Waiter there is a fly in my soup.

We are a catalytic organization. Board and staff of the Alliance are passionate about seeing the Central Florida arts and culture community prosper. As I mentioned last week, we have bigger appetites than what we can consume in regards to serving the community we love. Or, as my grandmother used to say "our eyes are bigger than our stomach." Many of you have been patient with the deliverables of the Red Chair Project awareness campaign. Its goal is to increase participation. For most of our arts and culture community, that can't happen fast enough as we all work with tight budgets and limited human resources. Success for us is when a sold-out house witnesses a story well told, either on the stage or on the canvas.

I hope that under my tutelage we have set a tone of openness that you can always bring your suggestions, opinions and even your complaints. We even welcome praise when warranted. Even when it feels like you might be overstating the obvious, like the fly in your soup to the waiter, know that we want to hear from you. Now, the best comments or opinions are those that also carry a solution to said problem, but we are open to all constructive criticism. Recently, an email was sent out to a large portion of the arts and culture community. Artists, patrons and administrators were sent a message that criticized the Red Chair Project. Like I said, I have no problem with constructive criticism. This email, however, was full of assumptions, opinions and numerous incorrect statements that forged the criticism.

I have been down this road before, so it wasn't new, but one thing struck a chord with me that I won't tolerate. We were accused of not being a collaborative organization. You can say many things, but not collaborating is not one of them. Our entire culture, our mission and our accomplishments all point to not only fostering collaboration, but living it from our core. I would always prefer solution-based criticism over empty criticism, but if you are going to tell us how to do something better, don't hit below the belt with school yard name calling.

I have tough skin, but if you don't have the respect and confidence to go to the very source you are criticizing to ask questions before sending out mass emails that are purely false and do more damage than good, you are acting out the very accusation you claim we are not. You are tearing down instead of building up. It is hard enough to survive in our community, but circling the wagons and shooting in is not going to advance anything. If you see a fly in your soup, tell us.