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Closed: pinball party location - poll last night

do folk want the ukpp at merthyr again?

  • yes, merthyr again

    Votes: 18 35.3%

  • no, somewhere more central

    Votes: 33 64.7%
  • Total voters
    51
Status
Not open for further replies.
RuyLopez said:
I was playing a game in the tournament area , when everyone heard this really loud SMASH sound , we all looked round ( even players in the middle of a ball ) and this french player ;) had thumped the lockdown bar after a drain ....now I don't care if it was his game or not , he really thumped this metal bar , it was a REALLY loud sound and then he started sticking his finger up to the Backglass ! the crazy thing was he was miles clear of his opponent scorewise , WTF ? i heard stories about this guy , but someone should have a word , any member of the public seeing that would get the wrong idea about tournament players ...Now , I know myself that I get frustrated if I have a bad run on the machines , but I like to think I wouldn't behave like this geezer , seriously
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He has been known to break lockbars in the past. I guess as tournament director I will be having a word with him. I wasn't aware of him physically abusing machines (I am now thanks to posts here), but did witness him giving the bird to a few machines.
 
One of the very first things I was advised about tournament pinball last year was that if you're on a machine after Frank, give it at least a week before starting your game / ball :D
 
Rudi. Stan has a very full on slap style with machines so I guess you might have seen him play in the UK finals. He's one of the good guys :)
 
Moonraker said:
You'll be pleased to hear that Andy was at my house discussing ideas for next year's event at 2 am this morning after dropping off machines... He is full of ideas and optimism which I think will please many people if they come to fruition. I won't be disclosing what was said as I don't want to steal any thunder but it is nice to know that he's very positive frame of mind about the future plans of the Party.
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That's very nice to hear Peter! :)
 
RudeDogg1 said:
Wasn't Stan some bloke with very short white hair
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20150822_132602-jpg.19649


Stan the Man.
 
Daventry does seem like a good location for travellers from most directions, but anywhere along the M1 corridor between Nottingham and Northampton would be just as good for most travellers from Newcastle, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield in the North and from either Bristol or London directions in the South.

My impression is that most folks like the combination of event and hotel at Daventry but that it's the venue itself that is losing its "charm", so to speak. The hall could do with being a bit larger, say about half as big again, to give a bit more elbow room and maybe provide separate space for a clearly defined tournament area. Maybe a separate function room? There have been complaints about the aircon but it was passable in 2013 and fine in 2014. And and let's just say the reactions to the catering and prices were "mixed". The rooms themselves were fine, nothing special but totally adequate for sleeping in. I thought the price was very reasonable based on sharing a twin. I'm not much of drinker so can't comment on the price or quality of pints from the hotel bar, but the coffee was a shocker! Vastly over-priced and undrinkable to the point I asked for a refund.

But none of these issues should be insurmountable. I'm hopeful that an affordable location can be found. I like @johnwhitfield's idea of looking at school halls. Probably not a winner but I like his leftfield thinking. But then again if you pick a big school hall then knowledge of the event would rapidly spread locally and maybe more walk-in visitors would attend. More advertising is essential and that can cost a lot of money, but with some cunning ideas a lot can be done at very low cost, or free, via Facebook, Twitter and eBay, etc.
 
Nedreud said:
Daventry does seem like a good location for travellers from most directions, but anywhere along the M1 corridor between Nottingham and Northampton would be just as good for most travellers from Newcastle, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield in the North and from either Bristol or London directions in the South.

My impression is that most folks like the combination of event and hotel at Daventry but that it's the venue itself that is losing its "charm", so to speak. The hall could do with being a bit larger, say about half as big again, to give a bit more elbow room and maybe provide separate space for a clearly defined tournament area. Maybe a separate function room? There have been complaints about the aircon but it was passable in 2013 and fine in 2014. And and let's just say the reactions to the catering and prices were "mixed". The rooms themselves were fine, nothing special but totally adequate for sleeping in. I thought the price was very reasonable based on sharing a twin. I'm not much of drinker so can't comment on the price or quality of pints from the hotel bar, but the coffee was a shocker! Vastly over-priced and undrinkable to the point I asked for a refund.

But none of these issues should be insurmountable. I'm hopeful that an affordable location can be found. I like @johnwhitfield's idea of looking at school halls. Probably not a winner but I like his leftfield thinking. But then again if you pick a big school hall then knowledge of the event would rapidly spread locally and maybe more walk-in visitors would attend. More advertising is essential and that can cost a lot of money, but with some cunning ideas a lot can be done at very low cost, or free, via Facebook, Twitter and eBay, etc.
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Evening catering was garbage but the breakfasts :thumbs: :thumbs: :thumbs: all you could eat, had two plates full and didn't eat for the rest of the day :D
 
PinballDaze said:
Anywhere in the UK is accessible.
Daventry is not an option anymore.
If Merthyr goes ahead in 2016, there will be machines already set up there. Estimated at around 30.
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Interesting... I do hope it is at Merthyr again because I'd love to see the factory. And next year I hope Heighway's business is booming and it will be in full swing. Fascinating to see the production line.
 
Moonraker said:
You'll be pleased to hear that Andy was at my house discussing ideas for next year's event at 2 am this morning after dropping off machines... He is full of ideas and optimism which I think will please many people if they come to fruition. I won't be disclosing what was said as I don't want to steal any thunder but it is nice to know that he's very positive frame of mind about the future plans of the Party.
Click to expand...
I have e-mailed Andy with some ideas too. Will be interesting to see the outcome.
 
For those that did go, what did you think of the food? I thought it was perfectly acceptable. However John W said he wasn't impressed at all. The hog roast was very nice, but then there was no Veggy option for @Nickbs although advertised. Chips, burgers, sausages, curry ( more like sweet gravy but still nice ) available from the café bar and not expensive. I was happy enough with it.
 
The Burgers and bacon rolls etc where perfectly acceptable, even better toward the end of each day when they where brought round on a large plate and being offloaded at £1 or £1.50 each

Didnt stay for the hog roast but the mixed grill at harvesters hit the spot
 
Surely if you see someone abusing a machine, just take a few steps back, film them on your smart phone and get them banned. There should be a zero tolerance policy on machine abuse given how expensive they are and how we rely on the generosity of altruistic owners to donate them to competitions. Hard to argue with a smart phone video, it is objective, and it could be "anonymous".

I saw some superb players over the weekend who did not even tilt the machines let alone abuse them. If one or two high profile entrants were removed from competitions for abusing machines, word would soon get out and behaviour would improve

Further to the school hall suggestion, maybe NERG is a good indicator here. Sports hall in a secondary City. Not a relatively expensive city like Oxford, London, Manchester, Leeds etc but somewhere smaller like Derby/ Leicester/ Coventry/ Peterborough/ Nottingham/ Sheffield. If you go for a lower profile city absolutely everything is cheaper - accommodation, booze, taxis, food, venues etc etc
 
Careful, other French people attended and they're the nicest folk you'll meet. Even Franck's a nice bloke when you get to know him. He's even a bit humble sometimes. But not when talking Pinball. And he does cheat a bit.
 
kevlar said:
For those that did go, what did you think of the food? I thought it was perfectly acceptable. However John W said he wasn't impressed at all. The hog roast was very nice, but then there was no Veggy option for @Nickbs although advertised. Chips, burgers, sausages, curry ( more like sweet gravy but still nice ) available from the café bar and not expensive. I was happy enough with it.
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Food was reasonable.
Fact is, you could have stalls towed into the venue.
 
On that note.... transporting 10 pinballs and a multitude of boxes for our stall (and also reloading it) was made so easy by driving in and out.
A massive thumbs up!!
 
Why don't all of you south wales massive bang heads together and create your own event? There's enough of you to do this....

WOPP? Wales wellOuttaTheWay Pinball Parties.
 
kevlar said:
We do already, its called the welsh pinball cup incorporating Dave's curry and a band.
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7 years (5 years as Welsh Classic).
Soapy from West Sussex was a regular attendee. He came by push bike. Granted, most of the trip was via train.
South Coast Slam? Not central, but still went.
 
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