Baldrick [Millennium] on the Rack !

[Robbo]

If you guys haven't seen this thread below, then it will explain why I have created this thread, all will become clear I promise you after you have finished reading both the other thread and this.

http://www.p8ntballer-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?136986-PSP-Chicago

I think we all agree the Millennium has come under a lot of fire in the past few years and if you didn't know, I have been one of their longest serving attackers, abusers and critic.

Over the years, I am pretty sure Steve Baldwin or otherwise notoriously known as Baldrick, effective head of the Millennium has wanted to hire a hit man to shut me up ... thankfully he hasn't yet done so which leads me onto the purpose of this thread.

Steve has invited me along to an up and coming Millennium board meeting where I will be able to put forward a lot of the moans and groans we all have regarding the way they have been running thee Millennium show for the past years.

I gotta say, I never really thought they would let me anywhere near one of their board meetings for fear of having their collective heads redesigned but stranger things have happened I suppose.

Anyway, what I want from you guys is:- please give me some of your points, arguments, complaints, abuse ..whatever, and I shall put them before the Millennium board and ask for action.

I ain't promising they will actually do anything but what I can say is this, it will be damn hard for them to tell me they are gonna do something and then renege on it .... if they give me their word then I will demand they keep it otherwise the proverbial excrement hits the fan ... it will be a frikkin sh!t-fest if they go back on their word believe me.

Bottom line is this guys, please give me your ideas and complaints and I will do the best I can in representing you.

It's in your hands now .... and so over to you !!

 

[Exile]

I'd like the board to explain why, after several years now, they have not released a definitive, up-to-date rulebook?

I know most (but crucially not all) rule updates have been communicated publicly, but surely Ulrich/the Board can spare a few hours to comprehensively go through everything and release a single set of rules that is current.

And failing an explanation, can we just have the rulebook sorted please!

 

[onasilverbike]

Seconded, I think everybody would appreciate a written rulebook, apparently Ulrich has one he can "take you to look at", so why not convert it to pdf and post it up on the website in place of the one that still has references to 7-man games?

I think CC was a pretty good event, the layout was slightly compromised by the requirements of the landlord, but worked well enough, one niggle which they often seem to overlook is the podium being backlit by the sun at prize giving time, not just at CC but at other rounds too, hence why I don't really bother taking podium shots, they tend to end up as silhouettes against a blown-out banner. I did speak to Barry and Andy Turner about this over the weekend though.

 

[Nicky T]

Thirded - not having an upto date rulebook for teams, techs, coaches, sponsors etc to access is an absolute joke. The current downloadable rulebook is from 2006, despite some separate addendums.

How about initiating some form of manufacturers committee whereby representative from all of the Millenniums sanctioned marker manufacturers can be in contact with each other and called upon to discuss and agree on vital issues such as how any given marker should be tested for illegalities?

 

[foster90]

I have to agree on the rulebook also, not only will it aid the people involved with the millenium series itself but other tournaments that use there rules as part of there structure too such as the CPPS.

 

[Balls Out Promotions]

From my perspective the biggest issues seem to stem from the basic infrastructure of the Millennium series. Marketing, communications, administration, customer management, pricing and promotion all seem to be woefully short of what is required to facilitate, run and develop a sustainable European Tournament series.

Lets put it this way, all you seem to hear is people moaning about these aspects of the MS and I am consistently surprised that there never seems to be any form of structured or co-ordinated approach in managing these issues or indeed in many cases an acknowledgement. Yes I know that not all moans are valid but they do need to be addressed and managed in a way which demonstrates an understanding of issues and an ability to manage them.

There are many many ways in which the MS can make vast improvements without having to do too much. In my opinion, the MS waste money in the way they run the operation - I am sure, given the right approach they could reduce cost, improve the service and have far more happy customers. Dragging the MS circus around Europe seems like madness and the reason why prices remain high - Imagine all the cost, effort and time involved on transporting the whole of the MS operation to 4 European venues each year). If the MS wishes to cement it's place as Europe's premier series it needs to work with country specific association/federations which will reduce costs and help feed more teams into the events.

What is the MS offering - is it the chance to play against some of the best opposition in the world, is it playing at the best venues in the world, is it the prize money or is it the bragging rights? Do they know? How do they know when they have been successful, it surely can not be just based upon €'s?

For me, one of the biggest potential assets of the MS is its content which, from where I am sitting, they are not exploiting in any shape or form - this is their golden egg and they better get a grip on it before it disseminates beyond their control.

Interestingly, I am currently involved in a similar exercise with UEFA and there are many lessons to be learnt! Least we can take some comfort that even the biggest organisations have got it completely wrong in some areas - MS should be much quicker and cheaper to fix though

 

[k4p84]

How can you justify charging vendors :

£XXXXX to be a sponsor
£XXXXX to let players use their marker
£XXXXX to have a pitch at an event
£XXXXX to have a tech stand

Trade areas have shrunk drastically as vendors are not making any money from being there so it makes little business sense to turn up.

Regardless the Mill seems to be obtaining lots of funds from vendors and players alike but the events are not getting better.

 

[Balls Out Promotions]

Thirded - not having an upto date rulebook for teams, techs, coaches, sponsors etc to access is an absolute joke. The current downloadable rulebook is from 2006, despite some separate addendums.

Thing is.......how much do the MS care about the money players are paying to play (their customers) if they can't find the time to update the core document of their business?

 

[Robbo]

Keep 'em coming please guys, the more of you who come up with credible questions, the easier it will make my job in representing you all.

If we have a lot of questions then I can sift through them all to select the most poignant and then stuff them down the Millennium guys' throats [metaphorically of course] when I finally get in front of them.

 

[Tony Harrison]

A downloadable rulebook which is updated at least annually is a necessity.

Lower entry fees would be nice.

Gun cheats can be controlled by refs properly trained how to carry out bounce tests and how to use RoF meters.

To resurrect an old issue, I think that there is a need for Player reps to attend MS meetings, or at least for there to be some kind of Player Committee that the MS takes notice of, and acts upon their recommendations. Or perhaps Robbo is a one-man Player Committee......