[SoggyCornFlakes]

Well the euphoria has died down, we've recovered from the excess and yes, it was a damn good bash. We've raised over £5000, the final total still to be announced in the next couple of weeks. But .............. we need your honest constructive feedback please so we can take it into consideration for next year, and yes we do plan one for next year

So the sort of thing we need to understand is ....... was the lcoiation ok, where would next years be best located, was your food ok, was the price about right, how much would you be willing to pay, did the raffle/auction go on too long/too short/just right, would you pay more to have more - such as a pre dinner drink, were the room and table decorations to taste, was the DJ ok, etc etc etc etc .............. I'm not asking you to moan for moan sake but so far it has all been positive feedback. We know as organisers there are areas we could/would have liked to do differently but budget/time/capabilities limited it. We want 200+ attending next year so give us your input.

Also if you did not attend this year for a specific reason it would be good to know what that reason was and what could be done to encourage you to attend next year.

We will not please all the people all the time but your views will enable us to best judge the middle road.

Thanks

[AprilWhine]

I did not attend this year due to personal scheduling reasons but I do plan to attend next year.

I like the timing of late winter, air fares are on sale and hotels are cheap. Plus it gives a break from the dreary weather.

[KPKalle]

Food, location, price etc we thought was all perfect It just seemed the disco/dance was a bit squeezed in at the end. Not that the auction/raffle was too long but .... maybe we should have sat down earlier?

[dcfkan]

Quote: Originally Posted by KPKalle

Food, location, price etc we thought was all perfect It just seemed the disco/dance was a bit squeezed in at the end. Not that the auction/raffle was too long but .... maybe we should have sat down earlier?

We did overrun the auction/raffle by about 30min, and serving did not start until nearly 20:15h due to people hanging about in the bar and having their photos taken etc...

Good point re: starting earlier, perhaps 19:15h sit down for 19:30h start of serving

Thanks

DK :apple:

[mad brummie]

I felt it went off very well, i thought the DJ could have been a bit more interactive, but the music was always good and didn't peak and trough as it were.

I did think everything went off very well, and i felt it was very relaxed. I wouldn't have wanted to be marched into dinner, people were able to float in when dinner was announced. That works well I think. People don't feel pressured.

Alot of people disappeared when the disco started. I don't know why, but maybe there needs to be something else for people to do??? Who knows what tho.

[LMB]

The reasons I did not attend were location and also the time of year.

[dcfkan]

Quote: Originally Posted by LMB

The reasons I did not attend were location and also the time of year.

Mo, it would be helpful if you could let us know what would be more appropriate

DK :apple:

[LMB]

Quote: Originally Posted by dcfkan

Mo, it would be helpful if you could let us know what would be more appropriate

DK :apple:

*Dora grabs Mo by the ear*

Ok.....Ok....

I was thinking somewhere like Manchester would be an ideal location. It is central to all, Manchester Airport is in easy access of the city, and there won't be a shortage of venues to hold it.

The only draw back would be finding someone that lives locally who’d be willing to help organise the event.

The time of year was also an issue for me as February seems to be notorious for Snow. For those travelling a far it just makes it difficult for us to commit. As an example it was touch and go this year whether Bonnie Scotland was going to be able to make it.

I honestly believe if you held it more centrally and at a time when the weather is milder you'd get many more people attending.

[AidenL]

One fault this year was the fact that the bar and loos were outside the function room - the bar is always a big attraction for most , and it would have helped keep the crowd together if all was under the one roof so to speak..........

I thought the DJ was a bit , emmm, fuddy-duddy to be honest.................

[Hat]

the reason we didn't attend was down to cost especially with it coming just after christmas. also the change of venue from heathrow to the rather less glamorous northampton moathouse was a bit of an off-putter.

Mo's comments about locating it centrally are valid but it has to be central to the membership of Mini2, not geographically centered. Also for an event like this you still have to book into the venue overnight unless you live within taxi distance which is always going to be a very small number of people.

[mad brummie]

The original Heathrow location was more glamorous but that was even further south.

I guess theres a trade off between cost and glamour?

Maybe a countryside location would be a better option? at a hotel out in the country rather than a city????

[SoggyCornFlakes]

Good stuff so far

BTW - I'm passing no comments (may ask additional questions) either way for a while as I want you folks rather than organisers having a say - then I'll moan back

[Minnie Mouse]

Heres my 5 bobs worth!

The location I thought was about right, more or less central for most folks who wanted to attend....from Cornwall to Scotland, it seemed to be a middle ish area of the UK. The point of having someone who was local to the hotel was a valid one, I think the organisers had to visit the hotel several times to make plans and as it is their "free time" it needs to be considered when choosing the location for the next (hopefully there will be another one) ball!

The hotel was fine, have stayed in better but then thats just my personal view. Had 2 very noisey nights from the generator type noise all Friday night and then to the delightful people staying in the room above us on Saturday night.....I think all of Northampton heard they had a room and what number it was! Why do people need to shout out of windows at 4 am The pool etc was good for the volley ball

I felt the Ballroom was fine, neither to big or too small for the amount of people there. The DJ needed a rather large shot of life injected into his veins and I wonder if that's why everyone disappeared and wasn't dancing?? The photographer was a great idea....how nice to have a piccy to look back on and in full dress too Table/hall decorations were lovely Food was fine! I felt it was a good price but what about looking at a price where wine was included? A pre dinner drink would have been nice on arrival perhaps!

The raffle could have been shorter pehaps??

Hope I don't sound negative as in fact the whole weekend was wonderful

[SoggyCornFlakes]

to just clairfy this one ..... .was the DJ fuddy duddy or the music? Some are saying the music was good others saying the DJ not. Can we clarify please

[dcfkan]

Quote: Originally Posted by SoggyCornFlakes

to just clairfy this one ..... .was the DJ fuddy duddy or the music? Some are saying the music was good others saying the DJ not. Can we clarify please

Well, when he played the full length version of Grease Lightening and not the party mix, I knew we could be in trouble!

DK :apple:

[AidenL]

I think the music was a little dated - a few 90s and 00s tunes wouldn't have went astray.........

<-------------Oldie, but trendy..............

[AidenL]

Arrgh, I forgot his lightshow - last time I saw one of those was the last school disco I was at in 1982..........

Whatever happened the proposed band anyway?

[Minnie Mouse]

From what I heard the music was OK ish.....DJ was like "dead" I think

[mad brummie]

LOL the music was ok, as Aiden says a little more recent stuff would ahve been nice but he did keep people on the dancefloor once they wee there maybe we need to turn his voice on next time

[surfnirvana]

For us the location was OK - only took 2 hours to get there. The hotel rooms were comfortable and clean and the room rates very reasonable. We all enjoyed the food including the veggie option on the evening. Good choice of wine and prices. The function room was perfect and the decorations on the tables and balloons everywhere made it look very welcoming. Loved having the 2 Minis in the room too!

The dance floor was enormous for the amount of people dancing - which did give us loads of room to fling ourselves around, but it would have been more of an atmosphere if there were either more bods on the floor or a smaller dance area - I think quite a few people had filtered out to the bar area. The DJ was OK - we would dance to anything, but maybe next time it would be great to have a DJ with more of an up to date play list or even a live Band? (but I know this then pushes the price up - surely there is a MINI2.com person out there who plays in a band or DJs???).

Loved it and will definately be there next year - Well done to all the organisers for their hard work!