Updates: Vani/Vanimute/Vanillakitsune/stripesandteeth

[kkitty23.livejournal.com]

Many of you have posted journals here on the AB community in reference to Vani. You've voiced your frustrations and many of you have had an ongoing struggle concerning commissions or refunds. I know that I'm 5+ years late and I want to offer my deepest condolences to everyone who has had to fight for some justice and has lost hope in ever receiving what's due to them. I hope to be able to provide some changes and will do my best to ensure that everyone's needs are met in the process.

This journal will serve as a place of reference for those who are owed art or refunds. I will continue updating this journal with a plan of action, schedules, general information, etc. If I've left anything out or anyone has any questions, please feel free to comment or contact me directly through my email: koalakitty23@yahoo.com

I've contacted Vani and have had a long discussion about everything that was shared in the recent journal concerning her failure to follow through with work that was owed. I've passed along the incredible advice offered and have managed to come to an arrangement in order to start turning this negative situation around into something positive and hopefully satisfying to those waiting for compensation. There is still a lot we're discussing, but I wanted to share the most recent updates for everyone, so you know what to expect in the coming month. PLEASE keep in mind that I can't make things happen overnight, but I am doing my best to ensure that changes are made as promptly as possible within a reasonable time frame. I am deeply grateful for your patience and understanding in this situation.

Updates - June 7, 2012

- Vani will be attending Metrocon within the next week. She will NOT be offering commissions, but will be selling prints and other pre-made merchandise. Her goal is to work toward bringing in profit on those items in order to focus on the work she owes, as well as turn some of the income around for refunds.

- A spreadsheet will be posted listing all of the commissions owed, to give everyone a visual reference of her work in progress. We're hoping to have that posted by the end of June.

- Time management will be implemented into her work schedule. Commissions will take priority over personal/con work. The goal is to work on commissions during the week, then use the weekend to work on prints/merch. Sketches and other WIPs will be posted at the beginning of the week while finished work will be posted at the end of the week. Personal art will be done over the weekend.

- Individual notes will be sent out to all commissioners once everything else is organized, to ensure that everyone is updated and communication is being established. As soon as I have a time frame, I'll be sure to let everyone know.

For now, I suppose you can think of me as Vani's unofficial PR. I'd like to help minimize the frustration by offering some peace of mind and an ear to listen. I know many of you are angry and frustrated. I'm going to do my best to help resolve the issue at hand. Vani has expressed her willingness to show change and her desire to make amends. We've both agreed that the best way for her to do so is through action, rather than words or false promises. So within the month I hope to be able to share goals achieved, one step at a time. I know it may seem like small steps, but in time I hope they will grow into larger strides.

Thanks again for all of the suggestions and advice that has been shared. It is greatly appreciated by both Vani and myself and I promise it will be put to good use and not go wasted.

Comments

[funkicarus.livejournal.com]

Just for clarification - why are you saying you are five years late in the first paragraph...? I thought you were not Vani?

[claytronic.livejournal.com]

I don't mean to be a negatron but if Vani wants to make a change and is sorry and etc etc... why isn't she the one posting this?

[oceandezignz.livejournal.com]

KKitty has graciously volunteered herself to be Vani's new PR manager.

[xelestri.livejournal.com]

Exactly this.

No offense to the OP, but I don't really take too well to them having someone "speak for them". That really puts me off the whole thing. Vani isn't a company (presumably), they are a person, and they should be capable of speaking for themselves and apologizing for their own actions, not getting someone else to do it.

Having a middleman do it just seems...dismissive and condescending, in a way.

Edit: Perhaps I'm wrong about Vani being a "company", in which case, I apologize, though my post still applies generically to other similar cases, I feel.

[vioskotty.livejournal.com]

How can you (general you) be sure that she will not sell any commissions at the con? Not being negative but I'm just wondering how that will be followed through.

I really hope that she is truly sincere in this and that everyone can come out of this with what they're owed and vani/ash can restore her reputation. Or perhaps learn from this..

[intj-reflection.livejournal.com]

Any artist accepting commissions is basically acting as contract labor or their own company. While not incredibly common I know of several with business managers or Public Relations people because, while creative, they have issues with the actual business portions of interacting with clients (commissioners) or scheduling their time.

[kwolf13.livejournal.com]

I agree with this, having some ELSE do all of this just makes her come off as "too good" to post on AB and announce what's going on. Isn't it her responsibility?

No offense to the OP or anything, but it seems bad form for someone who genuinely wants to make amends and repair burned bridges.

I hope at least Vani will be the one sending out the personal notes to the people with lapsed Commissions. Otherwise that will really be offsetting.

[6-05.livejournal.com]

I totally agree with you. Vani must be aware of her tendencies in writing, so use of a 3rd party ensures that she won't fall into her tropes. Presumably.

[neolucky.livejournal.com]

I hope this works out. I'm glad she's showing you a willingness to change and try harder, but I DO think it'd be smart of her to at least make an appearance here. Or perhaps announce this new PR strategy on her tumblr/websites. If she's willing to let someone else handle delicate commissioner information, she'd better make sure all of her customers are aware of that. If someone I commissioned did this, I'd want to be told about it...not from a journal, but personally through email.

And some of them may not want to talk to you. Is she prepared to deal with those who'd like to discuss it with her personally? Having you do all the PR might give them a sense that she's brushing them off once again. Any communication is good at this point, but it'd mean a lot more coming from her. I'm sure she already knows that, however.

As long as there's no more passive aggressive stuff, suicide threats, or downright ignoring of her customers, I think she can possibly repair the damage she's done.

[kkitty23.livejournal.com]

In a previous post, it was mentioned that this has been an ongoing issue for some, the time frame ranging 5+ years. I'm simply trying to acknowledge that I wasn't involved from the start and it's not my intention to appear as if I have all the answers or facts, etc.

I'm not Vani. I'm just a friend who's trying to help by offering a bit of guidance. The idea of making this post was suggested to me and I felt it might be useful.

[funkicarus.livejournal.com]

okay - odd phrasing, is all.

[claytronic.livejournal.com]

I see this, I just don't understand why ;)

[jakejynx.livejournal.com]

I hope you know what you're getting into. If (when?) promises get made and broken, you as the contact will be the one having to deal with the repercussions. See Avsun Mascots and Prefur for reference.

[claytronic.livejournal.com]

I'm guessing the reasoning will be something like "she is nervous and anxiety blah blah blah", but part f the process in getting through this HAS to be facing your fears. You can't just hide in a hole and get your friend to hand out all owed art, you have to come out, give the art to the commissioners, shake their hand and say you're sorry (and mean it).

[retr0h.livejournal.com]

I think it's OK that she has someone doing this for her. She has someone pushing her and (if she does have really bad anxiety) it might help her. Obviously, doing this alone on her behalf hasn't done anything productive so hopefully having someone who personally knows her will actually kick her butt into gear. I'm just hoping that it will actually work. I'm waiting for some actual work to get done before claiming she's changed and willing to do work.

[neolucky.livejournal.com]

Until I see some actual evidence of work on her lengthy commission queue, I too will be in doubt. That's exactly what this boils down to - show us, don't tell us.

[kkitty23.livejournal.com]

It was my decision for the time being to take control of the initial plans. One of the main complaints shared in the previous post was that Vani did a lot of talking, but not a lot of doing. This is only temporary and is meant as a way to ensure that she can focus on the work she owes, rather than wind up losing her temper or setting tempers in general aflare.

[skulldog.livejournal.com]

Seriously hoping that this is a turning point. I am skeptical, but not unwilling to hold off for a bit on naysaying until more time has passed.

If anything else needs to be said, I think she just really needs to START. Get even TWO commissions done and posted, and I image she's going to start seeing people giving her more acceptance and patience in this. It's going to be a long, slow struggle, but it's only going to get better each step.

Good luck to you, you've been very professional is this so far, and I hope it doesn't backfire on you after you put this effort forward.

[kkitty23.livejournal.com]

I apologize. Sometimes I'm not the greatest at my phrasing, which is why I've asked that any confusion or misunderstanding be addressed. I don't want to give the wrong impression. I'd like for my intentions to be as clear as possible :3

[intj-reflection.livejournal.com]

Agreed. Those waiting on commissions and who refuse to support her through new work or merchandise until headway is made will want physical proof of sketches, completed artwork or refunds instead of just reassurance or seeing a schedule pushed further and further out. Re-establishing lines of communication will also help.

Edited for autocorrect.

[kayla-la.livejournal.com]

I wanted to mention that I think it's very important that either you or Vani (preferably Vani) get in contact with all old, owed commissioners and gather new information on their commission. Characters change, people want different things three to five to seven years later.

It won't do a lot of good for her to go through her queue if nobody is happy with what they received because it's horribly out of date.

[kkitty23.livejournal.com]

The main problems I noticed with having Vani deal directly with her commissioners was tempers flaring or the overall issues being ignored or avoided. It was explained to me in the previous post that what was most important to those waiting for refunds or artwork was seeing progress.

Vani has agreed to let me speak on her behalf concerning updates or plans of action. Actual contact with commissioners will be made by her directly, as that isn't my place. Yes, I am speaking on her behalf, but it's in order to avoid causing more drama from misunderstandings or lack of action.

As far as apologizing for her actions, that will happen. This is just a starting point, but more will come. As I stated before, changes aren't going to happen all at once. I'm trying to keep this as simplistic as possible in order for things to work out more smoothly. I feel that this is the best course of action from the suggestions and advice others have given concerning Vani. I recognize that not everyone will agree with it though and I can't really help that. What I can do is ensure that progress is made, so commissioners and others can see changes, not just hear about it or read about it.

[aurin-susi.livejournal.com]

Because, when you've reached a certain level as an artist, you shouldn't have to deal with things like negative feedback and consequences of your actions. Those things might, like, feed your anxiety.

*chuckles*

I'm sorry, but I just had to. This must be the most deluded A_B case in a long time.

Edit: Typos/grammar.

[kwolf13.livejournal.com]

Yes, 100% agreed. It's not helping her already tarnished reputation, by having someone else deal with the populace. Getting the work done is fine and all, but she should AT LEAST make an appearance here, so it doesn't look like she's hired (in the loosest use of the term) a damage control team.

She needs to own up, and people need to see her say it herself.

[kkitty23.livejournal.com]

I understand the frustration. It was my decision to make the initial post, as I felt it would cause less reaction. From everything that was shared with me about how everyone feels toward Vani, I felt that her posting anything would cause more of a stir than be helpful or a sign of goodwill. I've been told that apologies have been made before, but nothing has come from it...so in my mind, having her post seemed rather pointless.

Vani will be contacting commissioners herself, as that isn't my place. I'm just providing an alternate means of contact, as well as a regulated source of information on her behalf. Her main focus should be action and progress.