Why I won't be going to Butlins this year

Sometimes I mistake optimism for gut feeling.  I am a little childlike in my naivety sometimes, and I was apparently silly to think that I would be in with a chance of being picked as a Butlins' Ambassador 2012.

Yes, I went to Ireland in July and yes I am going again in August for a wedding, but both of these times are just Aaron and I.

So whilst the outsider may think "she don't need a complimentary holiday" - it couldn't be further from the truth.

Last year we went to Butlins in December and it was a fabulous family break together for us all.

We were going to do the same this year in September or October - I had told him I may be an Ambassador and in fact he posted the application form for me.

So busy with Aaron was I, I didn't post it myself, and it was given to him at Stansted Airport as we whizzed off to Ireland in July.

As it was in the same carrier bag as the bottle of milk Aaron had just finished, the red envelope dyed my application form (judging by the tweet I got sent).

I was impressed that he remembered to post it - but then he loved our trip in December as much as I did and is very conscious that (1) we haven't had a family holiday this year (2) Aaron loves Butlins and (3) it would be the perfect solution given my redundancy on 5th July.

Anyway, what has upset me is that the 40 chosen bloggers were notified by Twitter on Friday, with us sorry souls only getting the Dear John letter on Monday, like we are an after thought, which clearly we are.

It has had an ill effect on at least 3 of us, (one speaks out here) and is not the best Brand PR I have ever seen.

I went to ENORMOUS effort with my Butlins post last year, and at that time genuinely expecting NOTHING in return; but hey, that's what I got, nothing.

It would seem that everytime I love a brand, like REALLY love a brand, it does not love me back.  I wrote a total of 8 Butlins related blog posts as I was THAT impressed with the place.

Well it is yet another opportunity to focus inwards and love myself instead of expecting others to do it for me.

Good luck Butlins - was nice knowing you.

Liska xxx

P.S.

Anyone reading this, feel free to critique the letter we got:

Hi there,

Thank you so much for applying to become a Butlins Ambassador. You may have seen the chosen Ambassadors announced on Twitter last week and have probably worked out by now that you weren’t one of them. I’m so sorry to those of you who are disappointed – that’s the big downside to doing something like this, there will always be some disappointment along the way and I hate that.

I would’ve loved to have chosen everyone who applied to be an Ambassador but unfortunately it just wasn’t possible. We were originally looking for 20 Ambassadors - due to the high number of amazing mums and dads who applied, I spoke to the powers that be and got it increased to 40, but alas they wouldn’t let me have everyone L

For those who follow me on Twitter you’ll have seen what a tough job it was for me to choose. I had over 100 brilliant applications, so I hope you can appreciate that it won’t be possible to give everyone personal feedback on why they weren’t asked to join. But I wanted to say a massive, heartfelt thank you to everyone for their interest in the programme – it really means a lot.

It was also lovely to meet lots of you at Britmums and so great to see your enthusiasm about our brand. I hope this won’t stop you considering a break at Butlins and that you’ll stay in touch on Twitter and consider applying again next year.

I know lots of you are keen to get your hands on content for your websites, so if you’d like, I can add you to the distribution list for Butlins press releases. Please email me back and let me know if you’d like me to do this.

Thank you once again, it’s been lovely meeting and getting to know lots of you this year. I hope our paths cross again soon.

Kindest regards,