Mass shooting at Star Dance Studio in LA

snapdancer said:
@DanceMentor If the news media is too much of an annoyance, offer to do a one-time press conference via Zoom and get it over with.

The description of this guy reminds me of someone local whom I call Teacher Guy. If something goes wrong, he stops and instructs his partner on how to follow his inadequate lead.
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Thank you, yes. I did decline some interviews such as with Fox News. The main reason was they just would not stop calling me and then they were very aggressive when I was talking to the other reporters.

I just did a video interview with WP and CNN is starting shortly. And now Today show contacting me. I don't even know what to think about all this. But it's something I want to try my best to do well explaining what I know and let people know my viewpoint about these assault rifles.
 
I have nothing brilliant to offer but this whole situation did remind me of all of the threads here about people whose partners aren't as into the dancing thing, or are into the dancing but are insecure about their partners dancing with others. Everyone is focused on other issues such as guns or Lunar New Year celebrations going on but 2 ballrooms were targeted for whatever reason. So awful.
 
DanceMentor said:
Thank you, yes. I did decline some interviews such as with Fox News. The main reason was they just would not stop calling me and then they were very aggressive when I was talking to the other reporters.
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Well if they can't have you they don't want anyone. This story is not even prominently on their home page, in contrast to the other news sources I perused. If you scroll down a bunch it's in the list of smaller stories, below "Woman treats pet pig like her child, goes viral on Tik Tok."
 
Let's not make this political.
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I don't think it's necessarily political to point out poor business practices. I've been a PR/media relations professional for 25 years, and it is unprofessional in the extreme for a reporter to in any way pressure a source to not speak with other outlets. Especially in a tragic situation such as this one.
 
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I definitely dealt with some different press sources. You could tell some were more experienced than others. I did have a running with the fox crew where they were trying to interrupt the interview that I was already having with abc. And then they incessantly called me. But I can't draw conclusions based on that one experience either.

They are starting to release the names of some of the victims now and it seems there's another one I know. His name was a Valentino ("Val") Alvero. I remember singing with him in the karaoke room. I was really impressed because he could sing songs in multiple languages including chinese. We both sang Chinese songs together. He was the kind of person that everybody liked and he was a great person to be around. Very warm and friendly. He will be missed.
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There's another story about Patty Pong who survived. During the shooting, her friend and dance partner covered her with his body. He got shot in the back and somewhere else too but he seems to have survived.

Just a couple of weeks ago I was talking to her about chinese. She thought my Chinese was really good and she wanted me to read a Chinese joke on her phone. And I was able to do it pretty well. She's really funny and always joking around with people.
 
DanceMentor said:
I definitely dealt with some different press sources. You could tell some were more experienced than others. I did have a running with the fox crew where they were trying to interrupt the interview that I was already having with abc. And then they incessantly called me. But I can't draw conclusions based on that one experience either.

They are starting to release the names of some of the victims now and it seems there's another one I know. His name was a Valentino ("Val") Alvero. I remember singing with him in the karaoke room. I was really impressed because he could sing songs in multiple languages including chinese. We both sang Chinese songs together. He was the kind of person that everybody liked and he was a great person to be around. Very warm and friendly. He will be missed.
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So sorry for your loss.
 
DanceMentor said:
I definitely dealt with some different press sources. You could tell some were more experienced than others. I did have a running with the fox crew where they were trying to interrupt the interview that I was already having with abc. And then they incessantly called me. But I can't draw conclusions based on that one experience either.

They are starting to release the names of some of the victims now and it seems there's another one I know. His name was a Valentino ("Val") Alvero. I remember singing with him in the karaoke room. I was really impressed because he could sing songs in multiple languages including chinese. We both sang Chinese songs together. He was the kind of person that everybody liked and he was a great person to be around. Very warm and friendly. He will be missed.
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So very sorry for your loss.
 
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