Official Hot 107.9 Statement Regarding 2017 ’Battle Of The Salons’

In 2016, Hot 107.9 was approached by members of the local salon community to take over the ‘Battle Of The Salons’ event. Melissa Goudeau, owner of The Cut House, expressed to us that the event had grown from being held in a small bar, to the big stage inside the Cajundome Convention Center. While Battle of The Salons had progressed into one of the best events in town, the expenses—along with the manpower, and time it required—had also grown to a point where the salons simply weren’t able to handle the overwhelming responsibility that came with putting it on.

When we were given the opportunity to take over Battle of the Salons, we were very excited—but we also wanted to make sure we kept the event at the Cajundome, and at the level that it had escalated to. We also knew that until then, 100% of what was raised after expenses was donated to the charity of the winning salon’s choosing. Being that we would have to use airtime, along with digital and social marketing to promote the event moving forward, we knew our expenses and costs would be very different than prior years. We still wanted the event to benefit the local charity of the winning salon’s choosing, and even asked Melissa to put together a panel of salon owners and people who were respected in the local beauty industry to help us with decision-making in our transitional year.

After meeting with them, the salons were on board, and everyone seemed to be excited that we were taking over the event. We worked alongside of Salon Bazaar being that they were the previous winners of the Battle of the Salons. While we assumed responsibility for all expenses, taking all the financial risk, we still wanted the winning salon (Salon Bazaar) to choose the charity that the event would benefit, as well as the theme of the event and which salons would be invited to participate.

When we were a couple of months out and only had four salons committed to participate, we were, admittedly, a bit nervous as the previous year had thirteen participants. Regardless of the shock from only having four salons committed, we understood this was a transitional year, and to our knowledge, a lot of the salons still thought that they would be on the hook financially if they won. We powered forward, and with some help from Melissa and a few of our friends from other salons we were able to get to eight participating salons with approximately six weeks until showtime. Even though it was barely over half of the salons that participated in previous years, we still remained positive and put our all into creating as great of an event as we could.

Unfortunately we only sold about half as many tickets as previous years, and actually lost money once all expenses were totaled. Although we weren’t even able to cover one tenth of our advertising costs, we would never leave a charity high and dry. So after discussion with our corporate office, we decided to cut Maddie’s Footprints a check for $2500.

Naturally, many people were upset with the number, but we did everything in our power to keep costs down while also maintaining the level that the event had grown to at the Cajundome. Now that we had an idea of what to expect from the Battle of the Salons moving forward, we were able to start fresh with new ideas and protocols in place to maximize the event to its full potential.

For the past three months we have been working with the 2017 Battle of the Salons winners, The Headquarters, and we’re already leaps and bounds ahead of where we were when we took over the event last year. The theme is set. The charity is in place—but today we were made aware of a Facebook post from the owner of Salon Bazaar alleging that we have yet to pay Maddie’s Footprints and that we profited off of the event. Basically, we were accused of taking advantage of a charity and that simply is not true. Normally, we wouldn’t even address a situation like this, but being that the post is being shared amongst the salons and others who are questioning the integrity of our radio station, we wanted to put out a statement with accurate information.

A check for $2500 along with a handwritten note has already been sent to Maddie’s Footprints, and we hope to work with their charity in the years to come through events in our local community.

As for the $8000 that we are accused of profiting, that also is simply not true. We donated well over $100,000 of our airtime and resources to this event, and would never mislead our listeners or take advantage of any local charity in our community—especially in the blatantly dishonest fashion that is being alleged.

We understand why some may be upset that things didn’t work out better, but we also wanted to make sure that the facts were out there for everyone to see before passing judgement. We understand that perception is often reality—especially with information that is shared on social media—but we hope this will clear the air and allow us to continue our working relationship with the local salon community and keep the Battle of the Salons at the level that it has grown to experience.

We are privileged to work alongside of some of the most premier talent in the salon business and hope that this misunderstanding doesn’t put a stain on this amazing event. We also hope that our extensive track record with charities and public service in our local community over the last 17 years is enough to stand on, as we will continue to put the best product forward for our listeners and everyone who continues to support us in this place that we are proud to call home.

Brandon “DJ Digital” Journet
Brand Manager
Hot 107.9