Latest news with #Willows
NBC News
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- NBC News
Fantasy ball or Fyre Fest? Attendees describe chaos at Baltimore book event
Dozens of authors and book lovers poured into Baltimore this weekend dressed in glittering gowns, ready for a romance-fantasy book convention that promised a formal 'fantasy ball.' Instead, attendees of the A Million Lives Book Festival said they found themselves standing awkwardly under bright overhead lights in a sparsely decorated space that looked more like a concrete warehouse than a ballroom. Videos of the first-time event quickly gained traction on social media as attendees expressed disappointment at being met with barren rooms, shoddy programming and drastically fewer attendees than promised. 'If the bar for events was on the floor, A Million Lives Festival sent the bar straight to hell,' said Perci Jay, a romantic fantasy author who attended. 'We had no signage directing us around the convention center, no decorations, no badges — nothing to signal that our event was even happening. I was shocked and bewildered constantly because every 30 minutes, something else went horribly wrong.' The gathering last Friday and Saturday at the Baltimore Convention Center became the latest event to go viral online for its disastrous planning, joining the ranks of the widely mocked Fyre Fest, the Willy Wonka-themed 'Chocolate Experience' in Glasgow and the "Bridgerton"-inspired ball in Detroit. Grace Willows, the organizer of the event, issued an apology on her event planning company's social media pages this week. 'I do understand that the ball tonight was not set up to standards,' Willows said on TikTok. 'There were a lot of issues with getting set up and it was not set up well. I want to apologize.' Archer Management, the event planning company behind the festival, said in an Instagram post on Monday that all refunds should be processed by May 31. Willows did not respond to a request for comment. But some attendees, including Jay, say that a refund wouldn't be enough to cover for the financial hit they took just getting to the event. After spending more than $2,000 on flights, event fees and food for the weekend, Jay said she flew from Texas to Baltimore (which required 'tremendous effort,' as she's pregnant with twins) only to realize she and her friends had been 'completely misled' about the event they had been anticipating for a year and a half. The festival had been advertised online as 'the perfect event to make more bookish friends,' teasing a vendor hall, speaker panels, a content creation room and a cosplay competition. Tickets ranged from $50 to $250. Upon arrival, however, several attendees who spoke to NBC News said the only decorations in the room were pink flower petals lined along the tables. In lieu of the planned DJ, one small portable speaker played music from someone's phone. The promised 'content creation room' was just an empty room. Badges and swag bags were mysteriously lost. And due to an absence of chairs and tables, some panel speakers and audience members found themselves sitting on the floor. Several attendees said they were told by Willows that 500-600 tickets had been sold. The exact total number of attendees is unclear. But those who spoke to NBC News estimated less than 100 people showed up, leaving many authors — who had to order books in bulk and pay fees for tables to sell them at — eating their losses and scrambling to ship their unsold books back home. When reached for comment, a spokesperson for the Baltimore Convention Center directed NBC News to a social media exchange between an attendee and the venue's director of sales, Krystine Bussiere, in response to accusations that the convention center was responsible for losing event supplies such as swag bags and snacks. 'I can tell you that we didn't receive information from the event organizer about missing boxes from the event,' Bussiere wrote in an email. 'I checked in multiple times with show management and heard nothing but positive comments about how things were going on-site.' In the aftermath, attendees banded together online to share their experience and petition for answers. Some people created a page online to solicit public support for the financial recovery of authors who 'were left with financial debt due to flights, hotels, shipping their merchandise, and table fees only to be mislead by the turnout of the event.' Author Stephanie Combs, who decided to attend the festival after seeing social media posts advertising it more than a year ago, said she bought eight boxes of books to sell and left with six still full. Instead of the packed convention that she expected, Combs estimated that only about 50 attendees dotted the 'ginormous dungeon' of a room. 'I feel like I vacillated between tears and laughter the rest of the night, because it just felt so unbelievable to me that someone would set this up and think that it was an acceptable ball,' Combs said. 'There's no music, there's no decorations other than a few scattered rose petals. And you just have a bunch of people in a room, you know, eating a couple pieces of chocolate.' Carmen Seantel, a narrator who moderated a panel, said she had to hold the talk in a room with 'no chairs, no tables, nothing.' She said the eight panelists and 15 to 25 audience members ended up sitting on the floor for the hourlong panel without any microphones or air conditioning. 'I took time off work, took time away from scheduled family events to attend this fest- it's not a festival, to attend this FIASCO. As bad as that might seem, it is NOTHING compared to the thousands of dollars authors lost,' Seantel wrote in an email. 'I want to highlight that this event financially crippled 100+ independent authors. I know some authors planned family events, book releases, and other things around THIS. But for what?'
The Citizen
01-05-2025
- The Citizen
Calls to declare GBV a national disaster after woman's eyes gouged out in attack
Calls to declare GBV a national disaster after woman's eyes gouged out in attack The recent case of a woman in Richmond, Bongeka Nxele (26), who had her eyes gouged out, allegedly by her ex-boyfriend, has sparked widespread outrage on social media, with many calling on the government to declare gender-based violence (GBV) a national disaster. A Richmond woman is facing a future without her sight after a savage gender-based violence attack that left her permanently blinded in one eye and with only a slim hope of partial vision in the other. Her alleged attacker — Zenzele Xaba (36) — appeared in the Richmond Magistrate's Court on Tuesday, where his application for bail was denied. The Witness interviewed Bongeka Nxele's mother, Zodwa Nxele, on camera and posted the video on various social media platforms. Many social media users expressed their deep empathy for Nxele and called for justice to be served. Clive Willows, a clinical psychologist, said until a proper evaluation is conducted, there is no way to understand what would go through an attacker's mind during such an incident. 'It may have been that [the attacker] wanted to get her to stop looking at other men. It may also have been that this was attempted murder. We do not want to speculate what was happening in [the attacker's] head at the time,' said Willows. He added that there needs to be a different approach to address GBV in South Africa. 'Focus has been given to the victims of GBV. We have had awareness campaigns, strikes, marches, etc, but it is not stopping or decreasing GBV. 'We need to get to the root of the problem and address what causes people to do such heinous things, that would give us a deeper psychological understanding,' added Willows. Women For Change started the #JusticForBongeka campaign on Instagram and said the attacker who stole her eyesight and shattered her life must be held fully accountable. '[The attacker] must face the full consequences of his brutal actions. Bongeka deserves justice, not more betrayal from a system that should protect her,' read the Instagram post. Breaking news at your fingertips… Follow Caxton Network News on Facebook and join our WhatsApp channel. Nuus wat saakmaak. Volg Caxton Netwerk-nuus op Facebook en sluit aan by ons WhatsApp-kanaal. Read original story on At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
Chicago Tribune
04-03-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Savannah Lynch shakes off hand injury to spark St. Edward in Class 1A supersectional. ‘The momentum we needed.'
St. Edward's Savannah Lynch was excited for the biggest night of her high school career. But then minutes into Monday's game, the sophomore guard suffered an injury to her left hand and had to sit out the majority of the first quarter. The plan got changed, if only for a moment. 'I had to get it taped,' Lynch said afterward. 'It was (bothering me) a little bit, but once I got it wrapped, I knew it was nothing major. I was able to play through it and get the win.' Another big win, at that. Lynch responded by scoring nine straight points upon her return in the second quarter to lead the Green Wave to a 56-43 win over Willows in a Class 1A Harvest Christian Supersectional in Elgin. The 5-foot-10 Lynch led all scorers with 22 points for St. Edward (26-10), which advanced to an 11:15 a.m. Thursday state semifinal at CEFCU Arena in Normal against Pecatonica (30-6). Jordin Sauls added 12 points and Maggie Jarzemsky grabbed nine rebounds off the bench. Caroline Schuler scored 17 points to pace Willows (26-9), which forced a 19-19 tie during the second quarter before the Green Wave got back going once Lynch came back into the game. St. Edward coach Michelle Dawson was just happy her team maintained a lead in the first quarter without Lynch, who had led the Green Wave to their first sectional title since the 2016-17 season. 'Savannah struggled early with that injury,' Dawson said of her star player. 'She came through and everybody else stepped up. She was not herself, but everybody else was there to cover.' Lynch relied on adrenaline to play through it, doing what she had to do to get St. Edward to state. 'I really have to thank my teammates,' she said. 'I didn't think about it and kept playing my game.' Different teammates aided Lynch at different times Monday. After Lynch exited the game, Ginger Younger came off the bench and hit two big shots to help the Green Wave grab a15-6 lead. Younger, a transfer from Hampshire, is in her first season at St. Edward. And she was ready. 'We practiced this 100 times,' she said. 'Savannah is a really big role model. She does a lot of things and she teaches us. We have to stick together as a team sometimes. 'With our coaching, we were all ready. She fought through it.' Willows tied the game 19-19 with 2:15 left in the second quarter, but Lynch found another level. 'I think we all knew we needed to push the pace and get something going,' Lynch said. 'Me getting something going really helped open things up for all my teammates. 'That gave us the momentum we needed.' Lynch followed by hitting a 3-pointer and converting a layup off a steal, sandwiched around four free throws, to give the Green Wave a 28-19 lead they did not relinquish. 'She's been just a joy to coach,' Dawson said of Lynch. 'She's not selfish. She'll do what our team needs her to do to get the win. The entire team is so unselfish. I'm just very proud of them.' After Willows cut the deficit to 32-29 in the third quarter, Lynch drilled a 3-pointer to end the run. Then in the fourth, Sauls scored seven points to fuel an 11-0 run that put the game out of reach. Lynch started to believe that a run to state was possible as the season unfolded. As the Green Wave got healthier and learned how to play together, things began to fall into place. 'We made a goal chart, and one of our goals was getting to state,' Lynch said. 'We knew we could achieve it.' Indeed, the Green Wave have achieved that goal and now have a chance to add a state championship trophy to go with the one the program won in the 1984-85 season. 'It's amazing,' Lynch said. 'We're all emotional. We're just really happy to get down there.'
