Diana Ross - Goin Back? 10 year old interview

[jobeterob]

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.chron.com/entertainment/music/amp/Diana-Ross-A-music-legend-occasionally-nervous-1770831.php

[PeaceNHarmony]

Interesting; I did not know Diana did speaking engagements at that time.

[carlo]

I seem to recall this was the one and only speaking engagement that she did. It came across as being a very poorly organized event, as the promoter made meet and greet packages available for $700 a piece, which turned out to be disastrous. He oversold the packages and Diana was initially advised it would be a handful of fans, not an entire room filled with hundreds waiting to take a photo with her. She made a quick appearance, making her way through the middle of the crowded room, apparently joking, "I'm mingling, I'm mingling!" It was announced shortly thereafter that she was in a rush to catch a flight, so only about a dozen or so fans managed to get their posed photos taken with her. The rest of the fans were quite unhappy and I remember reading about it afterward online, as many had travelled from across the world to be there. It was not Diana's fault, just poor organization all around.

[jobeterob]

Sounds awful for a lot of money

[JohnnyB]

Sounds awful for a lot of money

I attended the event and yes, it was poorly arranged by the company involved, not by Diana. I ordered my VIP ticket several months prior, which included the meet and greet; the price was $200.00 and I was told the meet and greet would be a 1-hour intimate pre-show gathering. The promoter did not disclose the exact number of VIP tickets available, but I was led to believe I was one of a few lucky ticket holders. As the show date drew closer I began to hear of the hundreds of VIP tickets being sold for the event and began to suspect something was not right. It turned out Diana had not been told anything about autographs, a meet and greet or photo session, nor was any of this in the contract she signed with the group...