www.MyPE.co.za: At a press conference held at 14h00 today at Kwantu Towers the Nelson Mandela Bay International Music Festival (NMBIMF) to be staged by Dompas Media from the 18th to the 20th of December 2009 the rumours circulating around the cancelling of the NMBIMF were squashed.

Dompas received an amount of 2 Million rand from the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Ratepayers plus undisclosed amounts from various other sponsors believed to total R9 Million, one of which sponsors was East Cape Tourism.

On Monday 14 December head of Dompas Media Wandile Yani said that the NMBIMF was the "... biggest thing that has ever happened in Port Elizabeth." and that the NMBIMF was an opportunity to; "... do beautiful things in Port Elizabeth".

Citing massive support from National and International media, Yani instructed local media to now; "... support the NMBIMF fully" and ensure that the concert was an unqualified success.

Yani laid the blame for bad pre-publicity from local media firmly at the feet of the local Nelson Mandela Bay Metro's communications department for not informing the local media in a proper manner.

Yani refused to give information on ticket sales to date saying; "All of you are negative towards the NMBIMF because of the recent Busta Rhymes Fiasco."

Municipal Spokesman, Roland Williams confirmed that the owner and event organiser is Dompas Media and that any decision to cancel the concert would not be the Metro's call as a sponsor but the responsibility of the CEO of Dompas Media, Wandile Yani.

Yani cited the concerns of the management of artist Norman Brown after reading about 'negative reports' on MyPE as one of the 'local media' who were not supporting him in his quest to bring a 'beautiful event' to Port Elizabeth.

When asked directly for a YES or NO as to whether the concert would definitely take place, Yani was evasive pointing to flight problems and the refusal of his sponsors to make more money available for the festival.

New Mayoral Committee Member, Councilor Maria Hermans - Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture, said; "We'd like to encourage everyone to attend the festival."

In the event of a cancellation there will be monies that need to be paid back in terms of the contract signed - the details of which were not made public.

The latest Tweet from Kerri Hilson at 3:00 p.m. today reads as follows: "Africa twam, as of right now my trip to Africa's up in the air!!! Unforeseen circumstances (not on team keri's end) WE were SO ready!! TBA."

Editorial Comment:

Port Elizabeth (your home town, Mr Yani) may be viewed by some as a small backwater and it's citizens as a little slow, but, Sir, we are very protective of our lovely neck of the woods and will take offence when you tell us that we have not been supportive especially when you NEVER asked for support in the first place.

The local media in the Eastern Cape are the crucible that kept the fight against the National Party and Apartheid alive and pride themselves on upholding truth. All we as citizens ask is that you approach us in the proper manner and we will go above and beyond the call of duty to assist you in whatever endeavour you have planned.

Please note that MyPE has never wished for the NMBIMF to be a flop - we only wish you and your artists the greatest success and we will try to make that happen for you time and time again. Please don't walk into the lion's den and start teasing the lions. Personally, I would crawl over broken glass to hear some great Jazz.

You, in the face of great difficulty, have had the balls to say that it is business as usual. We wish you success.

Tickets for the Nelson Mandela Bay International Music Festival are still available at Computicket.

Related Links: Nelson Mandela Bay International Music Festival | Only ONE Ticket left for Nelson Mandela Bay International Music Festival | Images | Metro Concert Sponsorships a Recipe for Disaster | The Nelson Mandela Bay International Music Festival Saga Continues | Have your say in the FORUM.
www.MyPE.co.za: This afternoon it was the turn of the 'local media' to be addressed by the organiser of the Nelson Mandela Bay International Music Festival (NMBIMF), Dompas MD, Wandile Yani.

The press conference eventually got underway almost an hour later than the scheduled start time.

Addressing tired, timeous and hungry 'local media', Wandile Yani remarked that the NMBIMF was the "... biggest thing that has ever happened in Port Elizabeth." and that the NMBIMF was an opportunity to; "... do beautiful things in Port Elizabeth".

Citing massive support from National and International media, Yani instructed local media to now; "... support the NMBIMF fully" and ensure that the concert was an unqualified success.

When asked why Dompas were only now paying attention to the local media, Yani laid the blame firmly at the feet of the local Nelson Mandela Bay Metros communications department for not informing the local media in a proper manner.

Asked to quantify the benefit to the Metro from the NMBIMF, Yani deffered to Metro Spokesman, Kupido Baron who said; "An event like this has the possibility of creating great tourism and job opportunities," and that Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism would be better able to quantify the tourism benefit to the city.

Like a plant that needs chlorophyll to grow, Yani compared local media as the chlorophyll that the NMBIMF needs to grow saying; "We are going to host the best festival that Port Elizabeth has ever seen." In a concession towards hard working local scribes Yani also said; "We probably underestimated the approach of local media."

Pressed for the number of tickets sold to date, Yani indicated that he was not interested in knowing the amount as; "Our audience like last minute things." Yani added that tickets will also be sold at the door on each of the days, the price would not drop at all and that his considered estimate for the number of people who will attend each day is 15 000 (i.e. a total ticket sales figure of 45 000 over three days).

All monetary questions were reffered to Municipal Spokesman, Kupido Baron who could only confirm the R2 Million in sponsorship from the Metro.

Editorial Comment:

I find myself caught between a rock and a hard place with the Nelson Mandela Bay International Music Festival (NMBIMF).

On the one hand I desperately want the NMBIMF to be an unqualified success and on the other I do not remain convinced that the NMBIMF will bring the great tourism and job opportunities promised.

IF, 45 000 tickets are sold AND 5% are to out of town people, THEN it will still be a success, as per my estimation in this article:  Only ONE Ticket left for Nelson Mandela Bay International Music Festival by bringing in 13.5 Million in direct investment.

I feel uncomfortable with the statement that the Communications Department at the Metro did not 'handle' the local media properly. Coupled with the inference that the approach of the local media was in some way unpatriotic or wrong as National Media were playing ball makes me want to jump out of my chair and cry FOUL. Good manners dictate that you do not diss the Lady or Man of the house on his or her homeground. Or, as my sainted Mother always says; "You catch more bees with honey than with vinegar!"

The 'honey' did come out later with promises from Dompas that the local scribes would be treated like VIP's with their own chill lounge, chauffered rides to the stadium and enough food and drink to sink a battleship at the concerts.

Kinda arrogant is the way that I would put the 'royal command' to publicise the event. If exposure on MyPE is any measure of success for the Metro, Dompas, Port Elizabeth or the NMBIMF then the four articles already written on MyPE have contributed at least R40 000.00 worth of exposure to the event - real cheap publicity when you consider the rewards on offer.

To say that the Metro Communications Deprtment is at fault for not informing local media properly is a grave mistake - it is my experience that event organisers who get money from the Metro have to ensure that they promote and publicise their events with that money and NOT expect the Metro to go the extra mile and use the ratepayer funded Communications Department as a 'private public relations' firm. The Splash Festival organisers, The Summer Festival Organisers, the Ocean Racing Series organisers ALL employ qualified LOCAL Public Relations firms to handle their media and press releases, so why did Dompas not do the same?

The refusal to speak about money or the number of tickets sold to date is just plain insulting to every citizen in the Metro.

As to the massive support from International and National media I can only point you, dear reader, to the INTERNET SCOREBOARD, commonly known as Google. At the time of writing, a search for "Nelson Mandela Bay International Music Festival" on Google.com shows show 602 results and MyPE is the FIRST and SECOND result (Click on the + sign next to the second result to see supplementary results on MyPE). Not ONLY that, MyPE Articles also features as the SIXTH, SEVENTH and EIGHTH results. Not too KAK for local media methinks! Click here to see the latest Google Results.

Just as a plant needs chlorophyll to grow it can also survive, for a short time, on fertiliser only!

IF Dompas had a web site things would be a lot easier for local, international and national media to get hold of the right people to speak to and help promote the event.

I so hope that I am wrong about this and so desperately want to see a magnificent event on the 18, 19 and 20 December. Please do not let Port Elizabeth down, Dompas!

Related Links: Nelson Mandela Bay International Music Festival | Only ONE Ticket left for Nelson Mandela Bay International Music Festival | Images | Metro Concert Sponsorships a Recipe for Disaster | Have your say in the FORUM.