Millie Lewis AMTC
(American Modeling and Talent Convention)
To Whom It May Concern:
I am just going to vent my frustration at what I experienced
as a mother letting my daughter attend the Millie
Lewis AMTC convention in Orlando, Florida, last
month.
It all started with her being one of the lucky ones "picked" at
the search they were doing in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Of course, I was flattered that she was chosen, so when
she was called back and told she was good enough now
to make the grade as one of the chosen, I was more than
happy to give her the opportunity to experience this
competition or whatever it is they call it.
It all started out with no hidden costs. Well, that
is a tad bit false in the fact there are a few things
that I spent money on. Had I been informed by the director,
Rena, I would not have needed to.
In fact, had Rena been upfront with me, I would have
realized that this was not a good idea for me to take
my daughter at all, since we were not even there for
the ever-famous "Call Back Day."
The original schedule given me had that day on Saturday,
so I made my airline reservation to return back to Sioux
Falls on Sunday, when, in all actuality, the Call Back
Day was Sunday morning.
So my daughter not only missed that aspect of it, but
I was told I had to purchase "comp cards" for
my daughter because she would be handing these out to
agents or something during the entire time there.
Then I find out that they are actually for the Call
Back Day, which we were not going to be at, so I wasted
my money on those, in my opinion.
To touch on the photo shoot, I didn't want to mess with
driving another six hours roundtrip to Omaha to get them
redone, so I did sign the acceptance form, but they were
so bad. Not even near worth the $400 spent on them. But
that is my fault for not putting up a fuss on that.
By that time I just wanted this all over!
Let's touch on the 24-hour training AMTC says their
regional directors must provide prior to the convention.
Well, at the beginning I was told that all practices
would be in Sioux Falls. The first few were.
On March 3 there was one for five hours.
On March 23 (we had to miss), another five hours.
We had to drive to Omaha for the photo shoot April 28th.
(That counted as a practice, I guess).
On May 11, there was one for five hours.
On June 8 for five hours.
On June 22nd, another drive to Omaha, which I could
not make due to prior commitments.
So my daughter did not receive the 24 hours training
but only 20 were offered and she missed one day, so she
was only there for 15 hours, if I calculated correctly.
Now, when we arrived in Florida at the convention, it
was only by luck we ever found out there were meetings
for the group. It was never from Rena or Karen; it was
always from running into another contestant who happened
to know.
The only contact I ever had with Rena was on our first
night in the hotel, to let us know what time the group
runway competition was.
Not once was my daughter asked how things were going,
or anything.
I am not being a whiny mother, but an observer of the
lack of organization and follow up, at least with the
Omaha ISM.
I would not use this competition again through them,
not for their lack of being nice people, but for the
money I paid for this entire thing, and then to find
out a lot of it was in waste due to missing the last
day.
I feel very frustrated and disappointed and taken advantage
of.
My daughter did have fun and learned some things; however,
she could have done that locally without spending nearly
that much money.
My recommendation is unless you have a "mother
agent" acting like a mother, DO NOT WASTE
YOUR TIME AND OR MONEY.
Sincerely,
R.Z. in Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Response from reader:
First, to the lady that felt she had "wasted her
time." I was at that convention. She should have
looked in her packet and all the dates were clearly listed —there
were some changes made but that was months before the
convention. Even the sample schedule that was first put
in the packet lists Sunday as "call back" day.
Second, if she wants her child in modeling she should
know —especially if she attended the convention
seminars that are very educational —that any person
entering modeling needs to test and have comp cards.
Third, it was her choice to miss the training in her
home town. We had many family commitments but made our
priorities. Some families in our group paid for private
sessions if they had to miss.
We attended the convention and found it to be a great
learning tool and wonderful. By the way, my daughter
does not have a success story from this convention. She
did not get a call back.
But what she did get was tons of information from people
in the business. She gained so much self confidence from
all the positive experiences.
Find a place where she can practice interviewing, runway,
commercials, call backs, sitcom cold-script reading,
monologue, etc. and get positive advice on all of the
above from reputable people all in one place?
I think you would be hard pressed to find a more meaningful
place for potential talent to learn and grow and some
to get actual work than this convention.
It does cost money but so does summer camp. And if this
is your child's passion, as it is with my daughter, than
it is well worth it.
Please use common sense and fairness in your comments
and posting or your website will not be worth visiting.
L.D. in Kansas City, Kansas
Rebuttal from R.Z. in Sioux Falls, South Dakota:
I just want to say one, no, two more things:
According to this response from L.D., she did not have
the same package I got in the beginning with the schedule,
nor did she have the same bad experience I had.
It's like flying in airplanes: for some people, the
first time is great, and for others, they get sicker
than a dog and never do it again.
I'm very happy she and others had a great time. I did
not, and I was dissatisified with our "mother agent," and
the lack of mothering. Glad she had a good "mother
agent" for her daughter.
One more thing I wanted to add, (I remembered this after
I had sent the original email). This was just a topper
to my frustration.
I ordered an AMTC yearbook or whatever it is. When I
sent in the information on my daughter's sponsors, I
just assumed they would realize my daughter's name is
not the same as my name.
When I looked how they listed it in the back of the
book, it is under MY NAME, not my daughter's. I thought
it was just par for the course for how the whole thing
went. Perhaps I should go for a $35.00 refund!
It just again shows that the ISM Omaha Office either
wasn't totally there, or perhaps they didn't remember
my daughter's name at the time they sent the information
in.
That's about all I have to say on this subject. People
can say or interperet my letter(s) how they want. I basically
have nothing else to add.
Thanks again, and, I, for one, wish I had found your
website with other people's experiences listed prior
to signing my daughter up for this. You are performing
an invaluable service for person(s) who want to see real
experiences, good and bad.
R.Z. in Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Response from Parent
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Photography and Convention Prices
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