Finally able to respond to the comments and queries. Thankyou for both the praise and the constructive criticism, we listen and learn.
Firstly it seems that most complaints relate to 1/ Food 2/ Layout and general venue stuff .
The catering company were contracted to the NEC and despite all our complaints about pricing and facilities the NEC could do nothing other than revoke the cateterers contract for future events. For my part I thought they took the piss as much as the rest of you and I hope you all took sandwiches! Humble apologies for this but we could do nothing.
Layout. In the dry the walk through the trade area seemed like a good thing to do. The traders like foot traffic and if it was not for them their wouldn't be an event, but the cascading water did make a huge difference! Noted.
This anti french stuff stinks. Sort it out. Friendly banter face to face is one thing the racial stereotypes on here is another.
The weather sucked on saturday. Fact.
Yes it was a car park, but holding an event at the NEC anywhere, will open even more doors for us. The NEC have already offered us a another venue, but we have not decided yet where we will be next year. The first time in any new venue is tough and you wish you had hindsight before you start, but you don't. You get things right and get things wrong and learn from your mistakes. Birmingham City Council were impressed with Paintball Players generally and the NEC like dealing with us on a organisational level.
To answer Sandown. They had just short of 5000 non players park over the weekend. This does not include train travellers. Considering the amount of PR work we put in...loads, and taking in account of the weather- crap, this is about right.
Finally, As no one else has said so, a massive thanks to everyone who made it happen, particularly those who worked all though the night on wednesday.