its not her problem, talk to Dana.
Laura
calls Dana over, and immediately walks away and leaves the two of us
alone. I tell Dana I want my money back, and I want it today. I’m not
making any money here, I don’t have my table and I am not happy. Dana
tells me she will give me my refund, but has to talk to Laura. I tell
her Laura said to talk to you. She agrees and tells us that we have
to wait until tomorrow so she can go to her bank. I tell her I want
my full table amount back, and this completely changes her attitude.
She starts getting super defensive and tells me no, she refuses. I
tell her you just agreed, and she retorts that she was only going to
give the $30 back. I tell her no, that’s been dealt with I want my
full table amount. Jared goes on to ask her, “Are we making money
right now?” And she looks at him like a deer in the headlights and
tells him no. We both say exactly, this is ridiculous and we want our
money back. At this point I am recording the entire thing as no one
can get their facts straight. She sees I am holding my camera up on
my phone and starts to freak out. She starts yelling, “Oh my god
are you recording this? I’m getting security!!” and quickly walks
away. This is at 11am.
Remaining
not phased by her actions, Jared and I continue to talk to our artist
alley friend who is just as angry and about to explode at this point.
We talk about our rights as an artist, and how they broke the legal
contract and legally owe me. At this time I go around to the artists
and try to explain the situation. This is my profession, this is what
I do as a full time job. These people are the same people I am going
to see all year. I don’t want to be ‘those guys at the Blitz’, so I
make sure to make everything clear. They agree, and explain that they
would react the same way in my situation.
Its
after 12pm now, still no sign of security. Jacob keeps walking by,
but keeps avoiding us. Finally Jared flags him down and asks him what
he is going to do for us. Jacob looks panicked and tells him that
there is a situation involving the guests that he is dealing with,
and he isn’t going to be dealing with us anymore. Jared at this point
just shrugs and walks away. We contuine to wait to see our fate at
the convention. Finally Jared takes most of our set up stuff to the car,
rather then having it sit in the artist alley. I continue to talk to
my friend and find out there was a mass email that was sent out to
all the artists on a large forward list – guess who isn’t on it?
Dana, even last night, excluded me from the Artist Alley. Fantastic,
more fuel for the fire. 1:30pm rolls around, and most of the guests
are packing up their stuff and leaving out of anger. I have no idea
what happened, but their guests walked out on them.
Jared
and I then go to the Vendors room again to talk to Katrina, and
update her on whats happening. We then start to talk about Ai-Kon,
and how its one of our favorite cons. We discuss other conventions I
have never been to, and make plans to attend together. As Jared and I
talking, a tall man in a Prairieland Park jacket comes up, telling
Jared and ‘his ladyfriend’ that we need to talk. I’m already pissed
off at this guy for being so rude, don’t call me ladyfriend pal, but
we go anyway. He tries to lead us to the front door and tells us that
we are being told to leave. We ask why, (I mean, I know why but I
wanted to know what they told him) and he tells us that we are
harassing the vendors and picking fights with artists. We tell him
this isn’t true, and its a lie from the convention staff to kick us
out without giving us a refund.
Jared tries to explain that our car is out the back doors, which the
artists and vendors were told to use. He tells Jared to 'listen here
sonny’ and not to question him, because we 'don’t want to know what
his other job is.’ Jared is now pissed at this point of this man
calling him sonny and challenges him to know his other job. He
explains that he is the Deputy Sheriff at the Queens Bench of
Justice. Instead of intimidating us this gives us a chance. So we
tell him we need to grab our stuff and we will leave. Before he kicks
us out, I quickly ramble off what happened to us, how they broke the
contract and took our table. He then introduces himself to us, and we
to him. He tells me that I can file a claim via small claims court because of this. He tells me
what I can claim from them, where to go to get all the information and
some contact information. He tells us there isn’t anything he can do,
as the Blitz rents from Prairieland and as the security there he has
to do as they wish. He tells us that he has to write up a report for
the incident, but if I call in they will give me the information
needed for the claim.
And
with that, we were escorted out. We left the event and made no money that day. In total, we ended up losing close to $400, and made zero profit. I paid $170 to be there this weekend. Conventions base their table price off of demand and the amount of people who attend. I am going to far more popular, in demand conventions and pay far less for a table. Their prices are insane, they treat you like garbage- and if you really lucky like me, they give away your artist table! And when they can’t take accountability for it, they will have security escort you out. Thanks Saskatoon Blitz!
EDIT: A former staff has sent me screen shots of what has been said about me in the private group. I did a crowdfunding for Calcifer last month as many of you know, so its confirmed me. The ex-staff gave me permission to post these.
Reblogging on my old account w more local followers DO NOT SUPPORT THIS CON.
Please excuse my wall of text, this weekend was a nightmare. In order to properly explain all that went on a novel needed to be written.
TLDR; Do not support this convention! Artists beware, they treat you like garbage. They gave away my artist table and left me with nothing. When I complained, called security to escort me out. I did not get a refund, and I am at a loss here.
This
weekend was the first time I have ever been escorted out of an event.
The Saskatoon Blitz tried to intimidate and humiliate me by taking
away my artist table I paid for.
Let’s
start from the very beginning. January 2nd,
2015 was the day artist tables were announced. I applied right away
for my table, signing my contract with the rules of the convention.
There wasn’t any place to send my payment to right away, so I
included in the email that I needed to know where to send my payment
as soon as possible. Doing it before a certain date made you eligible
for the early bird rate of $141, rather then the $171 the table would
be after that said date. I received an email back on January 4th
from Dana, the Artist Alley Coordinator, with this reply:
“Wow!
You were quick, you’re the first one! So
for payment you can do it Online (ticketssllag@gmail.com)
for PayPal +2.5 % (which would be 3.55 extra) Online
checkout Is coming soon! (Sorry about that!)”
Okay,
so the application was done. In my head I was contemplating going to
this convention at all. I know they are a small town con, but this
isn’t their first or second year, so it should go smoothly. I’ve gone
before, my friends go, so why not? I now have taken on doing Artist
Alleys as my full time job, so this was business and I should go.
Time passed, and I forgot about sending my payment. I seen on their
website tables are still available and didnt stress, so I used their
online checkout and bought my 8 foot table for the full price. I
didn’t expect the early bird pricing at all, as I didn’t send my
payment before the date it needed to be. After sending my payment on
May 14th,
Dana emailed me back on the 17th:
“Hey
so you paid for the price of a regular table, but I have you marked
down for the early bird table.
So
I can refund you the difference if you’d like. You did come
early. -Dana
A “
Okay,
awesome! Maybe the Blitz is stepping up their game. I reply saying
that I would really appreciate it. In that email it didn’t really
confirm if I had a table or not, so I emailed her on the 29th
to verify. She emailed me back on the 31st, saying it was
and not to worry. I reply back telling her where she can refund the
difference. No reply.
Its
now time for the convention. Its Friday June 12th, and I
email Dana the night. We had an 8 foot table, so we needed an extra
helper. The day pass for the Blitz was $30, and our helper Dylan
could only be there with us for one day as he worked Sunday. I send
Dana this email:
“Hey
Dana, just wanted to give you a heads up that we may be late tomorrow
morning. Our travel plans changed so we are leaving in a few hours (
we were supposed to come today to Saskatoon but
yeah..some things happened). We also have an extra helper coming with
now. Is it possible rather then getting our early bird discount back
could we get an additional pass? Please let me know!
“
It seems very straight forward, as least I thought.
Additional artist passes are $25, but I just asked for a normal pass,
which in their favor would give them an extra $5. All I wanted was
the easiest solution.
Day
1
I wake up at 6:30am to get ready for the 2 hour drive to
Saskatoon. It looks like my helpers are running late, so I send a
quick text to my friend Katrina of Chinook Crafts to please ask Dana
to check her email as I have not gotten a reply from her. I wanted
Dana to know that I would be late. Katrina flagged her down, it was
no problem and the morning went on as usual.
We
rush to Saskatoon and get there right before 10am. The Artist Alley
was open to the public at 10am, so we were very worried that we would
look ridiculous trying to set up the display – but many artists
seemed to be in the same boat and not a soul was wandering the alley.
I was first approached by Emily who directed me to my table – well,
where my table should have been. Another artist was set up there in
booth C1. So we stood the only empty spot in the AA where later they
brought out an 8 foot table. The first thing I notice is that the
alley is set up… classroom style. That
is to say the front of your table faced the back of the table in
front of you, and patrons walked down the aisle in between. Patrons
were 3ft away from cash boxes, stock, etc. It really wasn’t fun to
have traffic behind us, seeing our set up. From patrons I was told it
felt like walking behind a cash register, it was just wrong!
Then
Dana then asks us were our badges are. Well we just walked in, so I
told her we still needed them. I asked her if she got my email, and
she said “Yes, maybe. I dont know, what was it?” I told her about
me running late and getting a badge for Dylan. She said she recalls
and went to grab our badges. She came back with only two badges and
told me I would have to buy a weekend pass for Dylan as she had no
more artist badges. I explained to her it would be easiest if we just
did the switch I mentioned before as he is only staying today. She
looked at me like I was crazy then proceeded to tell me I needed to
go to the front and buy a weekend wrist band, she would refund me
tomorrow. A gut feeling told me I wouldn’t be getting that refund
tomorrow. I again explained to her if we could do it the other way
because he was there for ONE day (which she clearly didn’t
understand) and she said “Sure, whatever I have to go”. Alright.
We sat throughout the day waiting for Dana to return.
The
day was slow, and we didn’t see attendees until after 11:30. The
Blitz didn’t let the attendees in until after 10am, as some vendors
were not ready yet. This is the first breach in the contract, as the
hours are stated 10am to 8pm for artists, 10am to 7pm for vendors.
Late starts cost vendors and artists money. Dana returned to my
table many times not saying anything to me, so I assumed all was
well. She didn’t mention anything about the badge, and because of the
aforementioned lack of artist badges just let it be. From what we
gathered all there was was the green wristbands everyone was wearing
for a weekend, and day passes people were simply let in.
It
was 3pm at this time, and we haven’t even made back our cost of the
table and travel. There was little to no people at the event, and it
was very evident they didn’t reach their goal of 1,200 people for
that day. As it was nearing late afternoon, my two assistants Jared
and Dylan went to go find some food for us. I sat alone at the table,
and Dana came by and informed me the artist alley would be closing at
9pm tonight and reopen at 8am tomorrow. I was confused, and asked her
to clarify if the 8am was set up, or opening? She said it was to open
at 10am tomorrow. As she walked away I realized that 10am to 9pm is a
long, LONG day. I texted my friend Katrina in the vendors room again
asking if she knew the time it was to close. She send me a screen
shot of the contract stating the correct times of 7pm for Vendors,
8pm for artists. I’m going to go by the contract, so I didn’t worry
to much. Jared and Dylan returned, and I told them the hours. They
told me that earlier Dana came by while I was in the washroom and
said it closed at 7pm. So we had three different times here.
I
asked a couple of my artist buddies who were also at the event what
they had heard the hours were, and they had no idea either. Everyone
I had spoken to was saying they were really getting fed up with the
lack of sales, and the lack of communication. I went into the vendors
room to directly talk to Katrina, and at that time Emily came over to
tell them that the vendors hall was to close at 8pm. Again – not
the right time at all. At this point Jared went to Emily, who was
also coming around talking to people, to ask who was in charge to
talk to them and get this straight. Emily said that Laura was the
chair of the convention and she would be the one to talk to. I went
back to the table, and Jared asked for a word with Laura.
Jared told Laura that
he had some major concerns that needed to be addressed. Laura asked
if talking here was fine, but Jared said it would be better to talk
off to the side rather then right in the middle of the vendors room.
He explained to her that this wasn’t going well. Nothing was set up
right, our table wasn’t even there to start out with, the backs of
our booths were to the traffic, with people carrying around REAL
swords and weapons (there was no weapons policy) and there is no
communication here. He added we also had people constantly bumping
into the back of us because of the way it was set up. He then asked
where we are to put our stock and display, as the area in which the
dance was being held was the same room the Artist Alley was in. Laura
told him that after the Artist Alley closed at 7pm we could move it
into the Vendors room. He asked what we should leave, and she advised
to take everything down as there was no lock and no security. She
added she wouldn’t leave any of her personal stuff in there. Laura
ended it with our feedback was appreciated, as she can’t make the
Blitz better without feedback. And that was that.
Jared
came back to the table, told me what he discussed with Laura. And so
the rest of the grueling day went on. I ate my pulled pork on a bun
that I bought from the convention center, and felt really sick after.
I told the boys in the most discreet way possible I was going to go
die in the bathroom. After spending a while in the bathroom I went
back to talk to Katrina at her table to ask how the day was going for
them. After talking with them I returned to my booth to see Emily,
Dana, Jacob (who later I found out was the ‘Head of Security’, in
reality was the host) and another volunteer named Chris. Before I had
gotten there they asked Jared and Dylan if they were artists. Jared
said yes, we are at the artist booth. Jacob replied that they needed
to go with him. The way Jacob spoke to Jared he thought that he was
part of an improv group or something and refused. He really isn’t
into that type of thing. He then leaned over the table to Jared
trying to intimidate him telling him this was a matter of security
and that he was being disrespectful.
They
started asking where I was, if I had a wristband and if I was coming
back. Jared said he didn’t know They had no idea who these people
were, as none of them were wearing badges indicating they were staff.
He felt no need to say anything to them. Right at this moment I
walked up to the table to see everyone standing blocking my table. I
could see Jared was furious but keeping it cool. I’ve been dating the
guy for 5 years, I know when hes super upset. Jacob asks me to show
him my wristband, I tell him I’m an artist and I don’t have one, I
have the badges. He then looks to Jared and is telling him “breathe man, just breathe.” I know this is one of Jared’s anger
triggers, so I brace for impact. Nothing, Jared sits there calmly. So
I ask what the hell is going on here?
Jacob
explains that we are being disrespectful to the staff by asking them
over and over about the times, therefore we are harassing them. All this
time Chris is rolling his eyes at us and huffing with every word. I
tell them that no such thing has been done, and that we just want to
know when we can leave the convention. There was no communication,
and this was just getting stupid. I asked them, if you boss asked you
to stay extra hours after work with no explanation would you be
happy? Dana and Emily argued with me saying that if I didn’t hear it
from them it wasn’t the right time. I told them the only people I
have asked is you two, and I still don’t have a right time. Emily and
Dana knew they had no argument, and just walked away. After hearing
our side of the story, Jacob and Chris stayed behind and tried to
give us a solution to our backs being open. Chris mentioned he
attended a lot of conventions and its just convention 101 to know not
to put your back towards the traffic. He was very concerned with
that, and scribbled down in his notebook a plan of action. Jacob
proceeded to come around the table, and put his hands on Jared’s
shoulder telling him just “To breathe buddy.” Dylan tells Jacob
not to do that, but proceeds to put both of his hands on Jared’s
shoulders and push his stomach against from him behind while Jared
sat in his chair at the booth. I’m very uncomfortable with this and
ask him to stop. Jared was upset by this and left my booth to go sit
with Katrina.
Jacob
went on to say that Dana said we were sneaking Dylan in. I explained
to him no, we had an agreement with Dana to just give him a day pass
and that was all that was said. I explained to him the refund for the
early bird table Dana offered and showed him the emails to prove it.
Jacob said everything was fine, and because it was already 5pm that
he wasn’t going to make Dylan pay. He understood what was going on.
He then said he would refund me, but only $10. I tell him I would
rather just have my full refund back because of all the hassle and
sales you have cost me. They stood in front of my table for almost
and hour with detoured a lot of people to stopping by, I felt it was
fair to ask for my full $30. Chris agreed that is just proper service
to give me the money back. Jacob went to the cash desk at the front
of the convention and gave me $30. He sarcastically apologized and
left.
Its around 6:50pm, and the band starts blaring. The dance is about to start. Any final end of the day sales didn’t happen, as many people couldn’t speak to us over the volume. After
that we waited until 7pm to strike down our display. Our display is
easy to take down, its all cubes, so we took down everything as we
were told to. We loaded it up on our wheely cart and took it to our
car. Multiple artists took down everything and there was an array of
empty tables around the alley. We started the 2 hour drive back home.
End
of Day 1.
Day
2
I
woke up that morning and laid in bed for a half and hour. I was so
stressed out after the first day we slept in a bit. I said to Jared
before we left in a joking tone, “What are the odds our table won’t
be there?” We laughed and drove again to Saskatoon.
We
got to the event on time, and right away noticed there was an artist
who wasn’t there yesterday in our table. Of fucking course. I went to
the artist and asked what was happening. She said to me that she was
sick yesterday, and Dana sat her here. Of course now we are livid, at
this point we have moved 3 times. First from the C1 spot that we were
originally assigned, then the corner table we had, now this. The way
they rearranged the Artist Alley that night did not effect the
placement of my table, I was right on the end. For some reason, Dana
decided rather then putting a new table out for this artist, she just
gave her mine.
We
are 300% done at this point. I’m so mad, I go find Dana and Jacob
tell them I want my money back. This whole ordeal is ridiculous and I
don’t want to be here. My table isn’t here, these aren’t my two four
foot tables. They are also not even the same height, so my 8 foot
display wouldn’t work. Dana reassures me that 4+4=8, so I am still
getting 8 feet of table. I tell her that isn’t the point. At this
point the infamous Brain Self butts in and tells us “YOU KNOW WHAT,
I’m going to go tell that girl thats at your table to move.” I tell
him no, shes set up. She is selling, this isn’t her fault. Dana told
her to sit there, you allowed her to set up. It isn’t fair on her
part, I refuse to sit there. I don’t even care about the spot at this
point, its the whole principal that you guys are screwing me around.
They
ignore me and go to the girl anyway. I run to her table and tell her not to move because this is not fair to her.
Brain then sees the two four foot tables and exclaims that hes going
to just take the two four foot tables and replace it with an 8 foot.
I tell him no, he does it anyway.
Jared and I stand around
in the AA waiting. We watch Brain struggle to carry and set up the 8
foot while taking away the 4 foots. We stand and talk to an artist
friend of mine, finding out that a lot of the artists aren’t happy.
One artist lost over $200 in stock from theft. He put his wares in
the Vendors room, that was only accessible by staff. As we are
talking about this, 3 other artists walk in. They stand by the empty
8 foot table with all of their stock and displays in hand. Its
obvious they are lost and confused. I go over to talk to them and
tell them whats going on. They tell me they had the 4 foot tables,
and now they are gone. So those two 4 foot tables belonged to these
girls, meaning they literally gave their table space to me after they
gave away my table space to another person. The situation isn’t even
salvageable anymore. Jacob is all witness to this, and tells us he is
going to go figure out what we can do. I go directly to Laura again
and tell her my table is gone, you owe me money. Now.
Laura
goes on to tell me that she can’t give me a refund. She said the
convention didn’t do as well as she had hoped and she has no money. I
tell her that isn’t the way that works, I paid for a service, you
didn’t provide and I am entitled to a refund. Laura then goes on to
tell me that she makes no money off the vendors or artist tables, and
she actually pays us $5 to be here. That… isn’t how it works. If
you pay me to be here, where is my $5, and why am I paying you
$170?… She told me to look in the contract and that it says “No
refunds.” I told her that the contract also states “Table
assignment is final and there are to be no table swapping or
alterations to the Artist Alley layout.” Meaning that they broke
their own contract already. She then tells me that she isn’t going to
give me the money, this wasn’t her problem and to talk to Dana. I
explain to her as the Chair of the convention, this is your problem.
She tells me, “Nope, talk to Dana. This is on her now.” Okay
first of all, don’t pawn this off on your staff. I get this is Dana’s
first year, but don’t force your volunteer to pay out of pocket.
We
stand looking over the contract, and Laura points out this clause:
“6. All tables for the Artist Alley are handled on a first come,
first serve basis. A waiting list exists for additional artists who
are unable to acquire a reservation.” She tries to tell me that
because I wasn’t here they gave away my table. I told her that that
is complete bullshit, as that clause is under payment. Its first come
first serve on payment. I direct her to look at the next clause: “11.
Once an artist has made a reservation and made payment, reservation
is final.” She gets upset not being able to find a loop-hole and
tells me its not her problem, talk to Dana.
Laura
calls Dana over, and immediately walks away and leaves the two of us
alone. I tell Dana I want my money back, and I want it today. I’m not
making any money here, I don’t have my table and I am not happy. Dana
tells me she will give me my refund, but has to talk to Laura. I tell
her Laura said to talk to you. She agrees and tells us that we have
to wait until tomorrow so she can go to her bank. I tell her I want
my full table amount back, and this completely changes her attitude.
She starts getting super defensive and tells me no, she refuses. I
tell her you just agreed, and she retorts that she was only going to
give the $30 back. I tell her no, that’s been dealt with I want my
full table amount. Jared goes on to ask her, “Are we making money
right now?” And she looks at him like a deer in the headlights and
tells him no. We both say exactly, this is ridiculous and we want our
money back. At this point I am recording the entire thing as no one
can get their facts straight. She sees I am holding my camera up on
my phone and starts to freak out. She starts yelling, “Oh my god
are you recording this? I’m getting security!!” and quickly walks
away. This is at 11am.
Remaining
not phased by her actions, Jared and I continue to talk to our artist
alley friend who is just as angry and about to explode at this point.
We talk about our rights as an artist, and how they broke the legal
contract and legally owe me. At this time I go around to the artists
and try to explain the situation. This is my profession, this is what
I do as a full time job. These people are the same people I am going
to see all year. I don’t want to be ‘those guys at the Blitz’, so I
make sure to make everything clear. They agree, and explain that they
would react the same way in my situation.
Its
after 12pm now, still no sign of security. Jacob keeps walking by,
but keeps avoiding us. Finally Jared flags him down and asks him what
he is going to do for us. Jacob looks panicked and tells him that
there is a situation involving the guests that he is dealing with,
and he isn’t going to be dealing with us anymore. Jared at this point
just shrugs and walks away. We contuine to wait to see our fate at
the convention. Finally Jared takes most of our set up stuff to the car,
rather then having it sit in the artist alley. I continue to talk to
my friend and find out there was a mass email that was sent out to
all the artists on a large forward list – guess who isn’t on it?
Dana, even last night, excluded me from the Artist Alley. Fantastic,
more fuel for the fire. 1:30pm rolls around, and most of the guests
are packing up their stuff and leaving out of anger. I have no idea
what happened, but their guests walked out on them.
Jared
and I then go to the Vendors room again to talk to Katrina, and
update her on whats happening. We then start to talk about Ai-Kon,
and how its one of our favorite cons. We discuss other conventions I
have never been to, and make plans to attend together. As Jared and I
talking, a tall man in a Prairieland Park jacket comes up, telling
Jared and ‘his ladyfriend’ that we need to talk. I’m already pissed
off at this guy for being so rude, don’t call me ladyfriend pal, but
we go anyway. He tries to lead us to the front door and tells us that
we are being told to leave. We ask why, (I mean, I know why but I
wanted to know what they told him) and he tells us that we are
harassing the vendors and picking fights with artists. We tell him
this isn’t true, and its a lie from the convention staff to kick us
out without giving us a refund.
Jared tries to explain that our car is out the back doors, which the
artists and vendors were told to use. He tells Jared to 'listen here
sonny’ and not to question him, because we 'don’t want to know what
his other job is.’ Jared is now pissed at this point of this man
calling him sonny and challenges him to know his other job. He
explains that he is the Deputy Sheriff at the Queens Bench of
Justice. Instead of intimidating us this gives us a chance. So we
tell him we need to grab our stuff and we will leave. Before he kicks
us out, I quickly ramble off what happened to us, how they broke the
contract and took our table. He then introduces himself to us, and we
to him. He tells me that I can file a claim via small claims court because of this. He tells me
what I can claim from them, where to go to get all the information and
some contact information. He tells us there isn’t anything he can do,
as the Blitz rents from Prairieland and as the security there he has
to do as they wish. He tells us that he has to write up a report for
the incident, but if I call in they will give me the information
needed for the claim.
And
with that, we were escorted out. We left the event and made no money that day. In total, we ended up losing close to $400, and made zero profit. I paid $170 to be there this weekend. Conventions base their table price off of demand and the amount of people who attend. I am going to far more popular, in demand conventions and pay far less for a table. Their prices are insane, they treat you like garbage- and if you really lucky like me, they give away your artist table! And when they can’t take accountability for it, they will have security escort you out. Thanks Saskatoon Blitz!
EDIT: A former staff has sent me screen shots of what has been said about me in the private group. I did a crowdfunding for Calcifer last month as many of you know, so its confirmed me. The ex-staff gave me permission to post these.
Reblogging on my old account w more local followers DO NOT SUPPORT THIS CON.
Please excuse my wall of text, this weekend was a nightmare. In order to properly explain all that went on a novel needed to be written.
TLDR; Do not support this convention! Artists beware, they treat you like garbage. They gave away my artist table and left me with nothing. When I complained, called security to escort me out. I did not get a refund, and I am at a loss here.
This
weekend was the first time I have ever been escorted out of an event.
The Saskatoon Blitz tried to intimidate and humiliate me by taking
away my artist table I paid for.
Let’s
start from the very beginning. January 2nd,
2015 was the day artist tables were announced. I applied right away
for my table, signing my contract with the rules of the convention.
There wasn’t any place to send my payment to right away, so I
included in the email that I needed to know where to send my payment
as soon as possible. Doing it before a certain date made you eligible
for the early bird rate of $141, rather then the $171 the table would
be after that said date. I received an email back on January 4th
from Dana, the Artist Alley Coordinator, with this reply:
“Wow!
You were quick, you’re the first one! So
for payment you can do it Online (ticketssllag@gmail.com)
for PayPal +2.5 % (which would be 3.55 extra) Online
checkout Is coming soon! (Sorry about that!)”
Okay,
so the application was done. In my head I was contemplating going to
this convention at all. I know they are a small town con, but this
isn’t their first or second year, so it should go smoothly. I’ve gone
before, my friends go, so why not? I now have taken on doing Artist
Alleys as my full time job, so this was business and I should go.
Time passed, and I forgot about sending my payment. I seen on their
website tables are still available and didnt stress, so I used their
online checkout and bought my 8 foot table for the full price. I
didn’t expect the early bird pricing at all, as I didn’t send my
payment before the date it needed to be. After sending my payment on
May 14th,
Dana emailed me back on the 17th:
“Hey
so you paid for the price of a regular table, but I have you marked
down for the early bird table.
So
I can refund you the difference if you’d like. You did come
early. -Dana
A “
Okay,
awesome! Maybe the Blitz is stepping up their game. I reply saying
that I would really appreciate it. In that email it didn’t really
confirm if I had a table or not, so I emailed her on the 29th
to verify. She emailed me back on the 31st, saying it was
and not to worry. I reply back telling her where she can refund the
difference. No reply.
Its
now time for the convention. Its Friday June 12th, and I
email Dana the night. We had an 8 foot table, so we needed an extra
helper. The day pass for the Blitz was $30, and our helper Dylan
could only be there with us for one day as he worked Sunday. I send
Dana this email:
“Hey
Dana, just wanted to give you a heads up that we may be late tomorrow
morning. Our travel plans changed so we are leaving in a few hours (
we were supposed to come today to Saskatoon but
yeah..some things happened). We also have an extra helper coming with
now. Is it possible rather then getting our early bird discount back
could we get an additional pass? Please let me know!
“
It seems very straight forward, as least I thought.
Additional artist passes are $25, but I just asked for a normal pass,
which in their favor would give them an extra $5. All I wanted was
the easiest solution.
Day
1
I wake up at 6:30am to get ready for the 2 hour drive to
Saskatoon. It looks like my helpers are running late, so I send a
quick text to my friend Katrina of Chinook Crafts to please ask Dana
to check her email as I have not gotten a reply from her. I wanted
Dana to know that I would be late. Katrina flagged her down, it was
no problem and the morning went on as usual.
We
rush to Saskatoon and get there right before 10am. The Artist Alley
was open to the public at 10am, so we were very worried that we would
look ridiculous trying to set up the display – but many artists
seemed to be in the same boat and not a soul was wandering the alley.
I was first approached by Emily who directed me to my table – well,
where my table should have been. Another artist was set up there in
booth C1. So we stood the only empty spot in the AA where later they
brought out an 8 foot table. The first thing I notice is that the
alley is set up… classroom style. That
is to say the front of your table faced the back of the table in
front of you, and patrons walked down the aisle in between. Patrons
were 3ft away from cash boxes, stock, etc. It really wasn’t fun to
have traffic behind us, seeing our set up. From patrons I was told it
felt like walking behind a cash register, it was just wrong!
Then
Dana then asks us were our badges are. Well we just walked in, so I
told her we still needed them. I asked her if she got my email, and
she said “Yes, maybe. I dont know, what was it?” I told her about
me running late and getting a badge for Dylan. She said she recalls
and went to grab our badges. She came back with only two badges and
told me I would have to buy a weekend pass for Dylan as she had no
more artist badges. I explained to her it would be easiest if we just
did the switch I mentioned before as he is only staying today. She
looked at me like I was crazy then proceeded to tell me I needed to
go to the front and buy a weekend wrist band, she would refund me
tomorrow. A gut feeling told me I wouldn’t be getting that refund
tomorrow. I again explained to her if we could do it the other way
because he was there for ONE day (which she clearly didn’t
understand) and she said “Sure, whatever I have to go”. Alright.
We sat throughout the day waiting for Dana to return.
The
day was slow, and we didn’t see attendees until after 11:30. The
Blitz didn’t let the attendees in until after 10am, as some vendors
were not ready yet. This is the first breach in the contract, as the
hours are stated 10am to 8pm for artists, 10am to 7pm for vendors.
Late starts cost vendors and artists money. Dana returned to my
table many times not saying anything to me, so I assumed all was
well. She didn’t mention anything about the badge, and because of the
aforementioned lack of artist badges just let it be. From what we
gathered all there was was the green wristbands everyone was wearing
for a weekend, and day passes people were simply let in.
It
was 3pm at this time, and we haven’t even made back our cost of the
table and travel. There was little to no people at the event, and it
was very evident they didn’t reach their goal of 1,200 people for
that day. As it was nearing late afternoon, my two assistants Jared
and Dylan went to go find some food for us. I sat alone at the table,
and Dana came by and informed me the artist alley would be closing at
9pm tonight and reopen at 8am tomorrow. I was confused, and asked her
to clarify if the 8am was set up, or opening? She said it was to open
at 10am tomorrow. As she walked away I realized that 10am to 9pm is a
long, LONG day. I texted my friend Katrina in the vendors room again
asking if she knew the time it was to close. She send me a screen
shot of the contract stating the correct times of 7pm for Vendors,
8pm for artists. I’m going to go by the contract, so I didn’t worry
to much. Jared and Dylan returned, and I told them the hours. They
told me that earlier Dana came by while I was in the washroom and
said it closed at 7pm. So we had three different times here.
I
asked a couple of my artist buddies who were also at the event what
they had heard the hours were, and they had no idea either. Everyone
I had spoken to was saying they were really getting fed up with the
lack of sales, and the lack of communication. I went into the vendors
room to directly talk to Katrina, and at that time Emily came over to
tell them that the vendors hall was to close at 8pm. Again – not
the right time at all. At this point Jared went to Emily, who was
also coming around talking to people, to ask who was in charge to
talk to them and get this straight. Emily said that Laura was the
chair of the convention and she would be the one to talk to. I went
back to the table, and Jared asked for a word with Laura.
Jared told Laura that
he had some major concerns that needed to be addressed. Laura asked
if talking here was fine, but Jared said it would be better to talk
off to the side rather then right in the middle of the vendors room.
He explained to her that this wasn’t going well. Nothing was set up
right, our table wasn’t even there to start out with, the backs of
our booths were to the traffic, with people carrying around REAL
swords and weapons (there was no weapons policy) and there is no
communication here. He added we also had people constantly bumping
into the back of us because of the way it was set up. He then asked
where we are to put our stock and display, as the area in which the
dance was being held was the same room the Artist Alley was in. Laura
told him that after the Artist Alley closed at 7pm we could move it
into the Vendors room. He asked what we should leave, and she advised
to take everything down as there was no lock and no security. She
added she wouldn’t leave any of her personal stuff in there. Laura
ended it with our feedback was appreciated, as she can’t make the
Blitz better without feedback. And that was that.
Jared
came back to the table, told me what he discussed with Laura. And so
the rest of the grueling day went on. I ate my pulled pork on a bun
that I bought from the convention center, and felt really sick after.
I told the boys in the most discreet way possible I was going to go
die in the bathroom. After spending a while in the bathroom I went
back to talk to Katrina at her table to ask how the day was going for
them. After talking with them I returned to my booth to see Emily,
Dana, Jacob (who later I found out was the ‘Head of Security’, in
reality was the host) and another volunteer named Chris. Before I had
gotten there they asked Jared and Dylan if they were artists. Jared
said yes, we are at the artist booth. Jacob replied that they needed
to go with him. The way Jacob spoke to Jared he thought that he was
part of an improv group or something and refused. He really isn’t
into that type of thing. He then leaned over the table to Jared
trying to intimidate him telling him this was a matter of security
and that he was being disrespectful.
They
started asking where I was, if I had a wristband and if I was coming
back. Jared said he didn’t know They had no idea who these people
were, as none of them were wearing badges indicating they were staff.
He felt no need to say anything to them. Right at this moment I
walked up to the table to see everyone standing blocking my table. I
could see Jared was furious but keeping it cool. I’ve been dating the
guy for 5 years, I know when hes super upset. Jacob asks me to show
him my wristband, I tell him I’m an artist and I don’t have one, I
have the badges. He then looks to Jared and is telling him “breathe man, just breathe.” I know this is one of Jared’s anger
triggers, so I brace for impact. Nothing, Jared sits there calmly. So
I ask what the hell is going on here?
Jacob
explains that we are being disrespectful to the staff by asking them
over and over about the times, therefore we are harassing them. All this
time Chris is rolling his eyes at us and huffing with every word. I
tell them that no such thing has been done, and that we just want to
know when we can leave the convention. There was no communication,
and this was just getting stupid. I asked them, if you boss asked you
to stay extra hours after work with no explanation would you be
happy? Dana and Emily argued with me saying that if I didn’t hear it
from them it wasn’t the right time. I told them the only people I
have asked is you two, and I still don’t have a right time. Emily and
Dana knew they had no argument, and just walked away. After hearing
our side of the story, Jacob and Chris stayed behind and tried to
give us a solution to our backs being open. Chris mentioned he
attended a lot of conventions and its just convention 101 to know not
to put your back towards the traffic. He was very concerned with
that, and scribbled down in his notebook a plan of action. Jacob
proceeded to come around the table, and put his hands on Jared’s
shoulder telling him just “To breathe buddy.” Dylan tells Jacob
not to do that, but proceeds to put both of his hands on Jared’s
shoulders and push his stomach against from him behind while Jared
sat in his chair at the booth. I’m very uncomfortable with this and
ask him to stop. Jared was upset by this and left my booth to go sit
with Katrina.
Jacob
went on to say that Dana said we were sneaking Dylan in. I explained
to him no, we had an agreement with Dana to just give him a day pass
and that was all that was said. I explained to him the refund for the
early bird table Dana offered and showed him the emails to prove it.
Jacob said everything was fine, and because it was already 5pm that
he wasn’t going to make Dylan pay. He understood what was going on.
He then said he would refund me, but only $10. I tell him I would
rather just have my full refund back because of all the hassle and
sales you have cost me. They stood in front of my table for almost
and hour with detoured a lot of people to stopping by, I felt it was
fair to ask for my full $30. Chris agreed that is just proper service
to give me the money back. Jacob went to the cash desk at the front
of the convention and gave me $30. He sarcastically apologized and
left.
Its around 6:50pm, and the band starts blaring. The dance is about to start. Any final end of the day sales didn’t happen, as many people couldn’t speak to us over the volume. After
that we waited until 7pm to strike down our display. Our display is
easy to take down, its all cubes, so we took down everything as we
were told to. We loaded it up on our wheely cart and took it to our
car. Multiple artists took down everything and there was an array of
empty tables around the alley. We started the 2 hour drive back home.
End
of Day 1.
Day
2
I
woke up that morning and laid in bed for a half and hour. I was so
stressed out after the first day we slept in a bit. I said to Jared
before we left in a joking tone, “What are the odds our table won’t
be there?” We laughed and drove again to Saskatoon.
We
got to the event on time, and right away noticed there was an artist
who wasn’t there yesterday in our table. Of fucking course. I went to
the artist and asked what was happening. She said to me that she was
sick yesterday, and Dana sat her here. Of course now we are livid, at
this point we have moved 3 times. First from the C1 spot that we were
originally assigned, then the corner table we had, now this. The way
they rearranged the Artist Alley that night did not effect the
placement of my table, I was right on the end. For some reason, Dana
decided rather then putting a new table out for this artist, she just
gave her mine.
We
are 300% done at this point. I’m so mad, I go find Dana and Jacob
tell them I want my money back. This whole ordeal is ridiculous and I
don’t want to be here. My table isn’t here, these aren’t my two four
foot tables. They are also not even the same height, so my 8 foot
display wouldn’t work. Dana reassures me that 4+4=8, so I am still
getting 8 feet of table. I tell her that isn’t the point. At this
point the infamous Brain Self butts in and tells us “YOU KNOW WHAT,
I’m going to go tell that girl thats at your table to move.” I tell
him no, shes set up. She is selling, this isn’t her fault. Dana told
her to sit there, you allowed her to set up. It isn’t fair on her
part, I refuse to sit there. I don’t even care about the spot at this
point, its the whole principal that you guys are screwing me around.
They
ignore me and go to the girl anyway. I run to her table and tell her not to move because this is not fair to her.
Brain then sees the two four foot tables and exclaims that hes going
to just take the two four foot tables and replace it with an 8 foot.
I tell him no, he does it anyway.
Jared and I stand around
in the AA waiting. We watch Brain struggle to carry and set up the 8
foot while taking away the 4 foots. We stand and talk to an artist
friend of mine, finding out that a lot of the artists aren’t happy.
One artist lost over $200 in stock from theft. He put his wares in
the Vendors room, that was only accessible by staff. As we are
talking about this, 3 other artists walk in. They stand by the empty
8 foot table with all of their stock and displays in hand. Its
obvious they are lost and confused. I go over to talk to them and
tell them whats going on. They tell me they had the 4 foot tables,
and now they are gone. So those two 4 foot tables belonged to these
girls, meaning they literally gave their table space to me after they
gave away my table space to another person. The situation isn’t even
salvageable anymore. Jacob is all witness to this, and tells us he is
going to go figure out what we can do. I go directly to Laura again
and tell her my table is gone, you owe me money. Now.
Laura
goes on to tell me that she can’t give me a refund. She said the
convention didn’t do as well as she had hoped and she has no money. I
tell her that isn’t the way that works, I paid for a service, you
didn’t provide and I am entitled to a refund. Laura then goes on to
tell me that she makes no money off the vendors or artist tables, and
she actually pays us $5 to be here. That… isn’t how it works. If
you pay me to be here, where is my $5, and why am I paying you
$170?… She told me to look in the contract and that it says “No
refunds.” I told her that the contract also states “Table
assignment is final and there are to be no table swapping or
alterations to the Artist Alley layout.” Meaning that they broke
their own contract already. She then tells me that she isn’t going to
give me the money, this wasn’t her problem and to talk to Dana. I
explain to her as the Chair of the convention, this is your problem.
She tells me, “Nope, talk to Dana. This is on her now.” Okay
first of all, don’t pawn this off on your staff. I get this is Dana’s
first year, but don’t force your volunteer to pay out of pocket.
We
stand looking over the contract, and Laura points out this clause:
“6. All tables for the Artist Alley are handled on a first come,
first serve basis. A waiting list exists for additional artists who
are unable to acquire a reservation.” She tries to tell me that
because I wasn’t here they gave away my table. I told her that that
is complete bullshit, as that clause is under payment. Its first come
first serve on payment. I direct her to look at the next clause: “11.
Once an artist has made a reservation and made payment, reservation
is final.” She gets upset not being able to find a loop-hole and
tells me its not her problem, talk to Dana.
Laura
calls Dana over, and immediately walks away and leaves the two of us
alone. I tell Dana I want my money back, and I want it today. I’m not
making any money here, I don’t have my table and I am not happy. Dana
tells me she will give me my refund, but has to talk to Laura. I tell
her Laura said to talk to you. She agrees and tells us that we have
to wait until tomorrow so she can go to her bank. I tell her I want
my full table amount back, and this completely changes her attitude.
She starts getting super defensive and tells me no, she refuses. I
tell her you just agreed, and she retorts that she was only going to
give the $30 back. I tell her no, that’s been dealt with I want my
full table amount. Jared goes on to ask her, “Are we making money
right now?” And she looks at him like a deer in the headlights and
tells him no. We both say exactly, this is ridiculous and we want our
money back. At this point I am recording the entire thing as no one
can get their facts straight. She sees I am holding my camera up on
my phone and starts to freak out. She starts yelling, “Oh my god
are you recording this? I’m getting security!!” and quickly walks
away. This is at 11am.
Remaining
not phased by her actions, Jared and I continue to talk to our artist
alley friend who is just as angry and about to explode at this point.
We talk about our rights as an artist, and how they broke the legal
contract and legally owe me. At this time I go around to the artists
and try to explain the situation. This is my profession, this is what
I do as a full time job. These people are the same people I am going
to see all year. I don’t want to be ‘those guys at the Blitz’, so I
make sure to make everything clear. They agree, and explain that they
would react the same way in my situation.
Its
after 12pm now, still no sign of security. Jacob keeps walking by,
but keeps avoiding us. Finally Jared flags him down and asks him what
he is going to do for us. Jacob looks panicked and tells him that
there is a situation involving the guests that he is dealing with,
and he isn’t going to be dealing with us anymore. Jared at this point
just shrugs and walks away. We contuine to wait to see our fate at
the convention. Finally Jared takes most of our set up stuff to the car,
rather then having it sit in the artist alley. I continue to talk to
my friend and find out there was a mass email that was sent out to
all the artists on a large forward list – guess who isn’t on it?
Dana, even last night, excluded me from the Artist Alley. Fantastic,
more fuel for the fire. 1:30pm rolls around, and most of the guests
are packing up their stuff and leaving out of anger. I have no idea
what happened, but their guests walked out on them.
Jared
and I then go to the Vendors room again to talk to Katrina, and
update her on whats happening. We then start to talk about Ai-Kon,
and how its one of our favorite cons. We discuss other conventions I
have never been to, and make plans to attend together. As Jared and I
talking, a tall man in a Prairieland Park jacket comes up, telling
Jared and ‘his ladyfriend’ that we need to talk. I’m already pissed
off at this guy for being so rude, don’t call me ladyfriend pal, but
we go anyway. He tries to lead us to the front door and tells us that
we are being told to leave. We ask why, (I mean, I know why but I
wanted to know what they told him) and he tells us that we are
harassing the vendors and picking fights with artists. We tell him
this isn’t true, and its a lie from the convention staff to kick us
out without giving us a refund.
Jared tries to explain that our car is out the back doors, which the
artists and vendors were told to use. He tells Jared to 'listen here
sonny’ and not to question him, because we 'don’t want to know what
his other job is.’ Jared is now pissed at this point of this man
calling him sonny and challenges him to know his other job. He
explains that he is the Deputy Sheriff at the Queens Bench of
Justice. Instead of intimidating us this gives us a chance. So we
tell him we need to grab our stuff and we will leave. Before he kicks
us out, I quickly ramble off what happened to us, how they broke the
contract and took our table. He then introduces himself to us, and we
to him. He tells me that I can file a claim via small claims court because of this. He tells me
what I can claim from them, where to go to get all the information and
some contact information. He tells us there isn’t anything he can do,
as the Blitz rents from Prairieland and as the security there he has
to do as they wish. He tells us that he has to write up a report for
the incident, but if I call in they will give me the information
needed for the claim.
And
with that, we were escorted out. We left the event and made no money that day. In total, we ended up losing close to $400, and made zero profit. I paid $170 to be there this weekend. Conventions base their table price off of demand and the amount of people who attend. I am going to far more popular, in demand conventions and pay far less for a table. Their prices are insane, they treat you like garbage- and if you really lucky like me, they give away your artist table! And when they can’t take accountability for it, they will have security escort you out. Thanks Saskatoon Blitz!
EDIT: A former staff has sent me screen shots of what has been said about me in the private group. I did a crowdfunding for Calcifer last month as many of you know, so its confirmed me. The ex-staff gave me permission to post these.
Reblogging on my old account w more local followers DO NOT SUPPORT THIS CON.
Please excuse my wall of text, this weekend was a nightmare. In order to properly explain all that went on a novel needed to be written.
TLDR; Do not support this convention! Artists beware, they treat you like garbage. They gave away my artist table and left me with nothing. When I complained, called security to escort me out. I did not get a refund, and I am at a loss here.
This
weekend was the first time I have ever been escorted out of an event.
The Saskatoon Blitz tried to intimidate and humiliate me by taking
away my artist table I paid for.
Let’s
start from the very beginning. January 2nd,
2015 was the day artist tables were announced. I applied right away
for my table, signing my contract with the rules of the convention.
There wasn’t any place to send my payment to right away, so I
included in the email that I needed to know where to send my payment
as soon as possible. Doing it before a certain date made you eligible
for the early bird rate of $141, rather then the $171 the table would
be after that said date. I received an email back on January 4th
from Dana, the Artist Alley Coordinator, with this reply:
“Wow!
You were quick, you’re the first one! So
for payment you can do it Online (ticketssllag@gmail.com)
for PayPal +2.5 % (which would be 3.55 extra) Online
checkout Is coming soon! (Sorry about that!)”
Okay,
so the application was done. In my head I was contemplating going to
this convention at all. I know they are a small town con, but this
isn’t their first or second year, so it should go smoothly. I’ve gone
before, my friends go, so why not? I now have taken on doing Artist
Alleys as my full time job, so this was business and I should go.
Time passed, and I forgot about sending my payment. I seen on their
website tables are still available and didnt stress, so I used their
online checkout and bought my 8 foot table for the full price. I
didn’t expect the early bird pricing at all, as I didn’t send my
payment before the date it needed to be. After sending my payment on
May 14th,
Dana emailed me back on the 17th:
“Hey
so you paid for the price of a regular table, but I have you marked
down for the early bird table.
So
I can refund you the difference if you’d like. You did come
early. -Dana
A “
Okay,
awesome! Maybe the Blitz is stepping up their game. I reply saying
that I would really appreciate it. In that email it didn’t really
confirm if I had a table or not, so I emailed her on the 29th
to verify. She emailed me back on the 31st, saying it was
and not to worry. I reply back telling her where she can refund the
difference. No reply.
Its
now time for the convention. Its Friday June 12th, and I
email Dana the night. We had an 8 foot table, so we needed an extra
helper. The day pass for the Blitz was $30, and our helper Dylan
could only be there with us for one day as he worked Sunday. I send
Dana this email:
“Hey
Dana, just wanted to give you a heads up that we may be late tomorrow
morning. Our travel plans changed so we are leaving in a few hours (
we were supposed to come today to Saskatoon but
yeah..some things happened). We also have an extra helper coming with
now. Is it possible rather then getting our early bird discount back
could we get an additional pass? Please let me know!
“
It seems very straight forward, as least I thought.
Additional artist passes are $25, but I just asked for a normal pass,
which in their favor would give them an extra $5. All I wanted was
the easiest solution.
Day
1
I wake up at 6:30am to get ready for the 2 hour drive to
Saskatoon. It looks like my helpers are running late, so I send a
quick text to my friend Katrina of Chinook Crafts to please ask Dana
to check her email as I have not gotten a reply from her. I wanted
Dana to know that I would be late. Katrina flagged her down, it was
no problem and the morning went on as usual.
We
rush to Saskatoon and get there right before 10am. The Artist Alley
was open to the public at 10am, so we were very worried that we would
look ridiculous trying to set up the display – but many artists
seemed to be in the same boat and not a soul was wandering the alley.
I was first approached by Emily who directed me to my table – well,
where my table should have been. Another artist was set up there in
booth C1. So we stood the only empty spot in the AA where later they
brought out an 8 foot table. The first thing I notice is that the
alley is set up… classroom style. That
is to say the front of your table faced the back of the table in
front of you, and patrons walked down the aisle in between. Patrons
were 3ft away from cash boxes, stock, etc. It really wasn’t fun to
have traffic behind us, seeing our set up. From patrons I was told it
felt like walking behind a cash register, it was just wrong!
Then
Dana then asks us were our badges are. Well we just walked in, so I
told her we still needed them. I asked her if she got my email, and
she said “Yes, maybe. I dont know, what was it?” I told her about
me running late and getting a badge for Dylan. She said she recalls
and went to grab our badges. She came back with only two badges and
told me I would have to buy a weekend pass for Dylan as she had no
more artist badges. I explained to her it would be easiest if we just
did the switch I mentioned before as he is only staying today. She
looked at me like I was crazy then proceeded to tell me I needed to
go to the front and buy a weekend wrist band, she would refund me
tomorrow. A gut feeling told me I wouldn’t be getting that refund
tomorrow. I again explained to her if we could do it the other way
because he was there for ONE day (which she clearly didn’t
understand) and she said “Sure, whatever I have to go”. Alright.
We sat throughout the day waiting for Dana to return.
The
day was slow, and we didn’t see attendees until after 11:30. The
Blitz didn’t let the attendees in until after 10am, as some vendors
were not ready yet. This is the first breach in the contract, as the
hours are stated 10am to 8pm for artists, 10am to 7pm for vendors.
Late starts cost vendors and artists money. Dana returned to my
table many times not saying anything to me, so I assumed all was
well. She didn’t mention anything about the badge, and because of the
aforementioned lack of artist badges just let it be. From what we
gathered all there was was the green wristbands everyone was wearing
for a weekend, and day passes people were simply let in.
It
was 3pm at this time, and we haven’t even made back our cost of the
table and travel. There was little to no people at the event, and it
was very evident they didn’t reach their goal of 1,200 people for
that day. As it was nearing late afternoon, my two assistants Jared
and Dylan went to go find some food for us. I sat alone at the table,
and Dana came by and informed me the artist alley would be closing at
9pm tonight and reopen at 8am tomorrow. I was confused, and asked her
to clarify if the 8am was set up, or opening? She said it was to open
at 10am tomorrow. As she walked away I realized that 10am to 9pm is a
long, LONG day. I texted my friend Katrina in the vendors room again
asking if she knew the time it was to close. She send me a screen
shot of the contract stating the correct times of 7pm for Vendors,
8pm for artists. I’m going to go by the contract, so I didn’t worry
to much. Jared and Dylan returned, and I told them the hours. They
told me that earlier Dana came by while I was in the washroom and
said it closed at 7pm. So we had three different times here.
I
asked a couple of my artist buddies who were also at the event what
they had heard the hours were, and they had no idea either. Everyone
I had spoken to was saying they were really getting fed up with the
lack of sales, and the lack of communication. I went into the vendors
room to directly talk to Katrina, and at that time Emily came over to
tell them that the vendors hall was to close at 8pm. Again – not
the right time at all. At this point Jared went to Emily, who was
also coming around talking to people, to ask who was in charge to
talk to them and get this straight. Emily said that Laura was the
chair of the convention and she would be the one to talk to. I went
back to the table, and Jared asked for a word with Laura.
Jared told Laura that
he had some major concerns that needed to be addressed. Laura asked
if talking here was fine, but Jared said it would be better to talk
off to the side rather then right in the middle of the vendors room.
He explained to her that this wasn’t going well. Nothing was set up
right, our table wasn’t even there to start out with, the backs of
our booths were to the traffic, with people carrying around REAL
swords and weapons (there was no weapons policy) and there is no
communication here. He added we also had people constantly bumping
into the back of us because of the way it was set up. He then asked
where we are to put our stock and display, as the area in which the
dance was being held was the same room the Artist Alley was in. Laura
told him that after the Artist Alley closed at 7pm we could move it
into the Vendors room. He asked what we should leave, and she advised
to take everything down as there was no lock and no security. She
added she wouldn’t leave any of her personal stuff in there. Laura
ended it with our feedback was appreciated, as she can’t make the
Blitz better without feedback. And that was that.
Jared
came back to the table, told me what he discussed with Laura. And so
the rest of the grueling day went on. I ate my pulled pork on a bun
that I bought from the convention center, and felt really sick after.
I told the boys in the most discreet way possible I was going to go
die in the bathroom. After spending a while in the bathroom I went
back to talk to Katrina at her table to ask how the day was going for
them. After talking with them I returned to my booth to see Emily,
Dana, Jacob (who later I found out was the ‘Head of Security’, in
reality was the host) and another volunteer named Chris. Before I had
gotten there they asked Jared and Dylan if they were artists. Jared
said yes, we are at the artist booth. Jacob replied that they needed
to go with him. The way Jacob spoke to Jared he thought that he was
part of an improv group or something and refused. He really isn’t
into that type of thing. He then leaned over the table to Jared
trying to intimidate him telling him this was a matter of security
and that he was being disrespectful.
They
started asking where I was, if I had a wristband and if I was coming
back. Jared said he didn’t know They had no idea who these people
were, as none of them were wearing badges indicating they were staff.
He felt no need to say anything to them. Right at this moment I
walked up to the table to see everyone standing blocking my table. I
could see Jared was furious but keeping it cool. I’ve been dating the
guy for 5 years, I know when hes super upset. Jacob asks me to show
him my wristband, I tell him I’m an artist and I don’t have one, I
have the badges. He then looks to Jared and is telling him “breathe man, just breathe.” I know this is one of Jared’s anger
triggers, so I brace for impact. Nothing, Jared sits there calmly. So
I ask what the hell is going on here?
Jacob
explains that we are being disrespectful to the staff by asking them
over and over about the times, therefore we are harassing them. All this
time Chris is rolling his eyes at us and huffing with every word. I
tell them that no such thing has been done, and that we just want to
know when we can leave the convention. There was no communication,
and this was just getting stupid. I asked them, if you boss asked you
to stay extra hours after work with no explanation would you be
happy? Dana and Emily argued with me saying that if I didn’t hear it
from them it wasn’t the right time. I told them the only people I
have asked is you two, and I still don’t have a right time. Emily and
Dana knew they had no argument, and just walked away. After hearing
our side of the story, Jacob and Chris stayed behind and tried to
give us a solution to our backs being open. Chris mentioned he
attended a lot of conventions and its just convention 101 to know not
to put your back towards the traffic. He was very concerned with
that, and scribbled down in his notebook a plan of action. Jacob
proceeded to come around the table, and put his hands on Jared’s
shoulder telling him just “To breathe buddy.” Dylan tells Jacob
not to do that, but proceeds to put both of his hands on Jared’s
shoulders and push his stomach against from him behind while Jared
sat in his chair at the booth. I’m very uncomfortable with this and
ask him to stop. Jared was upset by this and left my booth to go sit
with Katrina.
Jacob
went on to say that Dana said we were sneaking Dylan in. I explained
to him no, we had an agreement with Dana to just give him a day pass
and that was all that was said. I explained to him the refund for the
early bird table Dana offered and showed him the emails to prove it.
Jacob said everything was fine, and because it was already 5pm that
he wasn’t going to make Dylan pay. He understood what was going on.
He then said he would refund me, but only $10. I tell him I would
rather just have my full refund back because of all the hassle and
sales you have cost me. They stood in front of my table for almost
and hour with detoured a lot of people to stopping by, I felt it was
fair to ask for my full $30. Chris agreed that is just proper service
to give me the money back. Jacob went to the cash desk at the front
of the convention and gave me $30. He sarcastically apologized and
left.
Its around 6:50pm, and the band starts blaring. The dance is about to start. Any final end of the day sales didn’t happen, as many people couldn’t speak to us over the volume. After
that we waited until 7pm to strike down our display. Our display is
easy to take down, its all cubes, so we took down everything as we
were told to. We loaded it up on our wheely cart and took it to our
car. Multiple artists took down everything and there was an array of
empty tables around the alley. We started the 2 hour drive back home.
End
of Day 1.
Day
2
I
woke up that morning and laid in bed for a half and hour. I was so
stressed out after the first day we slept in a bit. I said to Jared
before we left in a joking tone, “What are the odds our table won’t
be there?” We laughed and drove again to Saskatoon.
We
got to the event on time, and right away noticed there was an artist
who wasn’t there yesterday in our table. Of fucking course. I went to
the artist and asked what was happening. She said to me that she was
sick yesterday, and Dana sat her here. Of course now we are livid, at
this point we have moved 3 times. First from the C1 spot that we were
originally assigned, then the corner table we had, now this. The way
they rearranged the Artist Alley that night did not effect the
placement of my table, I was right on the end. For some reason, Dana
decided rather then putting a new table out for this artist, she just
gave her mine.
We
are 300% done at this point. I’m so mad, I go find Dana and Jacob
tell them I want my money back. This whole ordeal is ridiculous and I
don’t want to be here. My table isn’t here, these aren’t my two four
foot tables. They are also not even the same height, so my 8 foot
display wouldn’t work. Dana reassures me that 4+4=8, so I am still
getting 8 feet of table. I tell her that isn’t the point. At this
point the infamous Brain Self butts in and tells us “YOU KNOW WHAT,
I’m going to go tell that girl thats at your table to move.” I tell
him no, shes set up. She is selling, this isn’t her fault. Dana told
her to sit there, you allowed her to set up. It isn’t fair on her
part, I refuse to sit there. I don’t even care about the spot at this
point, its the whole principal that you guys are screwing me around.
They
ignore me and go to the girl anyway. I run to her table and tell her not to move because this is not fair to her.
Brain then sees the two four foot tables and exclaims that hes going
to just take the two four foot tables and replace it with an 8 foot.
I tell him no, he does it anyway.
Jared and I stand around
in the AA waiting. We watch Brain struggle to carry and set up the 8
foot while taking away the 4 foots. We stand and talk to an artist
friend of mine, finding out that a lot of the artists aren’t happy.
One artist lost over $200 in stock from theft. He put his wares in
the Vendors room, that was only accessible by staff. As we are
talking about this, 3 other artists walk in. They stand by the empty
8 foot table with all of their stock and displays in hand. Its
obvious they are lost and confused. I go over to talk to them and
tell them whats going on. They tell me they had the 4 foot tables,
and now they are gone. So those two 4 foot tables belonged to these
girls, meaning they literally gave their table space to me after they
gave away my table space to another person. The situation isn’t even
salvageable anymore. Jacob is all witness to this, and tells us he is
going to go figure out what we can do. I go directly to Laura again
and tell her my table is gone, you owe me money. Now.
Laura
goes on to tell me that she can’t give me a refund. She said the
convention didn’t do as well as she had hoped and she has no money. I
tell her that isn’t the way that works, I paid for a service, you
didn’t provide and I am entitled to a refund. Laura then goes on to
tell me that she makes no money off the vendors or artist tables, and
she actually pays us $5 to be here. That… isn’t how it works. If
you pay me to be here, where is my $5, and why am I paying you
$170?… She told me to look in the contract and that it says “No
refunds.” I told her that the contract also states “Table
assignment is final and there are to be no table swapping or
alterations to the Artist Alley layout.” Meaning that they broke
their own contract already. She then tells me that she isn’t going to
give me the money, this wasn’t her problem and to talk to Dana. I
explain to her as the Chair of the convention, this is your problem.
She tells me, “Nope, talk to Dana. This is on her now.” Okay
first of all, don’t pawn this off on your staff. I get this is Dana’s
first year, but don’t force your volunteer to pay out of pocket.
We
stand looking over the contract, and Laura points out this clause:
“6. All tables for the Artist Alley are handled on a first come,
first serve basis. A waiting list exists for additional artists who
are unable to acquire a reservation.” She tries to tell me that
because I wasn’t here they gave away my table. I told her that that
is complete bullshit, as that clause is under payment. Its first come
first serve on payment. I direct her to look at the next clause: “11.
Once an artist has made a reservation and made payment, reservation
is final.” She gets upset not being able to find a loop-hole and
tells me its not her problem, talk to Dana.
Laura
calls Dana over, and immediately walks away and leaves the two of us
alone. I tell Dana I want my money back, and I want it today. I’m not
making any money here, I don’t have my table and I am not happy. Dana
tells me she will give me my refund, but has to talk to Laura. I tell
her Laura said to talk to you. She agrees and tells us that we have
to wait until tomorrow so she can go to her bank. I tell her I want
my full table amount back, and this completely changes her attitude.
She starts getting super defensive and tells me no, she refuses. I
tell her you just agreed, and she retorts that she was only going to
give the $30 back. I tell her no, that’s been dealt with I want my
full table amount. Jared goes on to ask her, “Are we making money
right now?” And she looks at him like a deer in the headlights and
tells him no. We both say exactly, this is ridiculous and we want our
money back. At this point I am recording the entire thing as no one
can get their facts straight. She sees I am holding my camera up on
my phone and starts to freak out. She starts yelling, “Oh my god
are you recording this? I’m getting security!!” and quickly walks
away. This is at 11am.
Remaining
not phased by her actions, Jared and I continue to talk to our artist
alley friend who is just as angry and about to explode at this point.
We talk about our rights as an artist, and how they broke the legal
contract and legally owe me. At this time I go around to the artists
and try to explain the situation. This is my profession, this is what
I do as a full time job. These people are the same people I am going
to see all year. I don’t want to be ‘those guys at the Blitz’, so I
make sure to make everything clear. They agree, and explain that they
would react the same way in my situation.
Its
after 12pm now, still no sign of security. Jacob keeps walking by,
but keeps avoiding us. Finally Jared flags him down and asks him what
he is going to do for us. Jacob looks panicked and tells him that
there is a situation involving the guests that he is dealing with,
and he isn’t going to be dealing with us anymore. Jared at this point
just shrugs and walks away. We contuine to wait to see our fate at
the convention. Finally Jared takes most of our set up stuff to the car,
rather then having it sit in the artist alley. I continue to talk to
my friend and find out there was a mass email that was sent out to
all the artists on a large forward list – guess who isn’t on it?
Dana, even last night, excluded me from the Artist Alley. Fantastic,
more fuel for the fire. 1:30pm rolls around, and most of the guests
are packing up their stuff and leaving out of anger. I have no idea
what happened, but their guests walked out on them.
Jared
and I then go to the Vendors room again to talk to Katrina, and
update her on whats happening. We then start to talk about Ai-Kon,
and how its one of our favorite cons. We discuss other conventions I
have never been to, and make plans to attend together. As Jared and I
talking, a tall man in a Prairieland Park jacket comes up, telling
Jared and 'his ladyfriend’ that we need to talk. I’m already pissed
off at this guy for being so rude, don’t call me ladyfriend pal, but
we go anyway. He tries to lead us to the front door and tells us that
we are being told to leave. We ask why, (I mean, I know why but I
wanted to know what they told him) and he tells us that we are
harassing the vendors and picking fights with artists. We tell him
this isn’t true, and its a lie from the convention staff to kick us
out without giving us a refund.
Jared tries to explain that our car is out the back doors, which the
artists and vendors were told to use. He tells Jared to 'listen here
sonny’ and not to question him, because we 'don’t want to know what
his other job is.’ Jared is now pissed at this point of this man
calling him sonny and challenges him to know his other job. He
explains that he is the Deputy Sheriff at the Queens Bench of
Justice. Instead of intimidating us this gives us a chance. So we
tell him we need to grab our stuff and we will leave. Before he kicks
us out, I quickly ramble off what happened to us, how they broke the
contract and took our table. He then introduces himself to us, and we
to him. He tells me that I can file a claim via small claims court because of this. He tells me
what I can claim from them, where to go to get all the information and
some contact information. He tells us there isn’t anything he can do,
as the Blitz rents from Prairieland and as the security there he has
to do as they wish. He tells us that he has to write up a report for
the incident, but if I call in they will give me the information
needed for the claim.
And
with that, we were escorted out. We left the event and made no money that day. In total, we ended up losing close to $400, and made zero profit. I paid $170 to be there this weekend. Conventions base their table price off of demand and the amount of people who attend. I am going to far more popular, in demand conventions and pay far less for a table. Their prices are insane, they treat you like garbage- and if you really lucky like me, they give away your artist table! And when they can’t take accountability for it, they will have security escort you out. Thanks Saskatoon Blitz!
EDIT: A former staff has sent me screen shots of what has been said about me in the private group. I did a crowdfunding for Calcifer last month as many of you know, so its confirmed me. The ex-staff gave me permission to post these.
Reblogging on my old account w more local followers DO NOT SUPPORT THIS CON.
