Shanghaied
So it turns out our New Year's Eve plans also ended up being the biggest debacle of the evening within the Twin Cities. Let me begin by reiterating that the organization was complete chaos and it was NOT the event that I had purchased tickets for. But despite that, we still had a great time. And knowing that Shanghaied is now synonymous with NYE debacles almost makes the fact we attended all the more exciting!
In the wake of the facebook comments, City Page articles and other negative feedback that had been circling around the event, I had emailed the ticket vendor, the promoters, and the generic event info email address my disappointment with how the event went down. The ticket vendor promptly replied with their agreement of the event's sub par execution...and offered a partial refund. Eventually I received a reply from the promoters and planners of the event...essentially laying most of the blame of the event's failure on the new location...
For those not in the know...Shanghaied was originally planned to be held at OM, an Indian fusion restaurant housed in a three story warehouse downtown. Several djs, as well as gogo dancers, geisha girls, gaming tables, premium open bars, a shibari performance, contortionists, acrobats, and a lot more was advertised...and advertised aggressively. In the eleventh hour the event needed to be moved. The promoters referred to fire code and capacity as the reason. And in the venue switch, most of the promoted entertainment got the axe.
So no. The event we attended was not the event we paid for. I pointed out my frustration to the promoter about his seemingly dismissive attitude about my complaint as well as his inability to accept responsiblity as the promoter for the event's failure. Several more emails were exchanged.
City Pages and the Star Tribune threw up blog posts and articles. News leaked of OM's immediate closure. And many guests were still cranky and in the dark.
As more facts came to light, it appears Shanghaied by OM and Thrifty Hipster will go down in the chronicles of poor planning and execution:
The owner of OM apparently owns the entire three story building and granted permission to thrifty hipster to host the huge NYE event throughout the entire premises. A lot of hours of preparation and planning followed. Fliers and poster were distributed. And during that time no one thought to contact the city to ask about permits for the owned, but unused space. The city caught wind when a flier for the event crossed their desk. To their credit, they immediately mailed a letter along with the permit application to the owner of OM. That letter was not received until Dec 17. OM did not return the application for an expansion of premises permit until Dec 28. The fire department arrived to do a safety walk through on Dec 29th. With the absence of an elevator and limited number of exits, they deemed the use of the entire building safe for a crowd of no more than 50 people (the restaurant which was up to fire code, excluded). The permit was denied. So with two days to go before the event was to happen, a new venue was to be secured, and the overall integrity greatly suffered.
Whose fault is it? I don't really know, nor do I care. But the promoter regularly claimed when all of the information came to light (as he promised to reveal by Friday, January 7th), we would see thrifty hipster was not to blame. He also repeatedly insisted ALL entertain had been present (though when sent a bullet by bullet email he did finally concede that most had in fact been canceled...)
Well...it's now Saturday and we have yet to hear back from the promoters about the result of all of their meetings this week...as well as their promise to "do right by you"
All in all...this adds up to an even more entertaining and dramatic NYE than we originally planned!
(But don't tell the promoters that...I still want them held accountable for their part in this play)
In the wake of the facebook comments, City Page articles and other negative feedback that had been circling around the event, I had emailed the ticket vendor, the promoters, and the generic event info email address my disappointment with how the event went down. The ticket vendor promptly replied with their agreement of the event's sub par execution...and offered a partial refund. Eventually I received a reply from the promoters and planners of the event...essentially laying most of the blame of the event's failure on the new location...
For those not in the know...Shanghaied was originally planned to be held at OM, an Indian fusion restaurant housed in a three story warehouse downtown. Several djs, as well as gogo dancers, geisha girls, gaming tables, premium open bars, a shibari performance, contortionists, acrobats, and a lot more was advertised...and advertised aggressively. In the eleventh hour the event needed to be moved. The promoters referred to fire code and capacity as the reason. And in the venue switch, most of the promoted entertainment got the axe.
So no. The event we attended was not the event we paid for. I pointed out my frustration to the promoter about his seemingly dismissive attitude about my complaint as well as his inability to accept responsiblity as the promoter for the event's failure. Several more emails were exchanged.
City Pages and the Star Tribune threw up blog posts and articles. News leaked of OM's immediate closure. And many guests were still cranky and in the dark.
As more facts came to light, it appears Shanghaied by OM and Thrifty Hipster will go down in the chronicles of poor planning and execution:
The owner of OM apparently owns the entire three story building and granted permission to thrifty hipster to host the huge NYE event throughout the entire premises. A lot of hours of preparation and planning followed. Fliers and poster were distributed. And during that time no one thought to contact the city to ask about permits for the owned, but unused space. The city caught wind when a flier for the event crossed their desk. To their credit, they immediately mailed a letter along with the permit application to the owner of OM. That letter was not received until Dec 17. OM did not return the application for an expansion of premises permit until Dec 28. The fire department arrived to do a safety walk through on Dec 29th. With the absence of an elevator and limited number of exits, they deemed the use of the entire building safe for a crowd of no more than 50 people (the restaurant which was up to fire code, excluded). The permit was denied. So with two days to go before the event was to happen, a new venue was to be secured, and the overall integrity greatly suffered.
Whose fault is it? I don't really know, nor do I care. But the promoter regularly claimed when all of the information came to light (as he promised to reveal by Friday, January 7th), we would see thrifty hipster was not to blame. He also repeatedly insisted ALL entertain had been present (though when sent a bullet by bullet email he did finally concede that most had in fact been canceled...)
Well...it's now Saturday and we have yet to hear back from the promoters about the result of all of their meetings this week...as well as their promise to "do right by you"
All in all...this adds up to an even more entertaining and dramatic NYE than we originally planned!
(But don't tell the promoters that...I still want them held accountable for their part in this play)
posted by Unknown at
9:51 PM
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