The Heroes and whatever Halloween Costume Party held at SM City Davao yesterday was a blast as it was attended by 294 (registered participants) kids who were all looking forward to getting their trick and treats! However, the ogranizers of the event should be careful next time because there are a lot of bloopers in their show and that's not just the funny ones!
The contract of participation for the Halloween Costume Party signified that registration is only up to 1:00PM of October 31. However, to the surprise and consternation of those who went to the entertainment center earlier (some as early as 10:00 AM), the organizers still accepted late registrants even up to 2PM.
The parade of costumes started too late because the organizers were keen on accepting as many registrants as possible. The organizers also said they were still waiting for something or someone (maybe the judges?) so they can't start yet. It is understandable that since this is a money-making event with each participant required to show a receipt worth P300, the organizers would want as many participants as possible. Perhaps, it would have been better if they had an early registration to accommodate as many kids as possible. An even better option is to stop indicating a deadline for the registration process since this is irritating especially for those who make an effort to come early.
One of the major flaws of the event was the theme itself! The theme was supposedly heroes, villains and their sidekicks. The organizers should have limited the participants to those wearing costumes from the three categories to avoid problems later on. By accommodating everyone even those not wearing costumes in accordance with the theme, the organizers were faced with another problem: how to present each contestant in an orderly manner whiel giving each one a chance to be seen and heard properly.
The organizers were disorganized that no one was briefing the participants on what to do. The original schedule as shown in the posters was for a trick or treat session for the kids from 1 to 2 PM and then again after the costume parade. As it turned out, some kids already made their rounds while the other kids were prevented from doing so as the organizers said the parade will come first. After about 30 minutes, they changed their minds again and said the participants should just wait because the parade may have to start first and then followed by the trick or treat from 4 to 5 PM. The kids were also disappointed when most of the stores they went into did not even had candies for them. Most of those who were generous enough to give something only gave one candy for each kid. I also noticed that the token given by SM, particularly the sweets and candies, were made from Indonesia (which can also be possibly sourced from China!) and at this time when there is a melamine scare, this can really be spooky!
While some kids were asked to properly display their costume and were properly interviewed on stage ( the lucky 15 who were called first), most of the kids crowded on the stage and were just asked their names in passing. It is also questionable if the judges were even aware of the "Super heroes", "Villains" and "Sidekicks"apart from their generation's heroes. Superman and Flash are not the only heroes, you know. Of course, the judges were popular in their own fields and I believe were very good in their own genres. But this is a different genre we are talking about here.
Events like this are supposed to be fun so I hate to be a spoiler. However, the organizers of the event should be responsible enough to organize the event properly because most of those who attend these events spend money for the costumes not to mention the registration. They should at least make sure each participant is given their rightful place in the sun. More importantly, they should try sticking to their theme because the very reason why a theme is chosen for every event is to limit the focus to that theme alone.
