Update: Victory with Saskatoon Blitz
I wanted to take a moment to share with you all a minor victory worth celebrating. After an incredibly long past two weeks and the PR nightmare, Saskatoon Blitz has finally reimbursed me for my table that went missing that weekend!
Receiving the refund is a little bittersweet, however. It turns out that the refund was only given, “in good faith” after PayPal contacted the Blitz staff with a “Pay up.” tone. So, they didn’t have much a choice, and are trying to save a little bit of face by offering the refund before they were enforced to. Still, it’s such a relief to not be out of pocket, and I feel slightly validated that the people at the dispute center agreed that I did not receive the service that I paid for. It is a shame that we required third party intervention to resolve the payment issue, but as an artist, I’ll celebrate the small win.
I even received a few apologies. One was from one of the volunteers that I believe called me a fat yellow bird, and another one from Brian Self (via his horses Facebook account, due to him keeping a low profile). I also did receive one from the Laura, the Sask Blitz Chair, and her husband. And while these apologies are very much deserved, and I am grateful, there is still one issue nagging at me that I just can’t seem to get over…
In spite of all apologies, and public announcements, and website statements, the Blitz Committee has not actually accepted any responsibility for their actions at the convention. The refund was not given in good faith, they were forced to pay it back. Laura is not stepping down due to “life”, it’s because the community would no longer have her. There was no smear campaign against her or the con, it was real people sharing their real negative experiences.
What I wouldn’t give for them to admit the concise (and yes, bitter) truth: “We messed up. Badly. We tried to handle it, but made it worse. We’ve lost your confidence, and we will be stepping down so that Blitz can live on under new and better leadership”. A statement like this would have a profound healing effect on future artists, exhibitors, and patrons, in addition to the community at large. But all things considered, I will still take my victories where I have them.
As for myself, I just want to thank you for the immense out pour of support. This whole ordeal started with a single blog post and escalated to this after those screen shots surfaced. My blog post was only intended to caution other artists and vendors of this convention, and their staff, and to share my experiences. I truly regret that it took on the ugly face of a con-boycott, but I am so proud in the solidarity that the community has shown, and honored to have received the support that I have. Thank you all so much!!
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