TLCC in Orlando Announcement and Follow-Up

Hi Chris –

Thank you for helping us keep this topic top of mind. While there hasn’t been a public update yet, there has been a lot going on behind the scenes since you stepped down as a co-chair around the time of our last update. Collaboration takes time, and Tiffin, the other affinity chairs, and I are all working with Leadership, the DEAI Committee, Marketing, and the Conference Planning team to address our community concerns. I understand that you feel silence equals death, but just because you don’t hear anything, doesn’t mean noise isn’t being made. Tiffin and I received a draft of a statement from the Marketing team to review this week, we have had meetings with the groups mentioned earlier, and we have a commitment from Bobbi Kay to have a meeting with the public in January to discuss the actions they will be taking to ensure our concerns are addressed. There has also been an internal Tessitura town hall about this.  With international TLCC’s occurring, they wanted to be sure that they could take time to properly understand what our community really wanted, rather than responding quickly and without thought.

I encourage anyone to ask specific questions they might have here. We are happy to answer any questions, however, we don’t want to put partial information out in the world, or speak on behalf of Tessitura. Additionally, Tiffin and I are volunteers in the co-chair roles. While we would love to spend all of our time on DEAI work, it is, unfortunately, not what we are being paid to do. Work and life has to come first. We are doing the best we can, and encourage anyone interested in helping us in the future to reach out about being a member of the planning committee for the LGBTQIA+ affinity group.

Jordan Edwards said:

With international TLCC’s occurring, they wanted to be sure that they could take time to properly understand what our community really wanted, rather than responding quickly and without thought.

I have to take issue on this because Tessitura DID initially respond. AND with thought. AND quite a few responses at that. The response from Tessitura rang loud and clear in their responses to my tweet. To gloss over and forget that fact is disappointing since I know a good number of people have seen that tweet exchange.

It truly feels like the affinity groups are working to try to shield, defend, protect, and stand up for Tessitura instead of doing all that for US.

Hi Skypp - To be clear, they didn't want to continue doing so after our communities' reaction to Tessitura's response to your Tweet. Would you genuinely want them to prioritize speed over a thoughtful and genuine response that actually addresses our concerns? 

They didn't seem to care about speed and thoughtfulness when they responded to Skypp's tweet, Jordan.

I think that if that's what you meant to say, then that's what you should have said. The initial way you said it didn't even take that event into account. I'm just clarifying that whatever they're thoughtfully trying to respond with isn't the first response they gave the public.

They also lost that fight of prioritizing speed over a thoughtful and genuine response that actually addresses our concerns when they made that first response.

We are in no way trying to shield Tessitura or hide anything. We are simply trying to take care of our community in the best way that we know how, and that is by being professional and cooperative. Significant change isn't going to happen unless we collaborate. 

Aggressive responses like yours have alienated people who want to support our cause, and made people feel uncomfortable interacting with what should be a safe space for discussing these issues.  We have had multiple people reach out and express this to us (both within this community and outside of it).  We want to work with all of you, and we want it to be a collaborative effort, but this isn't the way to do it. We are happy to answer any questions you have, but it needs to be done with respect for those of us doing the emotional, physical, and social labor.

Additionally, Tessitura is genuinely making an effort to learn from the mistakes that were made, and continuing to make unnecessary digs aren't doing anything to further our cause. I'm trying to treat you with the respect that you deserve, and I genuinely want you to feel like we are working hard to help the community. 

Meredith Woolard (she/her)Karyn Elliott Dana Astmann (she/they)  Are any of you able to assist with this conversation? 

Interesting how now you try to blame my responses as a reason of alienation for people. I guess how this whole thing has made me feel is of no concern. That's fascinating. Since that seems to be a problem...then I guess I'll just not communicate any longer. I'll just watch this affinity group do what it's currently doing: protecting and defending Tessitura's decision instead of us. It's clear you don't want to hear all opinions. You only want to hear happy fluffy warm and caring opinions. We are LITERALLY talking about our very existence as LGBTQIA+ people.

Chris,

Your feelings about this are not the only feelings that exist, and we would appreciate if maybe you would consider ours too. Jordan has made and extraordinary effort today to reassure you that your feelings have been seen and reflected in the response to Tessitura, and instead of recognizing that, you have chosen to attack and accuse her (and I). It's unacceptable and uncalled for. 

There is no conspiracy to be had here... I am not sure where that idea is coming from, but it's just not true. We will continue to express the GROUP'S thoughts and ideas to Tessitura, and we will continue to advocate for a good outcome. If you have further feedback that you feel isn't being expressed, I would encourage you to reach out to Tessitura leadership directly. 

As for this thread, we can see that arriving at some kind of productive discussion is a futile effort, and we have both agreed that we will no longer respond to the accusations that you have made. If not communicating any longer is your choice, then we will respect that decision. If you change your mind later and would like to have a productive discussion, we're always here and happy to facilitate. 

Have a good evening. 

--Tiffin

As Jordan mentioned, Tessitura has been listening to many perspectives, learning from our mistakes, and working on next steps. We aim to publish our statement within the next few business days.

Tessitura is dedicated to a positive, safe, and harassment-free experience in which diverse participants may learn, network, and enjoy the company of colleagues.

Every member of the Tessitura community has a right to feel welcomed, valued, and respected. It is everyone’s responsibility to foster that environment of respect.

Thank you to Jordan Edwards and Tiffin Feltner for your work in leading this affinity group.

As Jordan mentioned, Tessitura has been listening to many perspectives, learning from our mistakes, and working on next steps. We aim to publish our statement within the next few business days.

Tessitura is dedicated to a positive, safe, and harassment-free experience in which diverse participants may learn, network, and enjoy the company of colleagues.

Every member of the Tessitura community has a right to feel welcomed, valued, and respected. It is everyone’s responsibility to foster that environment of respect.

Thank you to Jordan Edwards and Tiffin Feltner for your work in leading this affinity group.