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Reply to Comments about Bal en Blanc 2006
Organizers’ response to comments on the 12th edition of Montreal’s White Party Week
Following the presentation of the 12th edition of Montreal’s White Party Week on Sunday, April 16, at the Palais des Congrès, several negative comments were made on various specialized forums. In our role of event organizers, we would like to respond to these and make such corrections as are appropriate.
Toilets
As event organizers, but above all as people who prefer to benefit from adequate facilities when we go out ourselves, we are fully aware that long lineups are the source of considerable annoyance during White Party Week. We perfectly understand your dissatisfaction, but the situation depends on variables that are totally outside our control. We are obliged to limit ourselves to the toilets that exist at the Palais des Congrès, since chemical toilets are prohibited on those premises. In fact, the Palais formally prohibits us from installing them because of the persistent smell that has been experienced in the past. Despite all the methods tried, the aroma remains behind for almost a week at the Palais, harming events that, often, begin the day after or two days after the Ball. Aeration and the use of products designed to mask odors have proved to be ineffective. You can be sure that White Party Week does everything in its power to ensure the best possible conditions for participants, but the only solution to this problem would be to change premises, and it happens that in Montreal no setting exists that would offer comparable possibilities. The Bell Centre does not have sufficient capacity to host the event, and Olympic Stadium is far from being as pleasant and convivial.
Efficiency of bar staff
Once again, we can do nothing about the perceived inefficiency of certain people as concerns bar service. It is not White Party Week that employs the staff in question but the Palais des Congrès itself. We have no choice, we’re obliged to use the staff they provide (Capital Traiteur), who are not necessarily comfortable with an event like ours. Yet even though there may have been waits that were a little on the long side, we reckon that the service offered was all right overall. For those who complained that Red Bull and alcohol were sold separately, that situation has to do with the fact that Red Bull is a sponsor with its own stands and where it cannot sell alcohol, sales of alcohol being permitted only by employees of the Palais des Congrès. There again, these situations are beyond our control and in no way result from a lack of willingness on our part to offer you the best possible service.
Performances and décor
Some people also complained about the quality of the sets offered by the guest DJs. We would like to remind you that we have no control over how DJs will perform. We take pains to bring together some of the finest DJs in the world and offer you a unique lineup. DJs are artists, however, and the nature as well as the quality of their performances are constantly evolving. As with all of us, some of their nights are better than others. We cannot claim to control what, when all is said and done, derives exclusively from human nature, and we cannot therefore guarantee that the performances of a particular DJ will be similar to or as good as when he last passed through Montreal or somewhere else. Similarly, the decoration of the rooms is the responsibility of the artistic directors of the event and varies from year to year. We believe it is important to offer our public something unique and new at each of our editions. Some people may like or not like the result, but this is a question of personal taste. Obviously it is impossible to please everyone…
In conclusion, we wish to thank all participants while assuring them that nothing is left to chance in offering them the finest possible conditions for White Party Week. Every year enormous care and effort go into presenting as good an event as can be.
The White Party Week team
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