Subject:
|
Re: Australian Nation Meet, 2005
|
Newsgroups:
|
lugnet.loc.au
|
Date:
|
Sun, 29 Aug 2004 02:11:08 GMT
|
Viewed:
|
1423 times
|
| |
|
|
In lugnet.loc.au, Kerry Raymond wrote:
>
>
> > What's the minimum commitment we need to get before considering going
> foward?
>
>
> Well, if an organiser steps forward, I'd say as much as that person thinks
> they need to do it :-)
>
> It's a kind of chicken-and-egg situation. Without knowing how big an event
> it is going to be planned to be, it's hard to say what we need to spend
> up-front. So how much we have up front may be a limiting factor on how big
> the event can become. But on the other hand, if the thing builds momentum,
> getting more up-front money becomes easier, whether it be from advance
> ticket sales or sponsorship.
>
> Richie & Mel, as organisers of the Sydney & Brisbane Fests, what would you
> estimate were the up-front cost for these events, as that would represent a
> lower bound.
• There were phone calls to find where we can even hold the event. That took a
few calls, I can't remember how many, but I do recall calling several places.
There was the badges that I made/paid for, a few things printed out. Basically
we got out almost scotfree as far as costs went. It was those who had to travel
that the cost became any issue.
• Kerry ended up suggesting something about Indooroopilly Hotel, so I gave them
a call and arranged something with them, we were VERY lucky as all we needed was
to encourage those who attended, to eat/drink at their downstairs restaurant,
which most people did anyway, and then the venue was free for us :) That was a
really good deal, because they had loads of trestle tables and chairs and that
was all we really needed there, people brought a few posters and things to hang
up and we arranged the tables in a way so that each theme was in it's own
section, also so people could come and look.
With that we didn't need to worry about liability/huge costs/finding places to
eat etc, they even offered accommodation there if needed (at a reasonable cost).
• Prizes, there were some prizes which I arranged with ozbricks to supply,
thanks to Michael that went rather well.
• The rest can be found here: http://news.lugnet.com/loc/au/?n=9000 and
pictures: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=18995
>
> It's not exactly a similar event but our recent 2-day symposium at work for
> about 60 people cost us about $13K all up, but there was probably about $4K
> in airfares and accommodation in that, which would not be expenses that an
> OzFest would need to cover. There was also catering in that too (2 lunches,
> 4 tea breaks, 1 dinner, 2 drinks sessions, coffee on arrival) which probably
> isn't applicable either, but unfortunately it is difficult to split venue
> cost from catering cost, as many venues offer room/catering packages so it's
> hard for me to price the room components individually.
>
> But the things that are likely to cost us are (from the larger ones to the
> smaller ones)
>
> * venue (space and furniture/equipment)
Hopefully we could find something that already has furniture which we can use.
> * catering (if any)
I guess that also depends on a few issues... especially if the public were to
come and go, such as if someone spills a drink and someone slips on it and has a
fall etc... maybe no food/drink around the main part of venue at all or have a
section where food and drink can only be eaten, just to keep the whole thing as
safe as possible.
> * insurance (to be avoided if possible, may be dependent on venue)
Yes and as above, not just with food and drink either... we'd want to make sure
we looked over as much as possible to avoid as many problems as possible.
> * additional furniture/equipment hire (e.g. furniture, beamer for
> presentation, depends on venue)
All depends on what we need and have to show on offer.
> * promotional material and advertising
This could be difficult but I guess it also depends on how much effort goes into
it.
> * gifts, prizes, merchandising
These can also be taken out of any sponsorship/or donations or whatever we were
able to come up with/supply etc... (or even come back to who ever bought them
from the entry fee etc).
>
> For venue, we are probably looking for something with both good parking and
> public transport links. Central but not so central that traffic/parking
> hassles become a problem. Close to selection of food outlets.
Indeed. If we relied on the public to find their own food which happens to be
close by, then our chances of any damage to property/self/others/or venue is
less (we'd hope)... just think of how childrens birthday parties can be like ;)
what a mess! not to mention the carpet! and it also means less cleaning
afterwards. But public transport is good since we can also advertise that kind
of thing on any brochures/net etc
>
> I don't think being near a Lego retail outlet is particularly important, as
> the retail offerings between the larger Australian cities don't vary that
> much anyway, so I don't see retail shopping as being a major drawcard for
> people to attend. What might be a major drawcard would be availability of
> something like PickABrick or items not sold retail in this country, but that
> either involves getting Lego themselves to be involved, or we have to buy
> from S@H or similar in advance and take the risk of not being able re-sell
> at the event. Similarly, if we had enough people interested in selling older
> sets or parts packs etc.
I don't think so either, we want them to come to us and not have to rely on
someone else to entertain our audience. So as much as we can offer and supply,
the better.
>
> To be successful, we do needs lots of MOCs/sets to display and lots of sets
> to buy/sell and lots of Lego for competitions (e.g. timed ISD builds!). This
> means we need to investigate ways to get this stuff transported to the
> venue, both from locally and from interstate. If we leave this up to the
> individuals to organise for themselves on the day, we will not get as much
> stuff as we want for a good event. So we may need to investigate freight
> options and temporary storage in the host city etc so that some of the stuff
> can be pre/post-transported.
That we do, and they'd have to be of very good quality and not so simple, just
look at the things built overseas, make people's jaws drop, they love it! We
need to encourage people and to go home feeling like they want to build and buy
LEGO to try things themselves... build ideas etc
> Kerry
Mel... back to work ;)
|
|
Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Australian Nation Meet, 2005
|
| I have made up a dummy page showing an example of some of the similar things we will come across when organising such an event, it's not really to reflect our own, but it's a basic guide to show where we are going and where we are at. It's not (...) (20 years ago, 29-Aug-04, to lugnet.loc.au)
|
Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Australian Nation Meet, 2005
|
| (...) foward? Well, if an organiser steps forward, I'd say as much as that person thinks they need to do it :-) It's a kind of chicken-and-egg situation. Without knowing how big an event it is going to be planned to be, it's hard to say what we (...) (20 years ago, 28-Aug-04, to lugnet.loc.au)
|
39 Messages in This Thread:
 
- Entire Thread on One Page:
- Nested:
All | Brief | Compact | Dots
Linear:
All | Brief | Compact
This Message and its Replies on One Page:
- Nested:
All | Brief | Compact | Dots
Linear:
All | Brief | Compact
|
|
|
|
