Communications Director at Fancy Food Show Is In Our Hall of Shame

An Open Letter From Our President

May 3, 2010....We are sad to announce that we will no longer cover the Fancy Food Show. NASFT has decided to discontinue our media access to this show because they feel "we no longer fit their strict profile of accepted media." After the many positive reviews over the years, the publication of their events on our site and the many press releases we have also published for the Fancy Food Show, they still have refused us media access to their shows.

Ms. Kramer and Mr. Tanner also failed to reply to my many requests for a valid reason for the refusal and only today, I had success in reaching Ms. Kramer on the phone. Although her explanation made little sense, she was not willing to offer any legitimate reasons for their refusal other then "our criteria has changed this year and IPA no longer meets these criteria"

IPA is recognized as the only online organization of its kind, one that builds credibility and exposure for ethical independent media professionals worldwide. Our independent staff members adhere to our strict Terms of Membership and many are employed by media outlets internationally.

If you agree that IPA should be entitled to media access to this show or if you are a member of NASFT and disagree with this decision, please let them know by emailing Louise Kramer at: lkramer@nasft.orgor Ron Tanner at: rtanner@nasft.org to register your complaint.

IPA does not accept paid advertising and covers these shows to benefit the exhibitors, NASFT, and the millions of IPA members and visitors that read our reviews of these shows each year.

We would like to thank all the NASFT members who we have met and featured in our reviews over the years. It has been a pleasure working with you and highlighting your products and our companies. I suppose it is time to say good-bye.

Len Rapoport
President - Executive Editor
International Press Association

Please see the email response below from Louise Kramer for our exception coverage of the 2009 show.

The Fancy Food Show Press Requirements

To register onsite, the following credentials are required:

• Photo ID (driver's license, passport, government-issued ID, or official press credential)
• 
  
• Business card showing name, company name and editorial title, letter on media outlet stationery verifying your editorial position, or current publication masthead listing your name and editorial title.
• 
  
• For freelancers for print and web publications, bylined article from past year on topics related to the specialty food industry, and/or way to check online.
• 
  
• For blog writers, evidence of new posts created on a weekly basis within past three months on topics related to specialty food industry (printouts or links to coverage), plus evidence from a data-tracking service (such as Google Analytics or Quantcast.com) that unique visitors exceed 5,000 per month.
• 
  
• For freelance photographers and other media, verifiable letter of assignment from a bona fide media outlet.

Click on image above to see current IPA stats which show the number of  visitors exceed their 5000 visitors each month by over 12,000.  We have many articles and Press Releases dealing with the Specialty Food Industry and of course the four Fancy Food trade show reviews and the five New York Restaurant and Food Services Show Reviews.  

Both the State of New Jersey and New York recognize IPA as a bonafide media outlet and New Jersey has issued NYP (New York Press) license plates for my vehicles.

Links to our past Fancy Food Show Reviews and Videos

2005 - 2007 - 2008 - 2009

Fancy Food PRESS RELEASES

To our friends and exhibitors we have met over the 

past five years at this show....

Louise Kramer is the only public relations officer that has refused our access to a trade or consumer show.  After IPA's five years of support and the positive and professional coverage we have now been refused access for no apparent reason other then we no longer fit their media criteria.  Our coverage of last years show received rave reviews (see email above from Ms. Kramer), so we are at a loss for this years refusal.

IPA is a member based organization made up of over 400 independent staff members of the media and over 7,000 affiliate members in our many IPA groups on Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and other networking sites

In over twenty years as a leader in our field and in the past 14 years an entirely web based publication, we simply can't understand her refusal to recognize IPA as an "accepted media outlet". Her suggestion to pay a fee to attend the show and then write a review was insulting and demeaning at best.

IPA does not accept any paid advertising which gives us the freedom to select specific trade shows we feel our members and readers would find of interest. Many of our independent media members pick up our reviews and republish them in their own media outlets including blogs, web sites, social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) and print publications.

Our web site receives many thousands of page views each month and our only source of income is from our members support. Our show videos appear on YouTube, MySpace, Facebook and other sites and of course in the show review as well. Our featured exhibitors have linked to our reviews and our videos and have received all this additional exposure free of charge.

See sample show video on YouTube with 15,000 views: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb0nWPYgz3c

You can see our past reviews of this show and the extensive past coverage we have given NASFT by clicking on these links:

http://internationalpress.com/index.php?file=fancyfood09

http://internationalpress.com/index.php?file=fancyfood08

http://internationalpress.com/index.php?file=fancyfood

http://internationalpress.com/index.php?file=fancyfood-05

To see reviews of other shows including the New York Restaurant and Foodservices Show go to our main Reviews section at:

http://internationalpress.com/reviews

The reason for this email is to let our friends and supporters in the food industry know why we would not be at the show this year.

I suppose I am from the old school that teaches its students that the more free positive coverage one gets the better. I can only assume that in these very difficult times, Ms. Kramer feels it is better to limit the extensive publicity and positive exposure that media outlets like IPA can offer them and tighten the restrictions so that media outlets outside of the food industry can no longer cover the shows. I wonder if the New York Times was also refused media access.

Please let your voices be heard if you agree with us. Now is the time for aggressive positive action that helps exhibitors at this show get the exposure they deserve and the publicity they are paying for.

Sincerely,

Leonard Rapoport

President/Founder 

June 17,2010

A  letter was sent to Ann Daw NASFT's current president.  It explain in detail Ms. Kramers actions and refusal to grant us access with copies of pages, reviews and other information from our site.  I also included other documents to support our qualifications and copies of emails complimenting me for the reviews from Ms. Kramer as well as many other show exhibitors and show management

I will post her response once I receive it.

July 17,2010...Update on Letter To Ann Daw NASFT's President
After sending our detailed letter, copies of previous show reviews, emails from members and exhibitors of NASFT and the Fancy Food Show, Ms. Daw never responded to our letter.


It is surprising for me to see this and saddens me after reading that Ms. Daw was appointed to her position because as the past president of NASFT stated that "Ann clearly gets the best out of people by listening and appreciating diversity of thought." 


Apparently Ann doesn't get it at all.  You can read my full letter to Ms Daw which is available in PDF format by clicking here.  Form your own conclusions and see if you don't agree that the problems in many companies are not from the bottom up, but rather from the top down.
  Apparently Ms. Kramer and Ms. Daw seem to be made from the same mold.  We wonder why corporate America has created much of the mess our country is in today.  Executives, simply don't care and don't want to deal with the problems in their own organizations.


I can understand her standing by her employee, but don't you think some form of reply would have been the correct thing to do?  We now add Ann Daw NASFT president to our Hall of Shame.