How far do you go with the "You can't please everybody" adage?

Beyonce is one of the biggest names in pop music today, if not the biggest. And Ms B is heading to Trinidad and Tobago. And Ms B is creating quite an uproar before she has even stepped on the plane to Port of Spain. Unbeknownst to the lady, she is the centre of a media frenzy revolving around a myriad of issues

• The money being forked out by telecoms giant, TSTT to bring her to our shores. The Communication Workers Union obviously has some issues over the alleged $10million price tag.
• The management company hired to coordinate and handle the logistics of staging such an event
• The timing of the concert - in the midst of the greatest show on earth, when  our culture is in full bloom, and when a lot of small businesses and vendors cash in on the Trini love for liming.

The last issue is the latest in the furor over Ms "Single Ladies". Now, while this does not personally affect me since my Carnival seems to have ended before it started (no HD!!! what??), I can see where cultural organisations have issues with the timing of the concert.

What makes it worse, from a CSR perspective, is that a TSTT-sponsored event for the Carnival,  the extremely popular B-Square series has been "blanked" this year and most people have indirectly shifted blame to poor Ms B for this unfortunate event.  The company attributes the cancellation to the absence of Mr HD this year (no HD!!! what?), the timing of this particular cancellation cannot help but add to the negative press surrounding the February 18 concert and creates a perceived notion that the company cares more about an American performer than our local culture.

As such an imporant corporate citizen, whose track record in sponsoring so many events, groups and causes is stellar, some may say the move to bring an American artiste so soon after the largest local cultural expo on our calendar is a bad move. But what about all the other events that the company continues to support? Does the fact that TSTT has supported and continues to support other local cultural events, including the capstone event for soca, the Soca Monarch competition, an event that broadcasts our culture internationally, and attracts thousands and thousands of patrons, count for anything? Or is the fallout from this one concert the day after our Carnival ends, going to be that thunderstorm in the teacup?

What will TSTT do in coming weeks? The fact of the matter is, for every person who is upset about the concert and take issue with all the supporting issues, there is another, or a few hundred, who cannot wait to get to the concert to see Beyonce perform. The rush for tickets so far has proven that there is indeed a ready and willing market for the post-Carnival performance from an American artiste, and hundreds had no hesitation in forking out their $1600 for their VVIP tickets to the show. So, does TSTT now then just subscribe to the adage that "You just cannot please everybody" and keep on truckin' or will there be strategic communications to the relevant parties and the public in coming days to counter some of the negativity coming out of the announcement to bring Ms Knowles to Trinidad and Tobago next month.

Never a dull moment in good ole Trini.

If anyone wants to buy me a VVIP ticket, you can leave a comment. (lol)