WWQP Bulletin Board

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Mountain Quiltfest Pigeon Forge

I am so angry, I cannot talk. I have not been this angry in a long, long time. You may recall I tied for second place at Pigeon Forge and they had a 3rd place ribbon on my quilt. I did not know that until they wrote me after the show. I called and the director of Special Events (City of Pigeon Forge) said to return the white one and they would "order" a red one. These are handmade lovely ribbons with the mountains paper pieced in the center circle inside the ruffled part on the top, and the ribbons have 'Mountain Quiltfest 2007 - whatever place' on the long part of the ribbon. So I sent the white one back last week, with some questions about judges, critiques and so on. She called me, said they had the red ribbon and would send it, and answered my questions. Today a ribbon came. It is totally unacceptable. It is something leftover from one of their events, obviously, and the center part says (in gold print) Your All American Getaway, Action packed Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. The center long part says Second Place. There is a large blob of dirt/tar/something on one side of the long ribbons. I am too mad to call this lady, but I am considering writing her, both guilds that sponsor the show, AND the Pigeon Forge newspaper (will find out which one has the biggest circulation), as well as all the guilds I can find within a few hundred miles. One thing I AM wondering is if they thought I was Hispanic because of my last name (Sala) and figured this ribbon would be "good enough." There is a lot of prejudice in Tennessee, and it wouldn't be the first time I've run into it. I'd appreciate hearing from anyone who cares to give me their thoughts on all this, I cannot tell you how disappointed I am. I said once before I would never send a quilt to their show again (the last large wall hanging I sent got draped over a tripod), now I KNOW I won't. Lavinia-TN

11 Comments:

  • At April 26, 2007 at 2:44 PM , Blogger Judy in Ohio said...

    I would use the telephone first and suggest that someone misunderstood, that the second place ribbon you received in the mail was obviously not for the quilt show. (Since you tied for second place they need to make another second place ribbon equal to the second place ribbon that someone has already gone home with.) There is absolutely no excuse for foisting off some trashy substitute second place ribbon which is what they tried to do ... the show's organizers are responsible for creating another second place ribbon even if it takes until the end of May or June to do so ...

    Tell them that you will post their disrespectful behavior on the WWQP BB, on the About.com quilting forum and on Ricky Tims' new The Quilt Show forum if they don't send you a proper replacement second place ribbon. Word spreads quickly on the internet. :-)

    Judy

     
  • At April 26, 2007 at 4:06 PM , Blogger Jane in NC said...

    Good advice, Judy. Lavinia, don't waste too much effort and time on this. I would send the piece of crap robbon back with a letter setting forth the comments that Judy suggests and pointing out the unsightly stain as the last straw. Send it "return receipt requested" so that thereafter you will have proof that they got your fan letter. If you don't get a response in a week or two and no new ribbon that they promised you withing 30 days follow through with the internet campaign. Writing to all the guilds might sound emotionally inviting as you are still boiling but that's more effort than the cloddish behavior of the town, committe or whatever are worth. Believe me, if you enter my guild's show in Oct. '08 you and your entry will be treated with respect. Just ask Jill in Portland and Sara in FL.

    Jane in NC, just down the road from you.

     
  • At April 26, 2007 at 4:19 PM , Blogger Beth in TN said...

    Lavinia, I think they're just being lazy. They don't want to go to the trouble of making a nice 2nd place ribbon so dug one out of storage and foisted it off on you. You'd think they'd realize that you already knew what to expect since you sent one nice one back!!! Any show I've ever been involved in where the ribbons were handmade went to EXTRA EFFORT to be sure everyone who earned one got one, even if it meant the ribbon committee had to get back to work. Whatever you do, don't settle!!! You earned it!

     
  • At April 26, 2007 at 6:17 PM , Blogger Judy in Ohio said...

    Lavinia, please keep us posted on your progress on this. I will copy and paste your story on the About. com quilting forum for you if you are not a member there ... same thing for The Quilt Show forum if you want me to. But first try to get a satisfactory replacement ribbon from the contemptible idiot who sent you the bummer ribbon.

    Judy

     
  • At April 26, 2007 at 7:29 PM , Blogger WhiteStone said...

    Lavinia, your second-place tie means you deserve the exact same ribbon as the other second-place winner. I would write a very nice letter, explaining - in kind and considerate tone - the fact that you wish to have the same ribbon that the other second-place winner took home. Acknowledge that if the other ribbon was special order, you would very much appreciate their seeing that a duplicate ribbon is created and mailed to you. Jane is right...be sure to send your letter return receipt requested. I'm afraid that if it were I, I simply could not do as Judy in Ohio suggests...I know that if I were to get this lady on the phone, my emotions would take over and I'd blurt out something hurtful - hurtful to her as well as to me. LOL. Write a letter. Let it sit overnight. Re-read it to make certain that your wishes are expressed and in such a way that the ladies on the other end will know that you are truly a gracious woman, and one totally deserving of their consideration and respect. I always do better if I sleep on it. LOL.
    JudyPete
    P.S. I'll betcha they never let a judge produce tie winners again.

     
  • At April 26, 2007 at 9:39 PM , Blogger Judy in Ohio said...

    Be sure to photocopy or photograph the "bad" ribbon before you return it ... and I hope you had taken a photo of the white third place ribbon as well before you returned it.

    Judy

     
  • At April 27, 2007 at 2:15 AM , Blogger Lavinia said...

    Unfortunately, I don't have a close-up of the ribbon that I had originally. Still taking in suggestions from all directions and will merge some of them in the letter. Thanks for your thoughts! Lavinia

     
  • At April 27, 2007 at 8:43 AM , Blogger QM Judy said...

    Having been in charge of creating the ribbons for our Guild show, I can understand why the third place ribbon was originally attached.
    But to replace it with something inappropriate was wrong, unnecessary, and unkind.
    Shame on them!

     
  • At April 30, 2007 at 2:10 PM , Blogger dreams4every1 said...

    In response to the posting by Lavinia-Tn, a few things should be clarified in order for a more complete understanding of the situation. Please be assured that we do not want Ms. Sala to be less than pleased with A Mountain Quiltfest or the City of Pigeon Forge. I apologize very sincerely for the perception that Ms. Sala and her beautiful quilt were treated disrespectfully.

    In actuality, Ms. Sala’s quilt was judged to be the third place winner in the “Quilted for Hire” category of A Mountain Quiltfest. Through an administrative error she was notified that her quilt had won second place. When she was informed that an error had occurred, she was so upset that the decision was made to upgrade her prize package to the second place level, which included a check in the amount of $250. This sum of money was $100 more than the third place prize.

    She then let us know that her ribbon for third place was not satisfactory. It is true that all the ribbons for the show had been hand-made for this year’s show and the replacement that we sent was not one of the hand-made ones. This was only because of the fact that the person who made the ribbons was not available to make another one. We will attempt to have a similar one made for Ms. Sala, although future ribbons at A Mountain Quiltfest will be the similar to the replacement ribbon she found unsatisfactory.

    As the event continues to grow along with the prizes being offered to the winners, we expect to continue to offer the quilt show itself with a free admission, and continue to allow entries into the contest with no entry fee. We’re very proud of our event and are indeed sorry that our error compounded to the point that A Mountain Quiltfest was mentioned in less than glowing terms.

     
  • At March 14, 2008 at 9:01 AM , Blogger Tnhounddog said...

    I must say that the Pigeon Forge Quilt Show is one of the most poorly run shows I have been to. My husband & I visited two years ago and when he went to vote, he was told that Professional quilts were NOT included to be voted on in the "Best Of Show" category. He takes his voting very seriously and vowed never to go back. If you have a viewers choice and best of show category, ALL quilts should be deserving of this award.
    As far as the ribbon mishap, this should never have occurred, I blame it on lack of caring. I to had a ribbon left off a "viewers choice" quilt and was simply told they didn't have enough help and it was overlooked. If you want to see a Professionally run show, go to Houston, AQS, NQA these folks know how to do it right. . . . .

     
  • At March 14, 2008 at 9:02 AM , Blogger Tnhounddog said...

    I must say that the Pigeon Forge Quilt Show is one of the most poorly run shows I have been to. My husband & I visited two years ago and when he went to vote, he was told that Professional quilts were NOT included to be voted on in the "Best Of Show" category. He takes his voting very seriously and vowed never to go back. If you have a viewers choice and best of show category, ALL quilts should be deserving of this award.
    As far as the ribbon mishap, this should never have occurred, I blame it on lack of caring. I to had a ribbon left off a "viewers choice" quilt and was simply told they didn't have enough help and it was overlooked. If you want to see a Professionally run show, go to Houston, AQS, NQA these folks know how to do it right. . . . .

     

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