What makes an event good?

[Piper]

Was thinking last night after re reading the Campaign thread, what makes a good event good and a bad event bad? Is it the venue or refs or weather or how your team play, paint, size of trade village or how cheap the food is?



Let me explain a little more..................

Campaign was in a field, Paris is in effect in a car park (Yes it is at Euro Disney but it is a car park), Germany is a field on an army base, Malaga is on a beach and this year was host to the first ever paintball/ windsuring comp!

So if you break them all down what made one better than the other??

Over to you guys....... When thinking of this keep things sensible and things that are possible

 

[Thib]

A event is good if team you will play against are good
(I forget to add than the field need to be "good enough" (i said field, not layout))

Can't blame the organisation for the weather

 

[onasilverbike]

Cheap burgers apparently.

But IMHO atmosphere! Germany may have been a field in an army camp (hard standing on an airfield tbh) but when the sun came out it was a reasonable place to be, they put effort in to the trade area and with fields at either end it was, I thought a reasonably well thought out site. Plus it was fairly easy to get to. Stayed at a decent resort about 20 minutes away, was a bit disappointed by the town itself on the night we went out to eat, but, as usual was pretty impressed by German hospitality.

Malaga was fun, even in the sandstorm on the Saturday pm and of course there was plenty of drinking and eating opportunities in the town.

Paris, car park (and a fairly scruffy one at that) but easy enough to get to, but parisien hospitality is not always the greatest, nor are the prices. Plus, I didn't really get the feel of the open event compared to previous Millenniums there. The onsite catering was expensive (many were going to the kiosk at the TGV station for drinks/snacks) the multi-story was dear for those without a Millennium pass, and a thin carpet of turf over drain covers and gulleys is not so great. Strangely we don't get so many complaints.

Basildon, was OK, as long as you wern't counting on the on-site catering, the set-up could have been better and i think it was a little under planned, I'm sure if they return it will be better laid out. Festival Park has plenty to offer, even if it does get a bit crowded.

All were better than some previous events, Toulouse last year springs to mind, Belgium, Crystal Palace (the robbing *******s in the car park).

If its an OK place to get to, the hotels are of a reasonable standard, the hospitality is good and the prices aren't out of the world and the site set-up is OK then its all goes towards a good atmosphere, if people enjoy themselves they will enjoy the event.

I think its important to try and make spectators feel included, a well laid out trade show, decent and reasonably priced catering and good access to the field side viewing and stands all helps.

 

[Turgay]

I think it is not related with venue only.. Everything could effect how good or bad the event is.

So lets give an example Antalya tournament will be great for me because finally I don't need to pay lots of money to airplane to attend millennium. Maybe this will happen only once but I'm happy with that On the other hand Antalya is a bit problematic for the western europe teams

So if we look at the venue to state how good or bad. Antalya will be the best event.

Fields are inside the hotel area which you can drink eat vs. vs. You can reach your room in a couple minutes so you won't have to use dirty public toilets etc etc..

if you want to go outside Turkey is cheaper than any other european country.

For me a event is good If I and my team play great and if we have lots fun.

 

[onasilverbike]

I think it is not related with venue only.. Everything could effect how good or bad the event is.

So lets give an example Antalya tournament will be great for me because finally I don't need to pay lots of money to airplane to attend millennium. Maybe this will happen only once but I'm happy with that On the other hand Antalya is a bit problematic for the western europe teams

So if we look at the venue to state how good or bad. Antalya will be the best event.

Fields are inside the hotel area which you can drink eat vs. vs. You can reach your room in a couple minutes so you won't have to use dirty public toilets etc etc..

if you want to go outside Turkey is cheaper than any other european country.

For me a event is good If I and my team play great and if we have lots fun.

Its the cost of travel that is proving prohibitive for many teams and individuals. Although the onsite accommodation is reasonably priced for a resort, after the travel costs many are struggling to fit it in to their budget. I think the concept is good, and if the Millennium had actually given us a bit more warning and confirmed the venue earlier (instead of the maybe it is, no it isn't, oh yes it is, situation we have had) then more would be in the position to take it up.

I hope the event goes well, unfortunately I don't think it will be well attended. It seems a lot of money has gone in to it, if the Millennium make a profit from it but the attendance is low, where does that take us for future events?

 

[Marc0]

Simple answer is always going to be the atmosphere.

Players and spectators will put up with lots of other stuff being under par if the event feels right.

The Malaga site just makes you smile, and it's by no means perfect.

Basildon could have been a good event if it just had some more feel to it.

The fields needed to be closer together not split so that the fields for the lower divisions do not just feel like an afterthought.

The trade village needs to draw you in, not just be set up on the way to the fields so you have to walk past them on the way from the car park.

The layout needs to be much better so you want to walk around the site, not because you have to.

Also stuff like the paint vendors trucks need to be better sited so teams do not have to carry boxes and boxes of paint around so much.

Just a few thoughts but hopfully constructive ones.

Laters

 

[Tony Harrison]

I think the factors that make a good event have already been covered by Lane Wright and Rich Telford (in seperate atticles) in Facefull.

That said, my views are as follows.

1. Location - close to motorways, airports, hotels and food. Ideally, in a city centre.
2. Good refs - UK Refs, PSP Refs, Masters Refs, Mill Refs.
3. Good organisation - the usual suspects.
4. Food - not just burgers, but pasta, salads, etc, at reasonable prices.
5. Trade show.
6. Tech support.
7. Good promotion prior to the event.
7. Webcast.
8. Good security.
8. Most importantly - commitment from teams.

 

[jack_judge]

Weather and price are always big factors

 

[Andy Steele]

i think peoples perception of what there going to get is what makes an event bad.

For me, i dont care what goes on in the trade area, or its size. The way the fields are set out for spectators, whether spectators can get in or out easily, the price of the food. people are forgetting that there there to play competative paintball.

If they want an experience then go to disneyland or alton towers. i think people are investing to much time into whats wrong with events rather than playing the game what there paying for.

if you go to an event expecting to play challenging games of paintball then thats what you will get. anything else is a bonus

 

[Lump]

naked people on top of campers