When Saying “No” to a Participant Becomes a Claim That an Entire Event Never Happened
Bangor’s tourism leadership didn’t just question Color Craze. According to Color Craze, it attacked the ticketing company that sells tickets for its events (it didn’t even contact Color Craze at all for a statement)—characterizing events sold through the platform as scams and presenting Color Craze as an example of an event that supposedly “doesn’t happen.”
That claim is not merely wrong.
It fundamentally misunderstands how controlled-access events work.
And it creates an entirely different set of questions about why a tourism official would make such sweeping statements about a private business.
LET’S TALK ABOUT WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS
Color Craze events have rules.
People are told those rules right on our website before they even click to buy tickets.
If someone follows the rules, they attend.
If someone does not follow the rules, they will be refused entry.
That’s it.
It doesn’t mean the event disappears.
It doesn’t mean the event gets canceled.
It doesn’t mean the event doesn’t happen.
It means that particular person wasn’t permitted to attend.
Those are three completely different things.
“You aren’t allowed to attend because you didn’t follow the rules.”
does not mean:
“The event doesn’t happen.”
Yet Color Craze says that distinction was apparently turned upside down and used to create the claim that its events don’t occur.
That’s an extraordinary leap.
Imagine buying a ticket to a concert, violating the venue’s entry requirements, and being refused entry.
Does that mean the concert didn’t happen?
Of course not.
The concert happened.
You just weren’t admitted.
The same principle applies to a controlled-access Color Craze event.
SAYING NO TO A PERSON DOESN’T CANCEL AN EVENT
This shouldn’t require explanation.
An event organizer has the right—and often the responsibility—to enforce its participation rules.
If someone fails to satisfy the requirements, the organizer can say:
No. You cannot attend.
That doesn’t cancel the event.
It doesn’t stop the other registered participants from attending.
It doesn’t make the event fraudulent.
It doesn’t mean the event didn’t happen.
It means that person was denied participation.
That’s event security and enforcement.
Calling that evidence that the event “doesn’t happen” is, at best, a profound misunderstanding of the event model, or a purposeful lie.
THE TICKETING COMPANY IS NOT THE EVENT
This is another distinction that appears to have been ignored.
Luna Ticketing is a ticketing platform.
The platform facilitates ticket sales.
It does not magically become the producer of every event for which it processes a ticket.
Yet Color Craze says Monique Bouchard attacked Luna Ticketing by characterizing the events sold through it as scams.
With that characterization made, the obvious question is:
What evidence supports that accusation?
Not suspicion.
Not someone’s complaint because they couldn’t attend.
Not a person being refused because they failed to follow event rules.
Evidence.
If someone claims an event is a scam, they should be able to identify the actual fraudulent conduct.
Who was defrauded, or did they not follow the rules and can they present documentation they did follow the rules?
Those are the questions that should be answered before a government tourism official makes sweeping statements about legitimate businesses.
A PERSON BEING TURNED AWAY DOESN’T MEAN THE EVENT DIDN’T HAPPEN
Let’s make this painfully simple for her to understand.
Person follows the rules:
They attend.
Person doesn’t follow the rules:
They don’t attend.
Event:
Still happens.
That’s how events work.
A participant’s inability to attend does not determine whether the event itself took place.
If anything, an event that refuses to admit people who fail its security or participation requirements is demonstrating that it actually enforces its rules.
COLOR CRAZE NEVER CLAIMED EVERYONE COULD DO WHATEVER THEY WANTED
Color Craze doesn’t sell a ticket that says:
“Pay us and you can ignore all event rules.”
That’s not how legitimate event production works.
Purchasing admission does not eliminate the organizer’s rules.
Participants are required to comply with the conditions of participation.
And where security is concerned, organizers have a responsibility to enforce those conditions.
Someone cannot violate the rules and then complain that the event is illegitimate because the organizer enforced them.
That’s not fraud. That’s accountability.
AND BANGOR NEVER EVEN HAD A COLOR CRAZE EVENT
There’s another important fact that makes the Bangor narrative even more bizarre.
Color Craze never opened ticket sales for Bangor.
No Bangor tickets were sold.
No Bangor Color Craze customers were turned away.
No Bangor event was canceled.
No Bangor Color Craze event failed to occur.
There was no suitable location for the event, so the event never progressed to the ticket sale stage.
Therefore, any suggestion that Bangor residents purchased Color Craze tickets for an event that never happened would be completely disconnected from what actually occurred in Bangor.
SO WHY WAS COLOR CRAZE BEING USED AS AN EXAMPLE?
That’s the question.
If the criticism was actually about people failing to follow participation requirements at Color Craze events elsewhere, then why characterize the entire event company—or the ticketing platform used by numerous events—as a scam?
Why turn an individual’s refusal or inability to comply with event rules into a claim that the event itself doesn’t happen?
Why attack the ticketing platform?
And why would a tourism official be making those kinds of broad claims about an outside event business?
Those questions deserve answers.
PRIVATE PROPERTY IS ANOTHER FACT THAT CANNOT BE IGNORED
Color Craze events are conducted on private property.
Color Craze’s private-property events are not City-property events.
So any discussion about permits associated with Color Craze needs to be kept separate from Color Craze’s actual operating model.
The event never reached the ticketing stage.
That’s the factual history.
NOW FOLLOW THE MONEY
Color Craze has submitted public-records requests seeking information concerning Bangor’s treatment of event businesses and tourism-related spending.
Among the records sought are information concerning:
- Tourism expenditures;
- Public funding;
- Organizations receiving taxpayer-funded support;
- Communications involving event companies;
- Communications concerning Color Craze;
- Communications concerning Luna Ticketing;
- Records concerning outside event producers; and
- Other documents relevant to how tourism resources are distributed.
Color Craze has also raised concerns about whether preferential financial relationships or improper arrangements could influence who receives support or opportunities.
To be clear, an illegal kickback arrangement has not been established merely by raising the question.
That’s why the records matter.
Follow the money.
Show the public where it goes.
Show the criteria.
Show the relationships.
Let the evidence answer the questions.
THE PAPER TRAIL NEEDS TO BE PRESERVED
Color Craze has issued a preservation/spoliation notice to the relevant tourism organization, the City of Bangor, and Monique Bouchard personally.
Relevant communications and records should be preserved, including communications concerning:
- Color Craze;
- Luna Ticketing;
- Outside event companies;
- Local event companies;
- Tourism funding;
- Event producers;
- Public statements;
- Internal discussions; and
- Financial or promotional arrangements.
If litigation follows, those records could become extremely important.
Because ultimately, the evidence matters more than the narrative.
BANGOR’S REAL TOURISM PROBLEM
Here’s the irony.
Color Craze was considering Bangor as a potential event destination.
But Bangor never even reached the point of hosting the event because a suitable location couldn’t be found due to no suitable venue for a Color Craze event.
Tickets never went on sale.
And now the company believes its ticketing platform and event model have been publicly attacked anyway.
That shows a tourism director preventing tourism from growing and keeping a stagnate city just that, never moving forward.
TOURISM IS SUPPOSED TO ATTRACT BUSINESS
A tourism director should understand the event industry.
Large events aren’t scams because they have rules.
Ticketing platforms aren’t scams because someone complains about not being admitted.
Private-property events aren’t subject to the same considerations as events occupying municipal property.
And an event doesn’t cease to exist because a person wasn’t allowed to attend.
These aren’t complicated concepts.
They’re basic event-production concepts.
BANGOR, SHOW US THE EVIDENCE
If she believes people being denied admission means the event didn’t happen, explain that logic.
And if the City believes its tourism department has acted appropriately, and no illegal kickback deals are happening through the tourism director, open the records.
Don’t hide behind generalizations.
Don’t confuse a denied participant with a nonexistent event.
Don’t confuse a ticketing company with the individual event producers using its platform.
And don’t make accusations that cannot withstand scrutiny.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Color Craze isn’t claiming that every person who buys a ticket is automatically entitled to enter regardless of the rules.
Quite the opposite.
The rules matter.
The rules are communicated.
The rules are enforced.
And when someone doesn’t follow them, they will be told no.
That doesn’t stop the event.
It doesn’t erase the other attendees.
It doesn’t cancel the event.
It doesn’t make the organizer a scam.
It means the organizer said no.
That’s it.
Turning that “no” into a claim that an entire event never happened is not a reasonable conclusion.
And turning that conclusion into an attack on an entire ticketing company raises even more serious questions.
So now the questions are simple:
What evidence supported it?
Why was Color Craze presented as an example of events supposedly not happening?
Who else has been treated this way?
Where does the taxpayer money go?
And why does Bangor appear so hostile toward outside event producers?
Color Craze intends to follow the records.
Follow the communications.
Follow the money.
And follow the facts.
