dosxuk Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 OMG! ownership of some of these venues is changing so quick these days... Wonder when Gatecrasher will get its turn there lol... Not ownership, just sponsorship. All the Academys are owned by the Academy Music Group (AMG), rather than Carling / O2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GamlaStan Posted January 4, 2009 Author Share Posted January 4, 2009 On a completely different note, it's great news that Tuborg will now be the beer of the O2 Academy rather than Carling as Carling is absolutely rank! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt S Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 I don't expect him to respond but I am within my rights to respond to his reasons for the poor decisions made on the night. You say our poor decisions, I say your unreasonable expectations, sorry, I've tried to be reasonable and explain the course of action and none of these reasons imo are poor. Thanks edna, this is my last reply anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GamlaStan Posted January 4, 2009 Author Share Posted January 4, 2009 It's not unreasonable to expect to have a drink a nightclub within 45 minutes of entering nor is it unreasonable to expect somewhere to put your coat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkymiss Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 It's not unreasonable to expect to have a drink a nightclub within 45 minutes of entering nor is it unreasonable to expect somewhere to put your coat. Jeez, it was New Year's Eve!! It's surprising that they ran out of space for coats but it sounds like there were a lot of bods in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katy1981 Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 im not too keen on the academy as a club venue anyway tbh i just dont think it works but thats just my opinion, ive been to a couple of things there now and although ive semi enjoyed my evenings i felt they could have been better, but ive never had a problem with any of the bars and i never need a coat room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barnsleylad Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 Matt S take no notice of this Gamla Stan, I queued for about 20 mins, arrived at 11, in for 20 past. It was clearly advertised the bar would close for half an hour. Managed to get served within 10-15 mins tops. Me and the Mrs had top night, to say how many people you had through the doors I think the night was a great success. Look forward to next years! GamlaStan may I suggest you choose a restaurant or something with plenty of coat space and minimal queing time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellielambert Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 I think that Gamlastan has every right to voice his complaints, that is the point of the 'Going Out' section of the Forum. I was at Carling Academy for NYE too as Pet Sounds is normally one of my fave nights out, and I agree with a lot of points made by the OP - there were several parts of the evening that were badly managed. I arrived at 11.20 and had to queue for a good 20 minutes - in my opinion this is too long when you have bought a ticket in advance. I understand there are only so many people that can be allowed through at once but the venue seemed to only be using one entrance and only had 2 people checking tickets - I expected more on the biggest night of the year. I accept Matt's comments that there were an awful lot of people to get into the venue but I think your expectation that people would turn up at 9.30 or 10pm is ridiculous - people want a proper night out on NYE. No-one normally turns up at that time (partly because the venue reeks when it is empty) so why would people want to be in a club by 10pm on the biggest night of the year? Luckily I didn't get too cold as I had the foresight to bring a coat with me - once I entered the venue I wish I hadn't bothered as there was no where for me to put it since the cloakrooms were turning people away. Rather than putting down shutters or putting up a sign though the one I went too was still letting people queue up whilst the person manning it chatted to her mates. I wasn't too chuffed to have to carry round a heavy winter coat with me in a packed club, it bugged me all evening. I believe that the club should have enough facilities to hold everyone's coats - I have never been turned away from a cloakroom in any other venue. I then experienced the same problem as the OP in that when I got to the bar I was told they were closing. I appreciate that some of you have said this is common place but I have never come across it before. I have worked on NYE before in a restaurant / bar and I was not given midnight off and I didn't expect to be. When working in the hospitality trade you accept that some shifts you get are a bit rubbish but that this occurs because the customer is the priority. By the time I finally got a drink it was an hour since I had begun queuing - this certainly did not make me feel the venue were putting the customer first. I found the rest of the evening was OK although The Courteeners weren't amazing. I feel that the planning of the event was at best pretty shoddy, at worst non-existent. It is irrelevant how much you pay to enter a venue, I always expect to have basic provisions such as a queuing system that is efficient, a place to store my coat and the ability to get a drink upon entry. I am sending my views to the venue as well because I think there are a lot of lessons that can be learnt. I also wanted to put them on here though because that is the point of the forum. PS: Barnsley Lad - your comment is ridiculous, a cloakroom and a good queueing system should exist in any club and if you have never been to one that has these facilities you are being short changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt S Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 I really can't understand this, if you turn up at 11.20 on NYE along with everyone else how would you like me to manage this exactly? And you talk about it doesn't matter how much you've paid to get in, but it really does, when everyone on NYE including security, medics, staff etc are all getting paid double time and we've paid a five figure sum to book a band that would cost anyone double the entry money on a normal night, nevermind NYE... There were two entrances open with a total of 8 security checking tickets on two doors, this is a fact, 60 people per minute at peak without allowing standards of entry to slip is very good in my opinion. I'm not saying I expected people to turn up at 9.30/10 (although 500 or so did by 10.30), I'm just saying if queueing is such a big deal the option was there to come earlier and not queue, you chose not to take that option so you live with the consequences so to speak. Twenty minutes queuing at that time on NYE in my opinion is not unnacceptable, sorry but it's not and i appreciate that you may never have had a break at NYE wherever you have worked but we're talking about a building with over SIXTY members of bar staff, do you want to try and find enough people willing to work without compromising slightly? Or would you rather we only opened 6 or 7 of the bars and increased queueing times over the whole night for everybody, including the people like barnsley lad who had the sense to arrive before 11pm on the busiest night of the year? How exactly would you have liked this planning differently? I'm sorry about the cloakroom, it's the building, the management didn't build it, as for the member of staff you're speaking about if that is true then sorry and I'll pass that on to the bars manager, however if you arrived at 11.20 and didn't get in until after 11.40 this contradicts my belief and Gamlas initial statement that the cloakroom was closed down before then, unless of course you queued for less than 20+ minutes as you indicated. I am sending my views to the venue as well because I think there are a lot of lessons that can be learnt. PS: Barnsley Lad - your comment is ridiculous, a cloakroom and a good queueing system should exist in any club and if you have never been to one that has these facilities you are being short changed. How patronising is that by the way? I believe the lesson to be learnt here is that on NYE at a sold out event, you should probably arrive earlier than 11.20 to be honest, as barnsleylad was trying to point out, NYE is the busiest night in town, so expect queues, and to be honest we got 1650 people in between 11.10 and 11.40 which is in my opinion a pretty 'good system' of queuing. Again, personal not professional response and seen as I spend nearly every waking minute trying to make these events good I am genuinely sorry that you're not happy but if you think I'm going to sit and let you bad mouth myself and the people that I work with then you're wrong. The cloakroom's too small, you arrived late, we gave our staff a well deserved celebration break... this does not mean there was 'non-existent planning' or that 'heads should roll'. This is definitely my last reply, I can't win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbear Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 i can understand matt's point of view, and he's right in the fact that he can't manipulate the speed of light so that he can lengthen time. think of it: 60 punters per minute on two entrances means an average rate of 1 per 2 seconds per door. i have known matt through his previous endeavours and am sure that these concerns are surely outside his control. perhaps it's time to lay off matt and the venue as i can't forsee any constructive coming out of thread if it continues further. what people should also realize is that matt actually cares enough to respond in the first place. most other larger venues would have management that doesn't even know what Sheffield Forum is. (i was once told by an owner of a venue i managed in a meeting that Sheffield Forum was on Devonshire Street) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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