Campaign 09 Feedback (previously known as "Ulrich is a tw*t").

[Echowitch]

Sorry for the late reply, I didn't get back home until late last night, and Im swamped today. Haven't had a chance to read the response yet.

 

[Echowitch]

Finally out of meetings and been able to get down to my emails to read Paula and the Millenniums response.

On behalf of the Millennium Board:



The Millennium would firstly like to thank everyone for their comments and suggestions following our Campaign Cup event last weekend.

Personally we are very pleased with the outcome of this event, but realise fully that we didn't get it 100% perfect! Some points have only been brought to our attention through forum threads and the constructive email we received from Dan.

This years event surprised us in regards to team numbers - we had more attend this than Germany or Paris which we were not expecting. This number was mainly due to the large number of UK teams who came to support their home event this season. So a big thank you to the UK teams for reversing a worrying trend of recent years. From our side, things ran incredibly smoothly for a Millennium Event!! There was a lovely relaxed atmosphere and no major problems or incidents. For this we would like to thank the players for their responsible behaviour as this can only help us when it comes to negotiating a venue for next season.



We'd like to comment on the main issues that have arisen:



Location:



The Millennium would love to put on 5 events each year at stunning locations and facilities. Unfortunately due to a number of factors this is not always possible. We are often turned down by venues who will not allow us to hold a Paintball event there due to the perceived mess etc. Our budget is also a major concern when choosing these venues and unfortunately the hire charges for some venues are quite frankly out of this world. We could not hold the event at Gloucester Park as in previous years due to preparations for the 2012 Olympics so had to find a new venue that would suit our needs and players requirements.



Barleylands offered us the venue based on Gloucester Parks recommendation from previous years. This location offered large, flat playing surfaces, transport links and was still close to the main leisure & hotel complex. Barleylands is a show ground, so the ground can stand up to the normal UK wet weather without turning to mud (which we luckily didn't have to put to the test). There are points though that could be improved in relation to this; Camping - having food/drink vendors stay open later for this purpose, more/clearer/larger signposts on the roads/tracks leading to the ground. Can whoever stole the nice new signs we did have made for this event , please let us have them back!!?



Fields:



In hindsight the Field layout was not perfect - Division 3 field was further out than we would have liked, but we were restricted by space available to us. The fields were moved a few times before the start of the event in order to get the D3 field closer, but this still did not leave it close enough as we/you would have liked. We have already discussed changes for next year, should we stay at this venue - one major positive is the amount of land that the showground has to offer. Certain parts were not available to us this year due to other events; if we can book more space for next year this problem will not occur.



Toilets:



We had the same number of toilets at this event as we do at the others, however they were more spread out than normal. This could have been improved by placing more in certain areas. We do always face the problem of people seemingly forgetting how to use a toilet in the proper manner over these weekends though! The toilets were cleaned daily as at all other events .



Reffing:



This is something that we will never get 100% right on all fields, for 100% of people. Everyone has their own gripes and expectations of refs , the same as in any sport. We do however try to continually improve marshalling. These guys do on the whole a great job which is not always fully appreciated by those caught on the outside of the rules.

Any suggestions regarding reffing can be sent directly to ulrich@millennium-series.com .



Trade Show:



Sponsorship deals include Trade Space at all of the events. Unfortunately due to reasons we are not privy to some sponsors did not attend this event or scaled down there operations. Given the current climate, even though the trade stand price is included, they still need to send staff, provide accommodation etc which may have not been feasible for some. We are currently discussing ways to ensure that it is easier and more viable for local traders to attend their home events for 2010.



Security:



This is a serious issue that we are not so pleased with . We were made aware at the time that areas of the security were not up to standard at this event and endeavoured to rectify. In future this is an area we will be putting more effort and supervision to. We obviously need to improve how we manage certain particular staff members, and ensure that checks are made by ourselves throughout the days to avoid any future problems.



Food Court:



The Millennium do not control the prices that the vendors sell their food and drinks at - but from the responses regarding this it is something we need to vet in the future before booking caterers. Contrary to popular belief we were not paid thousands of pounds a day by each and every vendor there!! . In fact we endeavoured to cover the cost of feeding our own 120 staff a day only from the catering rights. We did however, don’t forget, secure some discount deals for the clubs, bars and restaurants for the evenings, for which we received nothing in return from said bars etc



We would again like to thank everybody for their comments and for attending this event and look forward to seeing a lot of you out in Turkey for our last party event of the year, and hopefully see you all back in the UK next year .

On a personal note, it says my email for a reason. Despite all the people given Paula's details, and given the option of an outlet for their feedback, I was the only person to email in feedback. If you are not happy you NEED to let people know. Politely of course, but giving companies feedback about their successes AND their failures is essential to allow them to maintain or correct what they are doing !!

 

[davejfox]

I was really disappointed with Campaign on so many levels. A lot of people are talking particularly about the food vendor prices, and although I do agree that they were ludicrous, you have to ask yourself, who's fault is that? I'd be willing to bet that the fee they had to pay Millennium to set up shop on site is what drove their prices through the roof, just so they could make some money. In my opinion, food / drink vendors should be allowed on site for free - but in limited numbers - this would allow them to sell their food much cheaper. Look at the prices of the food that will be on offer at Fed Cup and it's easy to see what is better value.

As for the trade show...meh. Very small turn out and nothing really impressive to be honest. Dye had all their nice new gear on show but not for sale which was a little disappointing. The Eclipse tent had some good deals as always, but what happened to the JT tent? It's tiny now! The Millennium board must be charging vendors on a per-foot-usage rate, which to me sounds entirely plausible and likely. Again, I think trade-vendors should be allowed on site free of charge, if anything more stalls / tents will pull bigger crowds to an event, can the Millennium board not see that?

Lastly, the venue. It says London, but it wasn't London. When you read the fine print it's actually Basildon, but then, it's not really Basildon either is it?! Don't get me wrong, the ground was great and all but lets call a spade a spade, the venue was on what I think is a farm, in the middle of nowhere. Saying it's in London is, if nothing else, false advertising. Also, having an event in the middle of nowhere will do NOTHING to promote or showcase our sport to the general public. BOP copped that this year and had fantastic showcase events ( the Blackpool event I was privileged to attend ) so why can't Millennium, with all the funds and backing, see that?

The obvious answer is, is that a higher profile location would cost more. The only way that will ever happen is if they raise they're already ridiculous entry fee's.

Next season I may be one of those who will vote with my feet.

 

[WOODY LOKI]

2p worth

I think from reading the first 2 pages of peoples comments it all boils down to one thing.

none of you have had value for money, and feel that way making you look harder at food, reffing, location etc. As humans if we enjoy ourselves and feel like we haven't been ripped off we tend to self justify the money we have spent during a event and turn a blind eye to the bad points.

We as a team decided not to enter. We didn't have the cash for div 2 and when we worked out how much it was gonna cost to play m5 we did the simple maths below.

millenium m5 entery £510 (not sure if this is right but its close, feel free to flame).

so £510 spilt between 5 players =£102 each.
£102 diveded by games (10) = £10.20
£102 diveded by games Including sunday club (13) = £7.8

So before paint each player is playing £ 7.80 per game against the cost of training all day for between £35-60. You Fing what.

I love ball but i'm sorry i can't see the logic in it, imagine if you turn up to train and got charged £7.80 evertime you walked on the field, you wouldn't do it.

i'm sure the maths applies to the other divs.

my 2p worth is more value for money means more participants and less gripes.