That even with the emails exchanged where I did agree to sponsor it, and also agreed to put up the Grand Manier logo on the blog posts. Plus, I agreed to make a blog about the event and did so.
But for all this, didn't even get a bottle of Grand Marnier.
United 747 Flight Delayed
What was vexing was that my United 747 Flight 973 from Chicago was delayed over three hours, which hampered my plan to show up at 6:30 PM PDT, which was when the event started. Instead, the flight was delayed two hours, then we sat on the tarmac at the gate for another hour. I called and emailed Josh at Pican to explain I would be late; I guess he got the message.
At any rate, I arrived at Pican at 9:15 or so, and to find the Oakland All Female Bartender Competition was history. A duo from Luka's won, followed by Pican's Britt Peterson, and then I later learned a bartender from Era Art Bar. Great.
But what was not great was it seems my blog's name wasn't even mentioned during the event. Also, when I arrived, it was as if I was some Joe who walked in, and not the event sponsor. I had to pay for what I ordered; there was no dinner, as we agreed I would receive.
And Michael Le Blanc, the owner of Pican, didn't even bother to come over and thank me for my sponsorship. And when I mentioned this to him (uh, I had to walk over to him) he said thanks for "helping."
Helping. Helping.
Helping. Like I'm the bus boy or something.
And Josh, who contacted me about the idea for the event, just came over and gave me a pat on the shoulder.
Nice.
So by the end of all of that crap, I wondered what the hell I was doing there. It would have been better to have just went home or even not to have tried to return on Tuesday. Everyone - Pican, Grand Marnier, the event participants - were helped. And now, Pican shows up in Google News searches because of this blog and my work. My sponsorship. What Michael Le Blanc calls "my help."
Sponsorship Is A Business
Folks, I'm not taking comments on this. Not interested in snarky responses from rude people who don't get that sponsorship is a business. Sponsorship is a business or person lending their name and efforts to help promote an event. For that, they expect their name to be mentioned, to get what's called "logo exposure," and to have special treatment as the sponsor. That's business.
The only logo and name exposure, it seems, was what this blogger generated on his own. That's it. I'm really unhappy with Pican Restaurant. Moreover, I'm even more unhappy that the people I was around who I thought were my friends, but turned out to be anything but that.
I'm glad the event went well, but that's not how it was supposed to go for this sponsor.
Tired Of Rude People In Oakland
Maybe this experience is related to the overall epidemic of rudeness that's plaguing Oakland. People doing things to you without regard for your opinion or permission. Like the guy at the bar The Layover, who, even though I'm standing up over my chair with my cocktail on the bar in front of it, walks over and tries to sit down in the chair as if I'm not even there!
I asked him what he was doing and explained that he was being rude. He said "Well, you weren't sitting in the chair." And it never entered his head to ask if he could sit down!
Or how about the woman on the right, who decided to start talking past me to the guy on the left, without saying excuse me and as if I wasn't there. I pointed out that she was being rude as well.
Or how about the really ass-hole people who insist on walking over from your left to pass you on the right, even if you happen to be next to a wall, only to have no explanation for what they did when asked. (Note: stay on your right, and leave me alone!)
In all cases, people are just thinking about themselves without regard for anyone else, in this case me.
Just like at Pican. No one thought about anything other than themselves, and certainly not me. Maybe now, they will. It seems people only pay attention to bloggers when the blogger is upset, never when the blogger does something good for them.
Sad.
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