Charles Teves
AcadArena, the organizer of CONQuest Festival 2023, has acknowledged its mistakes and announced the discontinuation of the pop culture festival.
Initially, it had claimed that the event was a success.
However, the co-founders have now admitted to making misjudgments and missteps.
In a statement released on June 26, the CONQuest Festival’s social media accounts apologized to the attendees known as ‘Questors,’ and expressed their commitment to reviewing their processes in order to improve future events.
“We are profoundly sorry for the troubles and frustrations you experienced during this year’s CONQuest. We hear all your concerns and we are making both swift and gradual changes,” said AcadArena co-founders CEO Kevin Hoang and COO Ariane Lim.
They also said that the “customer journey has not been smooth for some.”
“We also rolled out refunds as soon as possible to pass holders who were not able to enter the venue and to those who were not able to claim their wristbands. The first tranche of refunds will be released on June 29 (Thursday). In line with this, we would like to announce that the refund process is closed and will no longer be extended,” they added.
The organizers of CONQuest Festival have revealed that their organization is currently in the process of evaluating their systems, processes, and operations to enhance the community experience in future events.
They have expressed their dedication to implementing long-term reforms and applying the lessons they have learned from their past mistakes.
“To some degree, we still consider this year’s CONQuest as a success. The overall public reception was eye-opening and the engagement was humbling. We were able to gather our communities, make precious memories, foster lasting friendships, and celebrate our culture together,” said Hoang and Lim.
They also expressed their gratitude to their supporters and promised to regain the trust that was lost as a result of the convention, which attendees described as “chaotic.”
“Let’s continue building and strengthening our communities and shared experiences together,” the AcadArena co-founders said.
Hoang and Lim reported that the statement faced criticism from certain convention attendees who disagreed with the assertion that the event was successful “to some degree.”
After receiving backlash for their joint statement, Hoang and Lim each expressed their individual thoughts on the matter through their Facebook accounts. Specifically, Hoang expressed regret over approving the “PR statement.”
“This statement did not reflect how we feel about CONQuest 2023 whatsoever and it was wrong [to] let such a statement go live,” he said in a Facebook post on Tuesday, June 27.
“This event ballooned because of our own pride and desire to produce the biggest show for the Filipino communities, while lacking the ability to execute and not understanding the fandom that is here. The experience that we wanted to create did not live up to our standards and your expectations,” he said.
Lim also acknowledged the event’s shortcomings.
“As it was part of a shared goal, many of us took on responsibilities associated with the con [convention], albeit not soon enough to prevent the issues that did appear during the convention itself,” she said on Facebook on June 26.
“It’s unacceptable that that’s the core of the problem we’ve arrived at. Basic, eh. We wanted to talk about premium when we can’t even talk about the basics,” she added.
As a result of everything that had happened, the co-founders announced that they would be retiring the CONQuest Festival as both a brand and a vision.
Lim emphasized that this decision was made because the festival’s current state did not align with their desired approach for future events.
They acknowledged that their actions would go beyond a mere apology and would bring about tangible change.
Hoang added that they are currently reassessing their approach to event production moving forward.
The CONQuest Festival 2023 was supposed to be a significant iteration of the pop culture convention, with numerous local and international guests and talents scheduled to attend from June 2 to 4.
However, the event faced criticism from fans and enthusiasts who took to social media to express their grievances about overcrowding, long queues, and alleged mismanagement of certain events.
Previously, the director of CONQuest 2023, Justin Banusing, issued an apology and acknowledged that while there may have been overselling and overpromising, they did not have any malicious intentions.
In response to the issues, the organizers offered refunds to certain pass holders who were unable to enter the venue on the second and third days of the festival.
