More poster bullsh*t at MSG II

This is the reply from the MSG merchandise director, who seems to have done the best he could (I left off from this post the list of other MSG people to whom he cc'd my email and his reply). So perhaps it's up to the band ... (But I still know I saw MSG staffers with posters.)


Let me start by saying thank you, for taking the time to make your
concerns known to us here at the Garden. I have forwarded your email to
our guest relations department, so that they too can be aware of your
concerns.

Unfortunately concert merchandise is not owned by the Garden and is
provided to us by the band or the bands merchandising group on a
consignment basis. Likewise we are obligated contractually to adhere to
the wishes of the group with regard to how certain pieces of merchandise
are to be sold, which was the case with the poster. The bands
merchandising group only brought 466 posters for each night, and
mandated that they be sold via the wristband system.

I am in agreement with you that the wristband system is quite difficult
to deal with, and I made my concerns known to the group. However they
insisted that the poster be sold in this fashion due to some concerns
they had with the possibility of the product ending up on Ebay.

With regard to where the posters were sold, again a decision the was
made directly by the groups merchandiser. As they were adamant about
using the wristband system, and that the poster only be given out at the
end of the event, The Mall area was the only option for distribution as
it is the only point in the arena that everyone would have to walk by on
the way out of the building. Moving the posters inside would have only
caused confusion, and possibly more problems with regard to
distribution.

Lastly, I can personally guarantee that no one on the MSG Staff got a
Poster before the event. In fact only 3 MSG Staff in total were allowed
to purchase the poster as they had to check with me before they could
make the purchase, and they were given there posters after the last
guest had been helped at the end of the event.

I can appreciate your irritation and frustration at this situation. In
an effort to curb future occurrences of similar instances, I will speak
to security, and guest services to hopefully come up with a better plan
for these type of merchandise sales. Unfortunately in most of these
cases we are at the mercy of the group, as we can not dictate what
quantities to bring or ultimately how to sell those quantities.

My thanks again to you for expressing your concern to me on this matter.

Best
Brian