Noelle before the makeover
Part of the segment would be to get some of her friends interviewed by F.A.S.H. about her beach style. So at 2pm, when I just woke up, I saw Noelle's text message asking for a big favor if I can go to D'Mall to have this interview at 2pm. I had other plans but I thought it would be nice to do this favor for her.
Fast forward to past 3pm and the people from F.A.S.H. were still not there. Personally, if I didn't have anything important to do, I really wouldn't mind. But as time is gold for me, I was getting anxious and so was Noelle. We were with her two other guy friends who seemed to be okay with the passing of time so I just went with the flow. Thank God, the segment producer and the two camera men arrived before 3:14pm, almost an hour after they texted Noelle that they were on their way from Nami (I wonder how far is Nami from D'Mall for them to take that long?)
So anyway, I volunteered to be the first one to get interviewed so I'd still have time to finish all my pending tasks that day. I had fun during the short interview. The interview wasn't about me at all. I'm just one of Noelle's friends telling them how beautiful Noelle is and how I can't wait to see her transform after the makeover.
Fast forward to the night of the reveal. Noelle's friends were supposed to act happily surprised about her transformation and the plan was to catch everything on cam so it can be included in their segment. I was in the middle of my tasks at around 5:30pm. Noelle texted if I could be at Juice Bar by 6:15pm for the reveal. I should be looking for Frank and tell him that Ram sent me. So, I put my tasks on hold for while, went there and did what she told me.
That's when the not-so-good part started, for me at least. I asked a total of three women who were organizing the event. None of them led me to Frank nor to Ram. The first woman I spoke with let me in and referred me to another woman who seemed to be so stressed because things weren't going as planned. She just gave me a blank look as if she doesn't know anything about the makeover and that I shouldn't be there because the show hasn't started yet. I politely and smilingly asked her if I should leave and come back another time or maybe allow me to sit somewhere first as I wait for Noelle and the people from F.A.S.H. She just left without saying another word, scolding the "local manongs" for already letting people in.
Well, for one, they seemed very disorganized. There were no proper barricades nor secure walls so people would really go in to see what's happening. I went to the second lady again asking if I could at least sit in one of the chairs while waiting but she said it's for V.I.P. There were other tables and chairs there not intended for V.I.P. but she didn't even have the courtesy to at least let me sit. I wasn't asking for much, just a simple sense of respect for another person's time (my time). I'm not really getting anything from this experience, except the chance to support Noelle.
Minutes later, I saw a bunch of other people (both local and foreign) crowding the place until I was pushed at the very end. I'm a petite lady and I'm not usually very assertive so I just let things flow. Then I thought, maybe I should assert myself some more. I spoke to a third lady, the one manning the entrance booth. She also doesn't know anything. She referred me to a guy named Wally who is in charge of the clients for that event. He hasn't heard of F.A.S.H. (Hello! There's a big poster of F.A.S.H. behind him!) but at least he took the initiative to ask around about the makeover thing.
After several minutes, he came back and said that unless I know someone from their clients, he really couldn't do much. So I politely thanked him for his effort and I just texted Noelle that I'll be on my way so I can at least make productive use of my time.
Feeling that I've wasted my time is still something that irks and frustrates me. It's not Noelle's fault. It's partly my fault for expecting people to act professional. I also blame the seemingly disorganized way this event has been put together. Obviously, there was no respect for people's time, especially people like me who willingly volunteered to help out a friend for the sake of their segment. Maybe, people like me, in their eyes, are not very important. I guess, I still have this idealistic actor's mentality that no matter how small a role you play, you still help create something big and that you are still important. Or maybe, people these days, particularly in the events industry, just don't communicate with each other enough so that things can be more organized. Oh well.
Noelle after the makeover
At least Noelle looked fab and gorgeous after the makeover and she got her Nothing But H2O free stuff plus Php10k GC. ^_^
P.S.
At around 11 pm last night, when Noelle and I met again to bar hop and party, she told me that apparently there were two shows happening that night and the reveal that she participated in was not the priority. So that explains a lot.
Then she introduced me to Rina who works for ABS-CBN's marketing department and Lifestyle Network. Rina also told me that even in their own department, they don't know everyone. That explains a lot more. So at least, now I get a better picture of how things like this work.
Again, oh well. C'est la vie!
F.A.S.H. is on its second season which will start airing on April 28 at 10:30 pm on the Lifestyle Network. Hoping to catch the segment so I can see how everything went. Perhaps they would delete my part since I wasn't there at the reveal. Let's wait and see... ^_^
4 comments:
Thanks for this chronicle, Jen.
I'm sad for how these people treated you. This was so rude talaga.
Pero I guess that's really the culture of the events management sa ibang companies.
I remember the time that I worked for the web team of Ploning. I was supposed to interview Juday but I never got to, because she was busy.
Some people really just think that if you're not as in superfamous, you're just not important.
Well, it's their loss, not yours. I hope mabawi mo some other way yung time that was wasted thanks to them. :)
Looking forward to meeting you and Peter later! :D
Saw that makeover episode on TV just a few days ago. Friend mo pala yung minake over nila. Naku medyo ngaragan talaga sa production (palaging may kung anong surprise na mangyayari behind the scenes). Worked with abs tv production too years ago. Sana lang naa-update ka ng production staff nila...but I love almost all shows sa Lifestyle Network :)
Hi Lorie,
Thanks for your kind words, dear. I heard from three friends who saw the segment that my interview got aired. Because of that, I feel happy.... all is forgiven. ^_^ I also learned my lesson which is to be more patient next time. And I hope they learned theirs too. It's all good. :-)
Hi saggi,
Thanks for sharing with me your thoughts on this. mejo naliliwanagan na nga ako how things like this work. And yeah, I like their shows on the lifestyle network as well. Noon ko lang nga na discover na under ABS-CBN pa rin pala yung channel na yun. My hubby used to work there sa CDG (concept dev't grp) and we almost split coz ngaragan talaga. As in I told him na pakasalan na nya ABS..haha..how immature. Awa ng diyos, he quit his job. I also have a good gf still working there who I seldom see din coz of work nga. So now I have a better understanding of their work environment and I should just be more patient next time. :-)
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