September 14, 2008
While honored by the opportunity to be included and featured in an article about home staging and the industry in the Ventra County Star Newspaper, there are some gross mis-quotings that occurred which we felt must be addressed publicly.
Connie Tebyani, owner of Platinum Home Staging, Inc located in Moorpark, CA is not, nor has ever been, affiliated with IAHSP, HSP or any company owned or facilitated under Barbara Schwarz or any of her programs, trainings or accrediting courses.
Never during the course of the verbal interview with the writer of this article was IAHSP ever mentioned, with the exception that, as stated by Connie Tebyani, "There is currently no governing or nationally recognized oversight body for the home staging industry such as the Better Business Bureau as a whole." Connie went on the explain that, "There are some agencies that will ‘certify' or ‘accredited' only their own members which have taken their training courses. Other organizations such as the Real Estate Staging Association are member based organizations with a strict code of ethics and any Home Stager can join regardless of their training or affiliation." Connie Tebyani is an active member of the Real Estate Staging Association, of which no mention was made in this article.
A retraction request has been submitted to the Author of this article as well as the Supervising Editor on September 14, 2008.
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Platinum Home Staging, Inc. has been recognized and grown into a tremendous success built on customer service, integrity and best of all, customer referrals. Specializing in Home Staging, Interior Decorating and Model Home Interiors. Serving the greater Los Angeles & Ventura County areas. A home's first impression is the most important one. A home should be inviting and memorable; to stand out among the hundreds of homes that Buyer's may be looking at. Selling a home, is in fact, selling a product. Market the product, "package" it to appeal to as many potential buyers as possible. After all, ...How you live in your home, and how you sell your home, are two completely different things. Call us today at (805) 553-9952
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Specializing in Home Staging, Interior Design & Decorating, Model Home Interiors. Serving the greater Los Angeles and Ventura County areas. Call us today at (805) 553-9952
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Connie ~ Well, that stinks. I'm sorry something that should have been some exciting publicity turned out this way for you. I know that I have been misquoted or had words/sentences left out, which changed a statement a bit, but it seems like you were mislead here and there really is no reason for that.
You said it, Kathy!~ I was SO psyched, and as soon as I got the paper this morning immediately went into "damage control" mode. Not that I have anything against HSP, I do not. However the article affiliated me and my company with HSP on 7 - count them SEVEN - different quotes or what-not.
The good thing is that my quotes made HSP sound VERY good, however they quote me as saying, "only hire an accredited home stager." Which I am not, so I guess nobody should hire me ?!?!?
Drats
Connie- I have heard more stories like this lately! Are these people just not paying attention, or do they have some kind of agenda that they aren't sharing with the person being interviewed?
Hi Connie: I have had similar situations when I have been interviewed by the press, but nothing this blatant. Sometimes I read the article written about me or my company and I get really confused: I can't remember saying half the things I am credited with saying. Also, I will find my quotes credited to other people in the article. Most of the time it is fairly innocuous, but to say you are affiliated with Staged Homes is a huge gaffe. And to say it 7 times...Crazy! It used to be that newspapers had fact checkers who would call before an article was published to make sure it was accurate. I guess that went away with all the reduced budgets.
The good news is that you got some good publicity, even if it was somewhat inaccurate.
Elaine ~I don't think she had a hidden agenda, just grossly misinformed and probably "assumed" that I must be affiliated with HSP in some way... but you know what they say when you Ass/u/ME anything.
Michelle ~Thank you, and yes good publicity since I was the ONLY specific Stager included in the article besides Barb Schwarz herself. However they did not include any contact information such as a URL, and they also used 4 of my photos, without giving credit to PHS, Inc. for 2 of them... I feel another blog coming on about getting interviewed since so many of us are now on that track. Something along the lines of Interview - your - Interviewer. =)
You handled it well with this blog. At least if someone accuses you of trying to pass yourself off as something you are not you can point to this blog as your rebuttal. Hopefully, they will print a retraction for you.
Sandra ~That is actually what I was hoping. Along with the fact that I do have record of the email requesting a correction / retraction to the news paper, as well as a disclaimer on my website, and...... I hope I have all my bases covered. Thanks for stopping by!
I am so sorry this happened to you Connie and I hope you get a retraction quickly. The media can be so misleading and it can be frustrating. I do not think anything, any incorrect press could distract from your amazing staging talent!!!
Connie, Sounds like you are handling a frustrating situation beautifully and are covering all your bases. I have been interviewed in the past, but was fortunate to be pleased with the article, as I am sure you have in the past. Guess this is a good lesson for all of us. Thanks for sharing! On a postive note- Congrats on the article!!!
Now you know why you don't want to star on The Stagers show! (Just had to interject some humor-sorry.) Seriously - I'm sure it was a horrible disappointment -- I would like to think they will print a retraction and then a correcting statement which is very positive!
Connie- I am sorry that this happened to you. To not mention RESA is a mistake for the newspaper! Maybe they will retract- it could happen! Meanwhile, I will be looking for that blog coming up on interviews :)
HI Connie, I have a couple of suggestions that I have found work with written press interviews and you may find useful in the future.
Always provide written details of you, your work, your training, charitable work you have done or are promoting, the main facts of the interview and credit info for your photos to the interviewer.Also include your cell number for easy fact checking to the interviewer in case they did not completely understand your point and express it in a way that is not factual.
They are busy people with deadlines etc. and mistakes can happen. By providing written info in point form it will avoid most of the mistakes from happening.
So sorry to hear that your moment to shine was obliterated with a downpour of misinformation. :(
Connie, I was interviewed for the October issue of Money Magazine, which should be coming out soon. I'm anxious to see what quotes are attributed to me and if the interviewer got it right. I hope it's accurate! I hope you get a speedy and complete correction printed!
They just get things in their heads and they go with it.
Are you sure you didn't say that 7 times?
Hopefully they let you submit a correction article and put everything about yourself in it!!!
Cathy ~ You are SO kind. Too bad one set of the great before and after shots they used had no mention of whose wonderful talents - but alas.....
Michelle H ~ I was also interviewed for the LA times along with Michelle Minch and was WONDERFULLY pleased with the article, so not all experiences were bad.
Margaret ~ No, but I did submit an entry to Design Star - LOL - (uh-oh)
Michelle F ~ Excellent points. And I will readily admit that the interviewer offered to email me a list of questions, however, it was 1:30 - her dealine was 3:00 and I was in the middle of picking kids up from school... So 'my-bad' on passing on the "written" submission.
Marianne ~ Good luck to you as well and many more to come!!!!
Kathleen ~ I emailed her first thing after I read the article, as well as left ther a very thankful and polite voicemail today..... only to not receive even a confirmation call that she received either of them.... and I know I didn't say it even once, let alone 7 times... Thanks for the giggle!
Wow, someone once suggested requesting a preview of any quotes or interviews before going to print.
Michelle's advice to provide written info about yourself and company is really good and I hope I remember it if I ever get interviewed 'live'. So far I've always been asked questions via email and gotten to review prior to print.
Forewarned - Forearmed. Thank you for sharing this experience Connie!
Dane ~I wish that were the case here. Since it was under such a tight deadline (less than 2 hours). But I will definitely ask to see it prior before the ink sets. Thanks for the tip!
Marian ~ Thank YOU for stopping by!