Where do we go from here?

[Guest]

You obviously did not ask at event centre enquiries where pre-printed route suggestions were available

Actually, one suggestion for improvement that did come up several times over the weekend, that this discussion reminds me of. We missed there not being any maps in the programme, not least of how to get to the event centre. Working out the verbal instructions took some doing, especially as we were coming from another direction.

[Mrs H.]

As I covered 4 different approach directions i'm curious to know where you were coming from - outer space? I would have thought most people could have found Lichfield on a road map and managed the close scale instructions in the brochure. I shall however tell next year's organisers not presume ANYTHING when it comes to navigation

[Klebe]

The title of this thread is where do we go from here..?

A number of valid suggestions/observations have been made. Possibly a sketch map would be a good idea along with written descriptions. Mrs H you may not agree - but you did ask in the first place for suggestions to put to next years organisers.

Re-merchandise, which I originally raised, products were really good this year, evidenced by the fantastic sales - congratulations to all involved. The point is, let next years team know what is good, what is bad, what sells well, what doesn't and lets have continual improvement.

This shouldn't be about clubs/regions trying to outdo each other, this should be about us putting on better and better events year on year to the benefit of everyone.

The better and slicker the event the more likely we are to keep newcomers interested.

[Mrs H.]

you're absolutely right Klebe - that is what I was wanting which is why I was surprised when the sniping started - it's obviously upset Liz too (and a couple of other people who've sent me private messages). Iam as no doubt stodgetta would be keen to point out, getting defensive - i'll stop it now and go off and look at some pictures of the banter evening to cheer me up - did you know the world cup team asked if they could take or posters and use them in the media centre - Lumpy - you're going global!

[awk]

As I covered 4 different approach directions i'm curious to know where you were coming from - outer space? I would have thought most people could have found Lichfield on a road map and managed the close scale instructions in the brochure. I shall however tell next year's organisers not presume ANYTHING when it comes to navigation

OK Mrs H., no need to snap my head off (cos it was me forgetting to login). You asked for suggestions, and I suggested that a map would have been nice, as we (and quite a few others) found the verbal instructions tricky from the direction we were approaching. We are orienteers after all: maps tend to be pretty much second nature - verbal instructions aren't.

BTW - we were approaching from Fradley Junction, and found the optimum route avoided Lichfield altogether, approaching the event centre via back roads from the north east. Not something we would have expected instructions for, but easily solved with a sketch map to help us find it on the map.

But I won't bother offering suggestions in the future......

[Mrs H.]

But I won't bother offering suggestions in the future......

Ha ha ha - April fool

anyway - to get back on track I have been asked to supply
5 things that were good
5 things that I would do differently
5 things useful.
so how this shaping up:

Good
1 Socials (No barn dances!!)
2 Public/family tent (separate areas worked well)
3 drying room - simple to do - well used.
4 Event centre enhancements (posters, flowers etc received many comments) Wilf's was very well supported.
5 Camp site activities - well supported.

Different
1 make people take their shoes off before coming into changingrooms?tennis club.
2 Provide comfortable "after-hours" chat room with lighting and chairs. noise was NOT a problem because the young people did this for themselves - I would like o have made it better for them.
3 Expand washing up facilities to include a general "Kitchen area" for food prep and table to put campers' own stoves on and eat own food - would have been very popular IF the weather had been bad. again - some people did it for themselves - would have liked to have thought of it myself.
4 Provide locational maps for those who can't read.
5 Make road signs bigger.

Useful
1Contact local tourist board to get money off local attractions
2 contact local community transport to get cheap mini-bus hire
3 Look after your caretaker/steward - not hard in our case Patrick was a Saint and really entered into the spirit of everything - he went the extra mile or 10!
4 If there is a hitch (Showers) spell it out beforehand so people don't get any nasty surprises
5 make the booking form clearer (we didn't get sight of our until too late) use it to glean as much info as posible.



How's that!

[CHS]

I Like Barn Dances! There were not loads of people at the one at the Welsh last year but mainly because it was called by the welsh name which maybe not everyone understood. Everyone who went enjoyed it- even Neville joined in.

The quiz was certainly great, thanks Liz.

[Mrs H.]

A barn dance was suggested for the socvial - someone offered to put one on and asked for £400 for musicians and a caller plus the cost of a marquee as the room wouldn't have been big enough - compare that to the £25 it cost me to put on the banter evening and the degree of inclusiivity that had. A lot of people have whinged over money wasted - i reckon i saved about £1000 on that one aspect alone and nearly every other activity was sponsored or covered i's own costs:shock: Not everyone likes barn dances and I wanted to catch as broader spectrum as possible (without spending any money)

I think there is a place for barn dances and the like at 5/6 day events where you could put on a range of events to appeal to all tastes - I'd love to get my teeth into one of them

Yeah i spied on Neville at the Welsh - he looked like a mobile windmill with those long arms and legs

[harry]

another good thing was the extra effort put in to make the elite classes seem like any quality international ie event warm up map, flower ceremony and elite start on day 1.

(ignoring the blip)

[Ed]

it would have been nice if they'd waited another 5 minutes to take the start down, rather than dismantling it around the last starters... it didn't affect me (apart from making me chuckle in the (rapidly disappearing) start box), but it could have done.

another very minor thing - in the results book it didn't give a distance from day 1 parking to assembly, just "20 minutes uphill walk". please, all organisers, if you have to give a "helpful" timing, at least give a distance/climb as well so we can judge whether the timing is likely to be accurate (which it never can be for everyone).

minor gripes apart, I thought the whole event was really well organised - the organisers had obviously picked up quite a lot of mistakes from previous years and acted on them rather than repeating them which seems to be the standard way of doing things.

[Jon X]

Spectator controls for elite at all races and for all classes at relays work well. Mind you by next year I'm sure we'll be asking for radio/TV controls and big screen displays!

Thinking through how to get people out of the car parks quickly is worthwhile - traffic lights on day 2 were excellent and compared very favourably with taking well over an hour to be marshalled out of Graythwaite on Day 2 last year. Might seem a mundane point but it is people's last impression of that day's race so don't let it be a negative one!

And the quiz was excellent too

[Guest]

But I won't bother offering suggestions in the future......

Ha ha ha - April fool

And you know that's a promise I would never be able to keep

I don't know how one would it include it in your list, but the overriding "good" thing about this weekend, was that a real effort was made to create a "festival" that celebrated orienteering and enabled people to enjoy it to the full, rather than just a three day orienteering event.

[Mrs H.]

So My EVO campaign worked then? Keep the suggstions coming as although I've filled my own list I will pass them on to the relevant day organisers etc.

Jon - i'm sorry I never seemed to meet you - glad you got to the quiz! did you see your map mats - they were a BIG hit.

Andy have you lost the ability to log in along with that of following simple directional instructions?

[awk]

So My EVO campaign worked then?

Yes

Andy have you lost the ability to log in along with that of following simple directional instructions?

I never had it in the first place! I used to have it set up so that I automatically logged on every time, but there are two subscribers in our household now, so it's not, and I keep forgetting!

As for simple directions: anybody who thinks one approaches Lichfield from the North East down the M42 needs their head examining!

Actually, the directions were set up for people coming straight to the event centre first. Quite a lot didn't, and directions from the M42 and M5 weren't the most useful. A map would have been so much simpler. But there again, maybe you were catering for those who couldn't read one?!

[ivan]

Just to add to the debate:
Isn't it a scientifically researched fact to do with the male and female brain that:

Women can't do maps &
Men can't do written directions.

Don't blame me i didn't research it!