Hi guys, thanks for the feedback and once again apologies for a difficult gestation for this years event.
We've already changed things in that respect for next year by launching for 2015 today!
I've taken notes of all the comments and will be putting them to the committee to see what can be done to improve things.
Some of them though I already know the answers to so i will explain those now, the rest we will take on board!
Quote:
Originally Posted by SilverSurfer
(Post 191616)
Overall it was a nice day, but I think there is a fair amount that could be done better, which I will list.
I would also welcome your idea's and add it to the list.
I will then pass this feedback to the event organisers.
Here's the start :
- Where were all the car club stands. I spotted 3 or which at least 1 was un-official (ours). The last time SES attended (2011) there was a large number of car clubs stretching for several hundred meters down the runway (see Supercar Siege 2013 & 2014 at Leeds for an example of how club stands look/create/make an event succesful).
- The flyers/advertising the event had many club stands on the list (copied from previous years, I assume), far more the the 3 mentioned above.
- With acres and acres of grass why is the event limited to the hardstanding/runway. People were cramming in on the available grass space to sit, rest and have picnic's. The hub of the event in 2011 used a grassed area for the trade stands, food suppliers and eating area. This was much better then sitting in the middle of a dis-used runway.
- A number of the childrens activities seemed to be taking very little money.
- The Supercars paddock could of been opened up to the public during lunch.
- The track layout / experience is alot shorter then it was in 2011 (but £10 more expensive).
- The spectator viewing area was not as good as 2011 i.e on the famous 'Gambon' corner. As a result the cars were too far away for good photography unless you have a proffesional camera. The red/white safety barriers obscured photographs when the cars were within a good photogrpahic distance.
- Toilet's...I don't remember seeing many, certainly none in the car park area.
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The club stands as we know were a nightmare this year, the pricing and marketing of those was a dropped ball., I've already put my recommendations forward on how to change that...it's not right for me to say what i have requested in case it changes form with discussion but needless to say it will change!
The ones on the leaflet were the ones who originally said yes then dropped out after printing... it happens and i'm hoping the changes will mean they wont drop out for 2015.
The grass thing is a bugbear of hours... it's a working airfield and they want to use the grass so are reticent to cut it... plus..... you never know the weather, this year was amazing but if it had rained the grass would have been off limits.....
But if you can think of how to get around that we'd welcome the input :)
We do want to look at the layout, having been to the event how would you move things around?
Supercar Paddock.... sadly that's not an option. The cars are left there while the owners go to lunch... whilst we can vouch for a few people and of course you can vouch for yourselves we can't be sure that (even accidentally) the cars may be damaged or souvenir hunted - they have to be out on track so the owners need to know they have not been tampered with in any way and the only way to ensure that 100% is not to allow anyone in.
it is shorter, for two reasons - the demand we had outstripped supply so we needed to give more people the chance to ride and of course bearing in mind this is a all about maximising revenue for the charity we unashamedly shift the demand / supply curve to compensate by adjusting the price and availability... we still were pretty much sold out except for the last 30 mins..... it's also more fun as there are more corners and 3 laps instead of 2.
The other reason is war and tear on the cars, they are out multiple times on a demanding airfield, as you may have noticed that takes its toll on the cars and the drivers, brakes need to be cooled, tyres checked and drivers rested.... it's a safety thing - you can only stay that intense for short periods unless you do track days or race a lot which most of our drivers don't do.
Viewing area - i tend to agree, would love to try and change that if i can.
No toilets in the car park there were a lot next to the ticket tent behind where you were queuing for the rides..... that's the greatest footfall area so it seemed logical
but i can look into another site in addition, they are expensive but and we try to keep costs low but i can ask!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scooby_Greg
(Post 191753)
The rides were far too expensive for what was provided. If they were half the price they would have made more money and there were enough cars to cope with the additional turn over. 3 laps was also not enough - the brakes and tyres were just warming up when we had to.come in.
I also felt there needed to be more static displays as mentioned by Scott - it would be better to have more focus away from just the 'super'cars runs.
It would have also been nice to pay to go on some of the planes, although appreciate these are owned by third parties and may have been difficult to arrange.
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On your first point i think I covered my opinion it in my earlier answer, i'm unsure if another lap would be a good idea, personally i think most cars / drivers were pretty much at the end of their energy / reliability levels by the end of each day. most owners did a set of tyres 2-3 tanks of fuel, a set of brake pads over the weekend and I disagree there were enough cars - we had 180 over the weekend and it was only just enough.
Plus, when we had the long track layout we had three problems,
1. The paddock was overcrowded due to lack of space,
2. The cars were hitting silly speeds at the end of the main straight and The Children's Trust want to mitigate the speed (they look after children with acquired brain injuries and a lot of those are from car accidents so we have to respect their wish to make things safer)
3. We had nowhere that was a hardstanding to put all the other attractions, Caterhams, sporting bears, segways, karts etc
I agree, more displays and more attractions would be a good thing - the planes are off limits as the owners will not allow us near them.... shame, i'd love to look over them too!
I hope that helps - Don't think because i've given reasons that i won't change things for the better if i can, the focus for this event is the charity, maximise revenue, keep everyone safe and raise their profile - that's why we err on the side of caution and keep costs low when we can.
It sounds like penny pinching but every penny spent means one less for them. I will try and get the balance more in the favour of fun though :D
