Blogging, blogging, blogging. For most of us it's a hobby we like to fit in in our spare time. But there are times when we feel we need to stop everything to talk about something and feel the urge to blog. Today it's one of these moments, my flat is a right pit, I've got stuff to do, I have not eaten since last night but I have got the urge to write about the Mac Venomous Villains “Blogger's Event'” which happened last Thursday.
Having been involved with lots of other bloggers in the Rodarte Mac awareness & action movement, I was very curious to see if Mac was going to take the opportunity to publicly update delegates on any Rodarte Mac collection follow up. I was also curious to see if bloggers sensitised to the Rodarte Mac scandal would take the chance to ask Mac on the topic. I was disappointed to say the least. All right, all right. I went totally ballistic ...
Having not read much about it from my blogger dashboard, I really really was anxious to know who else attended. This exercise first of all taught me that, for a beauty enthusiast and mini blogger, I really ought to extend my readership and there are still lots of bloggers I need to start adding to my subscriptions. Reading from these 'new people' and their tales from the Mac event didn't satisfy my curiosity and I still could not find whether anything was said about the Rodarte Mac collection donation, if anything was mentioned or asked. It was not long till I reached boiling point and I could not help from unleashing my frustration on twitter and then I found out ...
I found out first hand from others who attended that Mac didn't approach the topic, even if only to give a little update, and that there was no opportunity for bloggers to ask questions about it or any kind of serious questions on anything else either. I was fuming. Thousands of people had signed a petition about it, a minute lucky minority got the chance to meet Mac and I couldn't believe nothing had been said about it. My BFF used to say "flower, if you want to know something you "make" an opportunity to raise it" and I firmly believe that. And then I found out more ...
What really went on there? Could there be extenuating circumstances which prevented 'sensitised' bloggers to ask questions to the PR team? What kind of blogger's event is that when you can't interact with the people who hold it and cant' ask questions? Well the answer lies in the question really. It wasn't a Blogger's Event, it was more of a “Venomous villains Premiere Event” or an opportunity to purchase products earlier than the general public. It wasn't a Blogger's Event (it should have never been called or publicised that way) and that's why questions could not be asked and that is that.
Authentic Quotes from some bloggers who attended the event (Names have been removed for anonymity) (source: twitter)
"It was basically a private shopping event" "The event was for people who love MAC and wanted to look at the pretty things. No deep discussions etc."
"too many people, no space, You had to push and shove to get to see products"
So how do I feel about the whole thing now that I know about the true nature of the event? Well, I realise it's not at all the responsibility of the PR team on that day to update the UK blogging community of the follow-up of a previous collection, at the very launch of a new one. But I was hoping that in the light of the past - but recent nonetheless - trauma that their collection had caused that they would have thought it would have been a good idea to give the audience a little update on the topic, build bridges again to be able to enjoy the event (and future collections) without any ill feelings. How naive was I.
I realise also that you just can't turn up at an event, and hijack the agenda of the day and nor would I have expected anyone to put Mac (or the people representing the brand on the day) on the spot and embarrassed them asking them sensitive questions they hadn't had the chance to prepare.
Of course I am still frustrated but I am feeling more at peace that I understood the nature of 'event' to which beauty bloggers & Mac fans were invited. As one of the girls I follow on twitter said: "I think it would have been good to have a blogger event just after Rodarte, and not for a collection, to explain".
How do I feel about Mac now? Well, I will certainly carry on using my favourite foundation (Studio Fix) and beloved vanilla eyeshadow and will, definitely repurchase when I have run out, but I have been disappointed once again by the brand.
