Heidi Genoist

‘No Comment’ Can Hurt Source, Too
October 11, 2007

An unfortunate thing happened on the way to press with my story, “Rival Shows Get Up Close and Personal” in the Sept. 17 issue. One of the rivals wouldn’t talk.

I hate to say “I told you so,” but the other Tradeshow Week editors and I have written past columns on the mistake of not commenting, and this story provides a good example of why.

While covering the fashion tradeshows that took place in August at the Sands Expo & Convention Center/Venetian Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas, I noticed there were two lingerie shows overlapping there. It didn’t take long to discover that they were run by competitors who had formerly worked together.

The managers of one of the shows, Curve NV, spoke to me at the show, and gave me follow-up interviews on the phone. Their exhibitors were also very open.

The managers of the second show, Lingerie Americas Las Vegas, were not accessible. Try as I might that day and over the following week, the closest I could get to them was their press agent, who responded to my inquiries by sending post-show press releases. When I pressed her for more, asking specific questions about why Lingerie Americas did a Las Vegas show and what its relationship was to Curve, she told me nobody from the company would comment.

Lingerie Americas exhibitors were equally guarded. Although a couple spoke to me off the record, they refused to be quoted.

Their side of the story was, thus, reduced to a “no comment.”

This week, we got a letter from Lingerie Americas CEO Patrice Argain, expressing her disappointment at our “one-sided story.” When we explained to her the effort we’d made to get her comment while reporting the story, she was surprised and apologized.

In her letter to us, Argain provided some insight into the story. For instance, she said the idea to launch a Las Vegas lingerie show had been hatched while Laurence and Jean-Luc Teinturier, now organizers of Curve, still worked for her. According to Argain, the Teinturiers used market intelligence gained from surveys done by Lingerie Americas to prepare their competing show. She also pointed out that it is not uncommon for an organization like Lingerie Americas to change management, and that the decision to do so was made for business reasons.

All good points. I only wish I’d had them a month ago.

Argain also said her show management team was hurt by the story. We normally run letters to the editor in our weekly print edition, but in this case came to the somewhat difficult decision not to. The story was newsworthy, reported accurately, and the source had ample opportunity to comment when it was still timely.

Next time you decline to comment or craft an evasive corporate response to a press inquiry, remember Lingerie Americas. There are at least two sides to every story. Who will tell yours?

Posted by Heidi Genoist on October 11, 2007 | Comments (1)