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Black and Blue Dra-ma

I usually keep far afield of SL Dra-ma. I don't Plurk; I don't Ning; I don't read the forums. But there was a bit of controversy last eve about the Black and Blue Fair. If you are into all the chatty reading, you probably already know all about it.

People were upset primarily because they believed the Black and Blue Fair was a charitable donation event and found it was not. Here is my bottom line in succinct form.

The Black and Blue Fair is not a charity event. It is a shopping experience aimed at bringing awareness to mental health issues.

If you are a designer and didn't know, you obviously didn't take the time to read the long and complete notecard on the fair before you applied.

If you are a blogger and misrepresented the fair as a charity event, the same holds true.

If you are a participant that "assumed" it was? Well, when we "assume", "guess", "suppose", "bet" etc. we have only ourselves to blame. If you really care about something, do some research. Ask some folks who should know.

The donation jar supposedly held about $2000 linden -- so $7 ish US. If that tip jar said "give a little money to the people that spent weeks and weeks of time putting on this event so that they could raise awareness about issues that are important to them" would have there been less donations?  Or more?

The next fair is already in the planning stages and I am already in the group. I think this has been a great event -- fun, with wonderful designers and products in an interesting build that gives us a CHANGE.  I am "in".

Thanks to the shoppers who have expressed their appreciation of the fair -- not only for the goods sold there, but for the opportunity to learn more about mental health issues. Almost all of us have been touched by some form of mental illness -- either personally or with a close friend or relative. Let's take a break from the name-calling and focus on the purpose of the event.

Comments on this post are closed. Let the drama die, but let's forget what we learned from it.

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