Organisation and ideas for improvements

[Paul ™]

Hi,

Before this turns into a rant, it's more observations of the information (or lack of) about the festival and other issues.

However, since the festival was announced there has been several instances of poor communication, lack of information, mis-information, confusion and other issues which seem to be cropping up on this forum.

I am going to list some and perhaps next year improvements can be made, after all we all know Jim reads the forum and perhaps he can gather some ideas and get them sorted for 2011.

• Leftfield announcement using the term 'duo' and then announced as just 1 of them. Should have been clear from the start.
• Poor website - still poorly designed and other festivals websites put it to shame though updated more now but even then it's slower than other un-official sites.
• Front row camping - unclear and confusing regarding who can camp there etc
• Student Tickets - again unclear initially and poorly organised
• Early Bird tickets not being front row meaning changing at box office - possibly queuing for ages to resolve
• Site plan - poor and lacking information with only 3 days to go.

  Will add more as I remember them, but if you have any to add then reply below and we can hopefully make 2011 even better

[stu150]

A couple o issues I had were:

Little information on various aspects including the "phone charging" if we have to take our own chargers and if so what type we have to take (car/wall).

I also won tickets last week and was told I would receive an e-mail from RockNess - I have yet to recieve this and it is a bit worrying with only 3 days to go (and the e-mail address they have is my works one - dont want to be going back to work to check for e-mails on my days off)

But hey! Beggers Can't be Choosers!! hahaha

And the most important thing for next year is:

Book Daft Punk no matter how much T in the Park offer them (cus I REALLY don't want to go back to T! But I am desperate to see Daft Punk)

[gordong]

+1 for booking Daft Punk no matter what it takes.

Give more precise dates for things, i.e. dont say announcements are gonna be "next week" when there not gonna be.

[preacherman_1]

• Front Row Camping

Get Rid of this, It seems to be the main cause of many other issues with regards to camping and information (site maps etc.)

As with all other festivals it should be first come first served, if it works don't change it. As a suggestion however if you were to continue the idea I would suggest making it part of the VIP package as opposed to a seperate thing altogether.

• Information

As has been mentioned the information from many different aspects seems to be lacking compared to other festivals.

I personally don't find the website that bad, it's updated reguarly enough with various news items and quite easy to navigate. I would suggest however that official announcements about the line up or festival be given more of a priority for people to view over other articles on the site.

Not sure how you would implement that but if you have many articles (say 1 article every 2 or 3 days about various things) official announcements quickly get puched down the lsit and out of sight. I personally have only been checking the site every 2 weeks or so and often have to go searching for official announcements.

Site map again as has been mentioned needs updated with lots more information. I personally prefer the way you have the rockness one laid out with regards to it being as easy to look at and not that many graphics but something like the T in the park Site map I find a lot more useful.

One thing personally from attending Glasto that I would like is a rough idea of set times/running order/clashes prior to travelling to the festival. I understand the reasoning behind not giving out that information to cut down on people selling un-official stuff outside.

However you could cut down on this by includng a free festival pocket guide with the ticket price (similar to Glasto) This does not have to be a full programme for the festival but purely a small pocket sized gide to the set times on each stage for each day. If any set times change I beleive you were hoping to have blackboards or set times printed and outside or enar each of the stages for people to go and see as well.

Plus anyone silly enough to spend money on unofficial stuff for set times and the like when you can get it for free beforehand from the website deserves to be ripped off.

Other than that i can't really think of much else and think you currently do a top notch job coming on here answering questions/getting feeback etc. and look forward to attending for the first time this eyar.

[robotrock]

Book Daft Punk

[Window Licker]

My only gripe:

Carpark costing 10 pound - This is a bit much, surely they make enough money through ticket sales etc. and the carpark cost could be made inclusive with the 3 day camping package.

[Memory Man]

My only gripe:

Carpark costing 10 pound - This is a bit much, surely they make enough money through ticket sales etc. and the carpark cost could be made inclusive with the 3 day camping package.

Edited June 8, 2010 by Memory Man

[I Hart Digital]

webcam on site now would be cool.

[Kowalski]

I'm reserving judgement until after the festival, especially on the front row camping issues (they may have to react if it's half empty and the rest of the campsite is heaving).

But an excellent post from Memory Man there.

[Memory Man]

sorry how could i forget my most obvious gripe:

TICKETS. How is it actually possible that some of the minor agents (ie Skiddle) simply did not get tickets distributed in time to send off to paying customers?

Skiddle are saying its not their fault, i appreciate that it isnt. SO the blame lies squarely with the relationship between the promotor and the ticket printers to get them out on time. This simply hasnt happened.

Skiddle are kindly refunding special delivery postage and allowing us to pick up tickets but it should never have got to this stage.

Get tickets to the agents well in advance next time. Improve your communication to customers and between your suppliers. if necessary choose alternative suppliers.

Edited June 8, 2010 by Memory Man

[Window Licker]

This is a complete non issue, it is bog standard to have a charge like this at a festival.

at least you arent paying £30 return on a shit slow bus from edinburgh mate. thats a rip off.

Glasto is £15 for the car park plus 1.50 booking fee!! they want you to travel by public transport so the car park prices are rightly high. they also have to steward/monitor the car parks for 4 days. go figure.

Edited June 8, 2010 by Window Licker

[zlatan07]

One thing i noticed last nght when booking a bus, infact this is probs more to do with city link than rockness, but you cant buy single tickets. I have transport home, just needed a bus up but they charge you the same for a single as they do for a return which i dont agree with.

[theampersanddevil]

I think parking could be added into the ticket price, with different options for camper vans etc. I wouldn't mind paying for it when i get the ticket rather than when i arrive at a festival.

Just a personal thing but I hate to start a festival by forking out notes (although a tenner isn't bad) it just feels like 'oh god the whole weekend will clear me out'.

[sesamegirl]

The silly thing about the buses is that if you're going as a day visitor, they get you there too late for the first few bands.

[Poleski]

The main thing I'd like is more consistent line up announcements.

[honest john]

I think parking could be added into the ticket price, with different options for camper vans etc. I wouldn't mind paying for it when i get the ticket rather than when i arrive at a festival.

Just a personal thing but I hate to start a festival by forking out notes (although a tenner isn't bad) it just feels like 'oh god the whole weekend will clear me out'.

[Paul ™]

I'd like to see Jim hold a couple of Fan Forum meetings before the festival at the planning stages and then one post festival for feedback.

Mean Fiddler and Live Nation do this for Reading/Leeds and Download and it gets some good communication between organisers and fans.

This could consist of a few forum members, a couple of people on the Facebook group and other social networking sites.

Questions and concerns could be collated before the meetings, and a transcript made available after it for everyone to view.

[theampersanddevil]

Mate we all ready pay a fair bit extra to bring a campervan , it was £65 plus usual robbing fees this year to park at furthest away point of the campsite! Altho compared to t I'm pretty happy cos the walk still ain't as bad plus t takes £115 plus fees to bring a camper for the weekend!!

[MrCool]

I think parking could be added into the ticket price, with different options for camper vans etc. I wouldn't mind paying for it when i get the ticket rather than when i arrive at a festival.

Just a personal thing but I hate to start a festival by forking out notes (although a tenner isn't bad) it just feels like 'oh god the whole weekend will clear me out'.

[theampersanddevil]

Trouble is when you buy the ticket you might not know if you are driving or not. Could end up paying for parking and not using it.

I see its £15 this year if you arrive friday too...

[rachbon]

front row camping:

this was a terrible idea. it should be first come served and it's unfair on people wanting to camp in front row but have pals who bought their tickets later.

communication:

we didn't find out we would have to exchange our tickets at the box office until we asked, and nothing on the official site for people who don't use efests.

the fact that we were told a more detailed map would be on the site and this hasn't been done - if they say something is going to be done, it would nice if they actually meant it.

need to exchange tickets at the box office through no fault of our own, and don't even have it on the map.

[rexclark]

I think all the main points have already been mentioned. All I'd like would be,

Better communication,

A more detailed map,

Acts to be announced with more cosistancy rather than in dribs and drabs, perhaps announce a stage at a time. Up till quite recently it was still pretty vague who was playing where.

Rockness is a fabulous festival and with the right input it can only get better.

[Memory Man]

Rockness is a fabulous festival and with the right input it can only get better.

Edited June 9, 2010 by Memory Man