Nick Brockdorff said:
Warren - nice little bit of promotion for your events there
Why would the NPPL be any better, when their payout percentage is worse - in a market where they compete with the PSP?
I think we just have to resign ourselves to the fact that this is one thing that will not change, as long as we are not organised..... and the way things look, we never will be
Personally, I have no idea what the "take" is for the promoters at an average MS event when all expenses are paid, but it would be interesting if you took at stab at it, with your indepth knowledge of what the expenses are (and factoring in shipping cost and insurance over a full year rather than just one event)....
According to my calculations, they have something like € 215,000 left per event when the prize money is paid
Nick
I don't mind Warren doing a LITTLE bit of self -promo here (take the hint here Warren) as long as it gives us an insight into scales of profitability which I think it has done.
I don't think Warren's tourney (although well run and well situated)
is an exact similarly because the Millennium guys incur expenses he does not but then again, the MS have a lot more teams.
In fact, good luck to the MS for making some money, if it weren't for them we wouldn't have a serious tournament series in Europe but.......and here's the kicker because it is a big kicker, the MS have completely lost sight of the fact we are its customers. They treat us like sh!t sometimes, they have certainly done so with me on occasions and all I have ever tried to do is what's right by everybody I have argued for.
I never start out being an ******* but I certainly turn into one when they dig their heels over something soooo wrong or do something soooooo unthinking.
And the irony is, on all of the issues we have had problems with whether it was the 800 Euro thingy they held back from the pro teams or the unfair exclusion mandate they slapped upon 3 of the pro teams this year, each time they have had to U turn on and not because I managed to drag some big guns into it (tho it helped) because ultimately it was the
RIGHT thing to do.
Laurent eventually made the right call both times on his return from the US and mandated the change.
I ain't saying the big guns I got involved in the last conflict didn't help, (they did) but these industry people would have been ineffectual had the point of contention been 'wrong' in nature.
The legacy from this confrontation is only ever remembered by some of that board as a negative (and something to be revenged) and thus any further problems I have with them are only ever treated with the past conflicts in mind, and it is this philosophy on their parts that determines the way things now go.
Some of these guys need to grow up or leave and yet when they read this, they won't ever feel it incumbent upon themselves to look at how they do business, it's much easier for them, and I know they do this, to blame me for being an ******* and to write off any further problems in this way.
In this way they save themselves the trouble and embarrassment of having to look at what they do themselves
This policy is almost infantile in its construction and so damaging to the way the MS view and respond to its customer base.... we are it seems, people to be continually told what to do, to be punished when we step out of THEIR line, to be ignored when it doesn't suit them and to be treated as miscreants instead of customers.
When they read this, well when some of them do, (I know their thought processes) will think, 'Oh it's just Robbo sounding off again, how can we stop him, he must be in the NPPL's payroll now in trying to undermine us so they can come in over here in Europe, oh he's a trouble maker' etc, etc, etc !
Do they ever look in-wards and think it could be them?
Some might, others on that board definitely do not.
The one saving grace in all this is Laurent, he is the powerhouse in that group, he's the one guy who should lead them and thankfully he is in most practical terms, doing just that but he can't do everything.
And this is why delegation is so important to him because he has other concerns, he has a business, a magazine and soo many more things on his plate with the MS being a small part of his concern portfolio.
This chink in the MS armour leaves other less able people to take over some responsibilities that they should stay well away from.
Good businesses take customer feedback as a positive and restructure their approach or practices accordingly, some guys on this board see criticism as as a challenge to their authority and act accordingly...
The answer to all this?
They need to listen to their customers, the teams, the players and the vendors, they of course would respond in shoving out the rhetoric, 'Oh but we do, we always listen, we try to respond, you are are customers' blah, blah, blah but I'm afraid actions speak louder than words ........... and it is what they do and what they have done that speaks volumes.
I trust Laurent to do the right thing but he needs to impose himself more.
Barry Fuggle is new on the board and is still finding his feet but he too needs to impose more.
Manfred sits in the background, he definitely needs to involve himself more but his business takes precedence (and rightfully so) and so his practical input is at best, occasional.
Ulrich basically needs to go because I think characters like him can't change their personality or work practices sufficiently to encompass notions such as 'customer care' and flexibility, both of which are crucial to the job he is supposed to be doing.
I have PMs and emails in my respective in-boxes that tell me things need to change and applauding my stance on issues and asking for further action on certain other issues, I ain't after anybody's thanks or support, that ain't why I am doing this.
These people have messaged me because they feel as though nothing they could ever do can change things and they feel maybe now, would be a good time to jump on any bandwagon to get these changes effected.
It's a sad time when customers feel like this because it's an important indicator as to how far the Millennium Board have estranged their customer base...the MS really need to start listening because if they don't and another series hits town...well I don't have to spell that out..and I ain't hinting at just the NPPL here !!!!!!!
I am doing it because I want for all of us a better tournament circuit for pro, Am, Novice and vendor and as soon as some of those guys on that Millennium Board realise this (and it's not just me being an *******) then the quicker we can all get along and have a tournament series we can all be proud of.
Whether people believe it or not, I do not like conflict, my life chugs along much better without it but I will not stand by and watch people either fcuk me over or other ballers .... they can never and will never shut me up .. they know this ...
The vendors recenlty got together and got things changed, they showed solidarity, commonsense and a professional attitude but most imporatntly solidarity of intent.
The likes of Ledzy (Planet) , Piper (PMI), Jeff Abbott (Dye), Webby (SP), Matt Green (WDP) and so on, all had a meet and organised themselves and then represented thier concerns to the MS and what happened ?
They got things changed.....and do you know why they were listened to whereas before they were ignored ?
I really shouldn't have to spell that out....
As players, what do we have?
We have sweet fcuk all !!!!!!!
All the time we do not organise ourselves into a coherent body to represent oursleves and our interests to the MS then we have nothing ... perhaps it's good timing for something to be done here... think about that for a moment ....over to you lot !
