I regret to announce I have not been paid once cent by Rockome Gardens for the work I have done. Sadly, it has become clear this matter will not be resolved except through legal channels. Therefore, I am resigning from Rockome Gardens and the National Counted Cross Stitch Show, effective immediately, and cannot currently endorse the NCCSS as I had previously.
I certainly hope it is not the case, but based on my own experience, I don’t believe the teachers will be paid by Rockome Gardens either. However, at this point, it does appear all the teachers are still planning on showing up at the venue; they feel an obligation to the stitchers who have signed up for classes and Country Evenings. As of the last count I was given, it was shaping up to be a very good year, with class enrollment almost quadrupled in a week and a half.
As far as I am aware, stitchers to whom refunds are already due have not received them, although Angie Miller is not behind on paperwork (as Butch Phillips had told me to say she was if anyone asked ... ). Again, I hope it is not the case, but I have no reason to believe such refunds will be issued.
The competition awards are also significantly under-sponsored as of today's date. I have serious doubts that Rockome Gardens will be able to come up with the nearly $7500 in sponsorships needed for those awards in the fifteen days which remain before the show begins.
I've already heard plenty of criticism about being truthful regarding this experience. I based my decision to come forward on the fact that teachers and stitchers who might find themselves out money in a few weeks time would have had good reason to be upset with me for NOT informing them I thought there was a problem earlier, especially if I could have saved them from losing any additional money they might not have spent in the interim. That people like to shoot the messenger is certainly true. :( I believe I had an ethical and legal obligation to make this information public. I did so only after numerous attempts to work privately with Butch Phillips to obtain my paycheck over a period of three weeks, and then following several more days of trying to obtain my paycheck after making the designers involved with the NCCSS aware of the situation. If you think my making this public is unprofessional, I remind you that when I started working on the NCCSS I promised to communicate with everyone -- and no matter what, to tell you the truth. I have done exactly that even when it has most definitely not been beneficial to me -- and those kinds of ethics are what define a professional -- and a reporter.
I certainly hope it is not the case, but based on my own experience, I don’t believe the teachers will be paid by Rockome Gardens either. However, at this point, it does appear all the teachers are still planning on showing up at the venue; they feel an obligation to the stitchers who have signed up for classes and Country Evenings. As of the last count I was given, it was shaping up to be a very good year, with class enrollment almost quadrupled in a week and a half.
As far as I am aware, stitchers to whom refunds are already due have not received them, although Angie Miller is not behind on paperwork (as Butch Phillips had told me to say she was if anyone asked ... ). Again, I hope it is not the case, but I have no reason to believe such refunds will be issued.
The competition awards are also significantly under-sponsored as of today's date. I have serious doubts that Rockome Gardens will be able to come up with the nearly $7500 in sponsorships needed for those awards in the fifteen days which remain before the show begins.
I've already heard plenty of criticism about being truthful regarding this experience. I based my decision to come forward on the fact that teachers and stitchers who might find themselves out money in a few weeks time would have had good reason to be upset with me for NOT informing them I thought there was a problem earlier, especially if I could have saved them from losing any additional money they might not have spent in the interim. That people like to shoot the messenger is certainly true. :( I believe I had an ethical and legal obligation to make this information public. I did so only after numerous attempts to work privately with Butch Phillips to obtain my paycheck over a period of three weeks, and then following several more days of trying to obtain my paycheck after making the designers involved with the NCCSS aware of the situation. If you think my making this public is unprofessional, I remind you that when I started working on the NCCSS I promised to communicate with everyone -- and no matter what, to tell you the truth. I have done exactly that even when it has most definitely not been beneficial to me -- and those kinds of ethics are what define a professional -- and a reporter.
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