Hello @gjones15.

I've been summoned by a few concerned Steemians who very much care about the Open Mic community. That includes all judges and participants – including you.

I seek to identify the point of disconnect – to determine how and where a misunderstanding began. To that end, it's taken me several days to comb through the unfolding of this – watching your open-mic entries – reading your initial upset post and this one – exploring the resulting comment threads.

Firstly, let me say that I personally understand how vulnerable it is to share yourself in this way – how much hope you possess when you publish your video, wanting only to be acknowledged and recognized for your efforts – and how crushing it must be for that entry to 'slip beneath the radar.' Even under the best of circumstances, that would be hard for any one of us.

That said, I want to encourage you to take a step back and reassess. It's incredibly difficult to obtain objectivity when we're upset. Your reasons for feeling slighted are valid, however, I'm seeing several instances of clear misunderstanding – the effect of which only compounds with each misreading of things.

Here's what I interpret as the core issue – the root cause of this dispute:

• You shared yourself in a vulnerable way.
• It wasn't appreciated – that hurts.
• You feel ignored, invisible, let down.

From that place, it may be impossible to look at simple facts – so I'll outline a few important ones for you.

• There were 510 entries in week 72, of which, 328 were 'valid'
• Of those 328, only 241 were included in the 'Who Played' posts, simply due to 'post size limits.'
• This means 87 valid entries were not mentioned – including yours.

I realize this may be difficult to hear, but – it's far easier to blame some imagined injustice and find fault in another than it is to accept that, perhaps this particular performance didn't quite hit the mark.

To be completely honest – your entry for week 72 wasn't exceptional. This doesn't mean you're not good enough or somethin' shady's goin' on here. It only means that particular rendition wasn't your finest. Your entry from the week before was awesome, however.

A few, critical distinctions between those two entries:

• Week 71 – use of a mic – video in landscape orientation – original song
• Week 72 – no mic – video in portrait orientation – cover tune

Were it not for @luzcypher's unfortunate mistake in thinking you'd entered twice that week, you might've simply chalked this up to an uncomfortable lesson – to put a bit more intention into your entries to ensure they stand out amongst the hundreds of others.

Which brings me to my next point.

It seems clear that, rather than accepting the mediocrity of your entry from a place of humility – as more than 80 other people did – you instead pinned your upset on @luzcypher's shoulders, openly and harshly accusing him of discrimination.

Having recently penned my own response to what I felt was unfair treatment by a well-known whale, I speak from experience when I say:

How you frame your grievance greatly impacts how it is received.

When we address others in an accusatory tone, we aren't likely to elicit a positive response. If your intent is simply to attract attention – good or bad – then perhaps your tone is less relevant. If, however, you aim to open a constructive dialogue in hopes of correcting a perceived injustice, then ensuring your tone is reasonably grounded is crucial.

In this case, you've leveled some pretty heavy accusations at someone who is widely respected, and done so in a less than ideal way. In so doing, I fear you've drawn more attention to your own behaviors than to @luzcypher's. As we can see from the comments and your replies – this has achieved nothing but a magnification of distress and a deepening fracture between sides.

While your initial complaint was valid, it was based on a mistake that @luzcypher made every effort to acknowledge and mitigate. Being unwilling to accept a sincere apology, nor recognize the efforts he made to make up for his mistake, reveals an attachment to anger and a need to be right rather than an interest in finding resolution.

I find that rather unfortunate as you're clearly talented – you would've been a great addition to the open mic community. Again – I speak from personal experience – it is one of the most supportive communities on Steemit. I sincerely regret that you haven't experienced it as such. I believe you might've, had this not unraveled so haphazardly.

Lastly...

From your place of upset, I fear you greatly misread @luzcypher's message. The screenshot you've provided – as evidence of your assertions – reveals nothing untoward about his motivations. To those whose perceptions are not skewed by emotion, the proof you provide works against rather than in support of your allegations.

His comment about feeding poor Venezuelan families was about a much broader initiative – to help those in need – recognizing that the value of STEEM is far greater to those in less privileged countries. He could've just as easily said Guatemala or Ethiopia or any number of impoverished regions.

Taking that one word and drawing hasty conclusions about what it reveals – to suggest there is some kind of conspiratorial effort to support one nationality over all others – is irrational, at best.

The unfortunate truth is – @luzcypher is a demonstrated asset to Steemit who has contributed a great deal to this platform. He might've become a great ally, had you chosen forgiveness over denunciation.

Perhaps it's not too late for that – if you can find it within you to rethink all this – to look beyond your own emotional response and consider alternative perspectives.

If there is any part of you that would like to make peace with @luzcypher, please let me know. I've created a dedicated space for conflict resolution on the Diplomacy Discord, offering a private voice channel and mediation support.

The invitation is open...I'll be there, should you choose to accept. Perhaps I can help you repair your connections with the open-mic community. I'm certainly willing to try.

Sincerely,
The Ziplomat