Help Me Write A Letter?

[worldwidese]

Months ago I was asked by these people to do a week at their Summer Camp, end of June. As the Contract had not yet arrived, yesterday I shot off an email about it and received the following reply.
Quote- "the adminstration had budget meetings. They have cut my budget drastically. Unfortunately, I cannot afford you for a Puppet Camp. I apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause. This is the first that I have heard about the cuts so you have not been neglected. And your message is not the only message that I will have to send."
Of course, it is now too late to fill in this week, so I am left with a loss of revenue. While I do not expect that any kind of reply to this will bring the gig back, I do want to tell them that it does cause inconvenience to me and others they have cancelled, and am searching for a polite, but telling way to express my feelings about their delay tactics and to my mind, unethical behaviour. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[pablo]

Don't even bother

Don't waste your time, paper & postage on them. Chalk it up to experience, and move on. If they ever contact you again, tell them bluntly that you wouldn't work for them if they were the last gig on earth.

Performers & artists often complain about clients or agents who waste their time, are difficult to collect payment from, or are a royal pain in the ass. My solution to this problem is simple: don't work with them again, and tell every performer you know to avoid them.

If you work them once and they screw you, shame on them. If you work with them again and they screw you, shame on you.

Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now...

[Steven Ragatz]

Don't waste your time, paper & postage on them. Chalk it up to experience, and move on. If they ever contact you again, tell them bluntly that you wouldn't work for them if they were the last gig on earth.

Perhaps, but it is not uncommon for things like budgets get scuttled, and even though you might take it personally, they won't be giving it a second thought. If there is no signed contract, and given that there is still a couple of months till the date in question, then I would think that the situation doesn't warrant overreacting.

If you don't really want to work with them this season, then just let it slide. But, if you would like to work with them in the future, then write them a letter telling them how disappointed you are that the gig fell through, and that you would look forward to trying to line it up again next year. Offer to work with them to establish a budget for their event that would benefit everyone. If it were me, I wouldn't admit that the loss of work was an issue. Why not maintain the image that you will easily be able to replace the gig with your busy schedule and that if they wanted you to work the spot next year they need to get their request in early? Turn it into an image enhancement rather than sour grapes.

FOL - Deals fall through. Your in business - their in business - maintain a business relationship so that you can continue to do business!

Steven Ragatz

[pablo]

Yes, but...

I agree with Steve that you can sometimes turn lemons into lemonade. My gripe is with clients and agents who make big promises that they don't keep. "Hold these dates on your calendar, and we'll call you when we figure out our ass from our elbow." We've all heard variations on this line, and we all know what it means: BS.

That said, I'll admit that I do have many clients - and a few agents - who I enjoy working with, and who are true to their word. So pour me a nice tall glass of lemonade.

[jester]

Take it as it comes.

With the exception of Foot & Mouth desease when almost everything was cancelled a couple of years ago, I take these things as extra guilt free holiday. It wasn't my fault, it was meant to be and there is so much else to do.

If you can't find work that week use the time wisely.

If you are desparate for the cash, BUSK! You'll probably earn at least as much as a summer camp was going to pay.

If y ou arne't desperate for the cash, catch up with some paper work, equipment maintianence, old freinds or family. If your like me and you have kids, then enjoy some extra time with them.

[Stretch]

I take a non refundable deposit to hold the date. The deposit must be received by a certain date, otherwise I will try to book the date elsewhere. If the event is cancelled after a certain date, I keep the deposit.

I use this on the larger gigs. So far no problems.

Good luck!

[clapchap]

"FOL - Deals fall through. Your in business - their in business - maintain a business relationship so that you can continue to do business!

Steven Ragatz"

I agree with Steven here...I did a gig about a year ago with another performer to help them out, they said they could make me poi, but not pay me. I said whatever, i had nothing to do that night anyway, and did it. She somehow managed to forget to get the supplys, make it, find what she had gotten etc for nearly a year. I was pretty , but i'm not the kind of guy to make a fuss, so i forgot about it.

This week, nearly a year later, i got an email from her saying she bought me some nice new poi, sorry about the delay.


In your letter i'd tell them a little bit about how performers lives work, not many people understand that gigs to not convienently come up at desired dates. Keep it civil though, like Steven said. I'm sure they'll want to call you back next year.
(Tossing a kill fee in your contract sounds good too...)

Cheers,
Eric

[jester]

The thing that really pisses me off is when people tell you that they have no money in the budget and all they can pay is blah blah. Then you agree to do it and you find that they are paying other people and they were stringing you along.

This is the one thing over which I have got nasty in the last four years and it's happened twice.

I accuse them of STEALING my time and of stealing from one of the many other far more worthy causes that ask for my assistance every year. I then slap in a written complaint with an invoice at the full going capitalist bastard full market rate via a management company who threaten to take them to court if they don't pay.

On both occassions they paid.

I do quite a bit of charity work and I take no prisoners in checking things out before I agree to help. I have even started issuing my own contract for charity work so they know what they are getting for free. Then I send them an itemised invoice with what they got and it's full value on it, which is then negated by a discount. They get an invoice for nothing but again they know what they got for nothing.

[worldwidese]

Good Advice

Thanx for all the sensible replies. First time in all my years of performing I have ever been cut. I have cooled down by now and will send off a composite letter.
It was'nt actually the money, which was a pittance anyway. It's more that I enjoy working with the kids to produce a performance they can all feel good about being part of.