The Real experience for the Madrid Fan Event:

To Whom It May Concern:

Subject: MADRID, SPAIN New Moon Fan Event

The Fan Event for Luna Nueva (New Moon) that took place in Madrid yesterday, 12 November was a complete disaster and I would like my disgust to be known formally by event organizers.

I was one of the fans sleeping in the street next to blood stained concrete, in the middle of November, in one of the WORST neighborhoods of Madrid ( Carabanchel / Latina / Usera) waiting for a ticket to get in to the event.

As someone that truly desired to attend the event, and was unlucky at winning an entrance from an online contest, you can imagine my disgust, disappointment and disbelief when I entered the arena only to be seated in the bleacher at nose-bleed level.

Come to find out, Aurum reserved all 1500 Front-Row Tickets for family and friends to attend. They then casually arrived to the Palacio de Vistalegre right before the event began and were then given autographs, took photos, got t-shirts, and saw each star up close and personal, etc, etc… while the rest of us that waited in line over 24hours sat, forgotten about, thousands of feet away. People had traveled from all over Spain and Portugal to wait in line for a ticket. Aurum should have reserved the bleacher section for their friends and family and the Front-Row should have been for the people that truly wanted to be there.

Aside from the horrible view, the event was pathetically choreographed and executed. No Way Out were to play 3 songs for the crowd; The sound cut out on 2 of their tracks. The band even publicly bashed the event over the microphone to vent their frustration as it hurt their image, making them look haphazard. They then also apologized to the audience, but quickly walked off stage after they fulfilled their 3-song-set. The long breaks in between were filled with repeated songs off the soundtrack and random acts just to waste time. We were shown the same movie trailers we’ve already seen a million times before. The Q&A was two questions to each guest and then one video question that was shown in poor quality with no sound over the projector. One of the worst “surprises” was when they picked two “lucky fans” from the audience. It was so obvious to us, to the point of mockery, that it had been previously arranged. The spotlight was “scanning the crowd in the bleachers” but ONLY focused on one small area in a top left corner to look for their “winners”. Now we’re not just pathetic for waiting in line, we’re stupid, too?

The excuse that it was a “free event” and we should be happy with whatever we got is insulting. Many of us would have been fine with paying for a ticket like any concert we attend.

The only thing done right was police surveillance throughout the night-time and their crowd management for the masses of people in line.

Aurum has hurt the image of this film in our eyes and deflated the spirit of many of us true fans. We left the event yesterday wondering why we even came. I would not waste my time for an event like this in the future and I would not recommend any one else waste their time either. Saddest of all, I have lost the illusion I had to see New Moon next week.

I understand that not everyone who wants to meet the actors or take pictures with them is able to, but why is it always the same? – That those with connections get everything easily and the rest of us that do the suffering are never rewarded…

Sincerely,

Hilary Ryan Goldman