Hi all,
Many thanks to all of those who came and supported our very first event.
Lots for us to learn I guess. Our overall feedback was very positive so we were disappointed to read these threads, but then I guess we can definitely make improvements. Hopefully we can learn from all of your comments.
I would like to apologise to all of those who felt inconvenienced or “ripped off”. We’d like to explain away some of your complaints and promise to try our best to improve the event.
Firstly we invited hundreds of traders. Many of them, including all charities, the police and some clubs were given free pitches. All of these who I spoke to said that they were very happy with the event and said they’d return next year.
In answer to ChopRocker, traders paid about £20 to £50 for a pitch. Honestly, this is not expensive. Only last-minute and late bookers paid higher costs. These were only a few, and these were still very low (£60 for a 3m x 5m pitch). If you know traders, you’ll know that you would pay about £100 plus VAT for a 1 metre frontage at a BMF show. I know this because I have had to pay this in the past. If we could have made it cheaper than the £10 per metre we were charging, we would have, but we have to pay rent for the land, insurance etc. None of our traders complained about the costs of the pitches, and everyone that I spoke with at the end said they would be happy to return next year.
We tried to get the Council to allow us to have stunts and riding on the land, but despite repeated requests this was not allowed. Wanstead Rugby Club supported our event and also tried to allow riding, camping etc, but the Council had concerns about “bikers”. I am convinced they have the traditional image of troublesome teenagers on bikes! I hope that their views change as they realise that bikers are not ogres, but generally nice people. The Council said they have “under cover” officers making a site visit to the event, which they said they would watch very closely.
We offered 500 free tickets online until about the 10th July 2009. This was posted on our index page and we are sorry if you missed it. We’d love to be able to give free tickets to everyone as well as cheap trade pitches but it was just too hard for us to do for a first ever event. Maybe if we could get more sponsorship we’d have been able to do it.
We visited almost every bike shop in London and asked them to become traders, many of them are really struggling this year, so were not doing any shows.
We apologise to “pispot7” for asking him to wait outside for 10 mins, until opening time at 10am. Allowing earlier access would mean that our under cover officers from the Council would have something to write about as public access was not permitted until 10am. We were being over-cautious as a result of our worries. You missed the LBF model of the Year Show and the Best In Show Bike competition as you left too early, some people enjoyed these activities. Others of course did not, and we’d like more suggestions about what activities you’d like to see at a show.
We also asked the council if we could have music or a band as well as camping and stunts, and we were not allowed this year, so we had to do with the other events.
We offered the following Bike Clubs as well as MAG UK, entry tickets for £1, which we said they could sell to their members for £4, and raise £3 out of every £4 for children in need, or indeed a charity of their choice. Very few of these clubs took up our offer. We’ll try harder next year.
GREATER LONDON
British Owners Club Essex
Imperial Elephant Mcc
Laser MC
london sidecar club
Service By Emergency Rider Volunteers
Southern Sporting Motorcycle Club
Twits
Unity Ride
West Middlesex MCC
MIDLANDS
AIMCC Chesterfield
Antelope MCC (Coventry) Ltd
Appy Wanderers Motorcycle Club
BM riders
Boston Riders- Lincolnshire
Bridge Bikerz
Bromsgrove Motorcycle Club
Bug Splatz
Christian Motorcyclist Assn. (East Midlands)
Derbyshire 623 MCC
Derbyshire All Bikes ( DABS ) M.C.C
Double Drat MCC
Dukeries Motorcycle Club
Eagles Motorcycle Club
East Midlands Bikers
East Midlands Honda
Fat Boys & Girls MCC
Fosse Riders MCA
Gay Bikers MCC
Get Off Your Butts Motorcycle Club
Hednesford Motorcycle Club
Hereford MCC
Hesketh Owners Club
Imps Mcc
Jumbo GB Organisation
Kington Motorcycle Club
Leicester Phoenix MCC
Leominster Classic MCC
Liberators Motorcycle Cruisers Club
Liferiders Motorcycle Group (Riders for Health)
Long Eaton Bike Club
Mercian Motorcycle Touring Club
Muff Divers MCC
Oddballs
Oundle Motorcycle Club
Poachers Motorcycle Club
Ride About MCC
Rockingham Forest Touring Mcc
RAF Wittering Motorcycle Club
Roadrunner Motorcycle Club
Rockingham Forest Touring MCC
Shatterford Motorcycle Club
Skegness MCC
Skellingthorpe and District Motorcycle Club
Slappers & Trollops Rally Club
Split Links Motorcycle Club
Sport Tourers MC
Tamworth + District Classic MCC
Unwanted Mcc
Wanderers MCC
Wolds Bikers
Woodville WMC & RTS
Worcester Auto Club
Big Trail Bike
East Sussex
Eastern Riders
English Rose
Guildford
Entry was £4 in advance and we really wanted people to buy in advance. This gives us some possibility to invest in advertising and confidence in the event. The £8 gate price was still much cheaper than the Detling show, which we thought was much poorer than our event, and which traders really complained about as many paid 5 times what we were asking of them.
Sorry to Kato for the difficulty with making payment while still on your bike. Lesson learned. We’ll work out a better system next time- promise.
Other complaints were poor signage, we’ll do more next time- that’s a promise.
The rain and changeable weather had much to do with attendance, but overall the feeling and day went well. Feel free to call me directly on 07971 222038 if you’d like to help and get involved in next years event.
The event was meant to be for Londoners, by Londoners, so we welcome your input and help.
