Another UK Demoparty
category: general [glöplog]
Evenin' all.
I'm strongly considering running a UK party Easter 2011 to replace Breakpoint - I've found quite a few decent locations within easy reach of Luton/East Midlands Airport (so, Ryanair/Easyjet/BMIBaby all covered) and major rail links/motorways, but I seem to be having trouble drumming up enthusiasm for it - especially when it comes to core organising staff.
For those that have organised the larger parties (>200) do you tend to do everything yourself, and only delegate far closer to the time, or do you tend to have a steering committee from the get-go?
Just to be clear, this is *not* in competition to Sundown - rc55 does a fantastic job of this, and he's certainly planning on running it this year. This is the other end of the year (5 months before) and would be an attempt to get demoscene momentum in the UK.
Benefits of running it in the UK:
* Lots of games/technology companies in the East Midlands.
* Nottinghamshire council sponsors "Gamecity" so they're certainly up for the digital arts.
* Some fantastic venues that would be cool with drunkards lighting bonfires.
* The UK scene is undergoing a rejuvenation, would be good to get the word out and recruit more sceners!
* Lots of breweries, so decent beer ;)
Disadvantages of running it in the UK:
* Bloody *everything* needs a licence, from entertainments to alcohol to the ever-present Health and Safety Guidelines.
* Finnish parties are >50% Finns. German parties are >50% Germans. There aren't *that* many British sceners :S
Thoughts/questions/comments/personal attacks welcome!
I'm strongly considering running a UK party Easter 2011 to replace Breakpoint - I've found quite a few decent locations within easy reach of Luton/East Midlands Airport (so, Ryanair/Easyjet/BMIBaby all covered) and major rail links/motorways, but I seem to be having trouble drumming up enthusiasm for it - especially when it comes to core organising staff.
For those that have organised the larger parties (>200) do you tend to do everything yourself, and only delegate far closer to the time, or do you tend to have a steering committee from the get-go?
Just to be clear, this is *not* in competition to Sundown - rc55 does a fantastic job of this, and he's certainly planning on running it this year. This is the other end of the year (5 months before) and would be an attempt to get demoscene momentum in the UK.
Benefits of running it in the UK:
* Lots of games/technology companies in the East Midlands.
* Nottinghamshire council sponsors "Gamecity" so they're certainly up for the digital arts.
* Some fantastic venues that would be cool with drunkards lighting bonfires.
* The UK scene is undergoing a rejuvenation, would be good to get the word out and recruit more sceners!
* Lots of breweries, so decent beer ;)
Disadvantages of running it in the UK:
* Bloody *everything* needs a licence, from entertainments to alcohol to the ever-present Health and Safety Guidelines.
* Finnish parties are >50% Finns. German parties are >50% Germans. There aren't *that* many British sceners :S
Thoughts/questions/comments/personal attacks welcome!
My first reaction was: Why at the same time as Breakpoint? Or not???
My second reaction: Wow. I actually am in UK now and I missed Sundown, now that's great news for me!
My third question: When and where? Easter? When is it? I hope it's not close to the greek easter, because I won't be around between 31March and 6April.
My second reaction: Wow. I actually am in UK now and I missed Sundown, now that's great news for me!
My third question: When and where? Easter? When is it? I hope it's not close to the greek easter, because I won't be around between 31March and 6April.
Oh,. easter weekend start at 2nd. I think I will be missing this one :(
2011, you know. not 2010.
a couple of thoughts:
- a breakpoint replacement outside germany will never really work, because germans dont like travelling abroad much (to put it mildly)
- starting a new party and expecting 200 or more people to show up is wildly optimistic
- parties do not recruit more sceners, their main purpose is to serve those who already are part of the scene
- organising comittees tend to make matters worse, benevolent dictatorships seem to be the most successfull organisational arrangement
optimus: he wrote TWO THOUSAND AND ELEVEN
- a breakpoint replacement outside germany will never really work, because germans dont like travelling abroad much (to put it mildly)
- starting a new party and expecting 200 or more people to show up is wildly optimistic
- parties do not recruit more sceners, their main purpose is to serve those who already are part of the scene
- organising comittees tend to make matters worse, benevolent dictatorships seem to be the most successfull organisational arrangement
optimus: he wrote TWO THOUSAND AND ELEVEN
Optimus, I'm not sure if you noticed, but dotwaffle was talking about 2011, not 2010. :)
Rowley: I can do a party at the various venues with 200, 500 and 1000 people. Too much either side of that and I can't really do it.
I completely get what you mean when you say organising committees make it worse - but I'm a little apprehensive to get things going without at least one other person involved at a high level.
And yes, optimus, it's Easter 2011 - next year, when there is no breakpoint!
I completely get what you mean when you say organising committees make it worse - but I'm a little apprehensive to get things going without at least one other person involved at a high level.
And yes, optimus, it's Easter 2011 - next year, when there is no breakpoint!
Who cares about teh germans anyways. Let them be, they be planning.
Well i agree with hav... oups Rowley ...
- Startup a party with 200 people demands lots of work
- Make germans to move is hard, in general its hard to "ensure" people that the travel is worth to do
- Dont count too much on local sceners, count on the heart of scene, the active ones are whats needed
- Burocracy can be a pain, more than expected, and its experience i talk about :)
( imagine police guys measuring the distances between chairs for sceners for security reasons )
- I think the only way is if the still motivated people from BP team reform themselves and give a try and maybe a move like from MS to BP ... But i would like to be positve suprised by something different :)
As much i like the idea to have a good BP follower, its not only a mission ... you will always be compared to the excellent organized BP Parties ( and sure with 10 years of experience they had already every accident, shit, missing, stupid scener, success, hype and more )
- I like the thought about reachability by lots of airlines !
- Startup a party with 200 people demands lots of work
- Make germans to move is hard, in general its hard to "ensure" people that the travel is worth to do
- Dont count too much on local sceners, count on the heart of scene, the active ones are whats needed
- Burocracy can be a pain, more than expected, and its experience i talk about :)
( imagine police guys measuring the distances between chairs for sceners for security reasons )
- I think the only way is if the still motivated people from BP team reform themselves and give a try and maybe a move like from MS to BP ... But i would like to be positve suprised by something different :)
As much i like the idea to have a good BP follower, its not only a mission ... you will always be compared to the excellent organized BP Parties ( and sure with 10 years of experience they had already every accident, shit, missing, stupid scener, success, hype and more )
- I like the thought about reachability by lots of airlines !
Quote:
I can do a party at the various venues with 200, 500 and 1000 people.
Will you be offering plane tickets or what? Free beer just doesn't cut it no more.
Considering a plane ticket costs less then £30 to East Midlands from some places, it wouldn't be outside the realms of possibility ;)
But no.
But no.
please consider that almost every visitor would need to travel by plane to get to your island.
the great thing about germany is that it's central to alot of countries (holland, belgium, france, italy, poland, denmark, etc).
the great thing about germany is that it's central to alot of countries (holland, belgium, france, italy, poland, denmark, etc).
As we live in times where cheap airlines are doing everything to gather your attention, the argument about uk being an island that takes a plane to get to is something I don't really agree with. The idea sounds quite nice to me, and it's quite probable I'd make a visit and release something :) As for me, it's a green light.
Oh sorry! Didn't notice.
I might be around UK in 2011 or not.
But might have a new job and be able to travel to any demoparty :)
I might be around UK in 2011 or not.
But might have a new job and be able to travel to any demoparty :)
Now this sounds interesting. Around easter 2011 I should be temporarily living in Germany, and UK flights shouldn't be too expensive from over there.. So if this happens, count me in :)
Hi,
as a matter of fact I was thinking about the possibility of a uk party to replace breakpoint for quite a while now (with a small twist: "wouldn't it be nice if we had a party in *London*"). So is this planned for the city of Nottingham or somewhere else in Midlands (Derby, Leicester, Lincoln - Lincoln gets my vote).
Travelling would be ok, maybe it is a bit far from Luton/Stansted airports (more like 100-150miles?) but very close to east midlands.
How much money would it need to organize something like this. Are we talking 6 figure sums or, for example, 10k would do?
as a matter of fact I was thinking about the possibility of a uk party to replace breakpoint for quite a while now (with a small twist: "wouldn't it be nice if we had a party in *London*"). So is this planned for the city of Nottingham or somewhere else in Midlands (Derby, Leicester, Lincoln - Lincoln gets my vote).
Travelling would be ok, maybe it is a bit far from Luton/Stansted airports (more like 100-150miles?) but very close to east midlands.
How much money would it need to organize something like this. Are we talking 6 figure sums or, for example, 10k would do?
> * Finnish parties are >50% Finns. German parties are >50% Germans. There aren't *that* many British sceners :S
I'd guess that such a party could work if you combined forces with, let's say, the UK's retro computer movement. There's also potential sponsorship from UK games companies and digital arts groups. But then these people are potential sponsors for Sundown too..
I'd guess that such a party could work if you combined forces with, let's say, the UK's retro computer movement. There's also potential sponsorship from UK games companies and digital arts groups. But then these people are potential sponsors for Sundown too..
kbi, my word still stands.
placing a party in a place which is connected with high ways to other countries would increase the number of potential visitors :)
placing a party in a place which is connected with high ways to other countries would increase the number of potential visitors :)
macaw: I know, I get your point and it's really hard to knock down :) One can always argue that getting to a partyplace by a car is much cheaper when compared to getting own ass on a plane and it's a relatively difficult argument to counter, especially if you take into consideration that you usually don't travel in a car on your own but happily exploit the possibility of having a small booze, driver-excluded party onboard - the costs drop down significantly and the on-way events can make ground for many wild demos ;-). And yes, I agree, the distance from the central/western part of europe to uk can be a bitch too.
What I wanted to say is that the idea doesn't sound abstract to me, both financially and logistically, and I'm very happy someone is actually thinking of continuing the work bp organizers are close to be ending. Keeping my fingers crossed.
What I wanted to say is that the idea doesn't sound abstract to me, both financially and logistically, and I'm very happy someone is actually thinking of continuing the work bp organizers are close to be ending. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Q : How many UK sceners can you fit in a mini?
A : All of them
A : All of them
Navis: I'm thinking Nottingham due to awesome connectivity (10 minutes from East Midlands on frequent bus, about an hour from Luton by train, 2 hours from London by car/train)
Funding wise, in between the two - I can raise the funds easily enough if it gets paid back. Even if that means I have to make a loss.
London would be a great place for a demoparty, but it's so expensive it's not even worth considering. Best you could do is an outlying region like Hemel Hempstead or Oxford, at which point you might as well consider Nottingham. Plus Nottingham has Robin Hood, hence we already have an idea for a theme a la Breakpoint ;)
In all honesty, I reckon it's possible to get 100 UK visitors. If you made it into a LAN party crossover event like Assembly, you could do lots more - but that's really not what I'm interested in running.
I suppose I ought to put up a website somewhere where people can register their interest - asking name, country, preferred locations etc.
Funding wise, in between the two - I can raise the funds easily enough if it gets paid back. Even if that means I have to make a loss.
London would be a great place for a demoparty, but it's so expensive it's not even worth considering. Best you could do is an outlying region like Hemel Hempstead or Oxford, at which point you might as well consider Nottingham. Plus Nottingham has Robin Hood, hence we already have an idea for a theme a la Breakpoint ;)
In all honesty, I reckon it's possible to get 100 UK visitors. If you made it into a LAN party crossover event like Assembly, you could do lots more - but that's really not what I'm interested in running.
I suppose I ought to put up a website somewhere where people can register their interest - asking name, country, preferred locations etc.
is it expensive because of rent prices for the venue?
Is it possible to get a venue for *free* ?
Is it possible to get a venue for *free* ?
waffle: honestly i dont think you'll get 100 uk visitors or anything like that unless you branch out a lot. and if you do that you'll probably damage the chances of getting any foreign hardcore scene visitors. if i were you id be thinking of getting 30 or so uk scene visitors and a few foreign visitors if youre lucky.
speaking of those - you're asking a lot of them to show up. the flights, train/bus/taxi, the time and effort - and for a party from a completely new team in a completely new and untested location that its possible nobody else will show up to, and when your party calendar already has plenty of other good events to visit over the year. can you really compete with a party in central europe or scandinavia where many visitors can just get in their car to go to, thats established and where people know there's going to be 200 people waiting for them?
honestly, i think you need to grow the event organically over a few years. start with a good venue with room for 100 people to feel comfortable but not lonely and make sure they enjoy themselves, and make sure you wont lose too much money on it if and when those 100 people dont show up.. :) move the venue size up next year if it works.
speaking of those - you're asking a lot of them to show up. the flights, train/bus/taxi, the time and effort - and for a party from a completely new team in a completely new and untested location that its possible nobody else will show up to, and when your party calendar already has plenty of other good events to visit over the year. can you really compete with a party in central europe or scandinavia where many visitors can just get in their car to go to, thats established and where people know there's going to be 200 people waiting for them?
honestly, i think you need to grow the event organically over a few years. start with a good venue with room for 100 people to feel comfortable but not lonely and make sure they enjoy themselves, and make sure you wont lose too much money on it if and when those 100 people dont show up.. :) move the venue size up next year if it works.
Nooon is going to BP , no matter what is in Great Britain or Greece or Whatever.
i prefer to talk again and again to Chaos of FB .
i prefer to talk again and again to Chaos of FB .
ra, are you operating at the same level as optimus now? :)