Constructive Feedback for the Next Mega Event

[mundoo]

Don't flame me please

I LOVED the Oz Mega and felt that there may be a need for a topic as a contrast to the other topic 'what did you like about the oz mega'

I will start the ball rolling seeing I opened this thread.

I would have loved to see a message board.
I looked for a particular geocacher for 3 days and only found them when they won a random prize and went up on the stage to collect it. They had been looking for me the 3 days as well. I had their phone number but they had left their phone back in Melb by mistake. If there was a message board I would have done a seeking message and listed my camp site number.

A list of which camp site each team/cacher was at.
I wondered about the lack of this, mainly thinking that if something happened 'back home' and the local police were sent out to the event to get a message to a person, how would the organisers etc. know easily where to find that team? When we arrived and registered no one was interested to know what camp site we were at. This would also have worked for the off-site teams saying where they were staying and save the Police (authorities) chasing all over the place trying to locate a person.

The bonfire Saturday night was lit too late.
After the AWESOME fireworks display many of us went over to the bonfire area waiting for it to be lit. It was at least an hour before it was lit, many children had to be taken to bed before then. I only stayed a short time after it being lit as it was then 11pm and I was tired.

Wine and cheese tasting
There should have been a mention in the program that the winery also did lunches. A few teams discovered this while tasting and stayed on for lunch. More may have done the winery if they knew that they could have got a lunch there as well.

PA system patchy
Even though there were speakers for the PA everywhere it was still patchy if you heard what was being announced. The PA nearest to our site we couldn't hear and in other camp sites it was too echoey and hard to understand.

Buying stuff
I loved the displays by the sponsors but was frustrated that I couldn't buy some sistemas containers (different shapes to the normal rectangle ones) that I had never seen in SA. I would have loved to have been able to buy some there as I know they aren't in any of the shops I have access to near home. Now I am not expecting that they had stock on hand but someone to take a mail order would have been good.

Daily program update board.
I wondered what happened to several of the program events not happening (and no fault of the organisers btw) and it would have been nice to know that the Whipcracking Show was a non-event as well as the childrens rides and well even the geocaching store not showing up. And I see from a pic in the local paper there was a hot-air balloon somewhere. I never saw that and it would have been nice to know it was going to happen as it wasn't in the printed program. And a mention of the wi-fi not being available for those who had left home before reading the last email/CGA forum.

[Mr Router]

Maybe next time you can devote 12 months to help the organizers comb the bugs out with fresh ideas !

[oldfella]

I had some thoughts on this subject and talked to some of the committee direct.

[caughtatwork]

Post Implementation Review and suggestions for improvement are a basic activity of any project completion. I cannot imagine that everyone thinks everything went perfectly and these would be items that could be added to the list for consideration for anyone willing to take on another mega event.

Well done Mundoo for poking your heads up and starting this thread.

A note to posters.
Keep this about the process and improvements and NO comments directed at people.
It's about the WHAT not the WHO.
Thank you.

[Big Matt and Shell]

Post Implementation Review and suggestions for improvement are a basic activity of any project completion. I cannot imagine that everyone thinks everything went perfectly and these would be items that could be added to the list for consideration for anyone willing to take on another mega event.

Well done Mundoo for poking your heads up and starting this thread.

A note to posters.
Keep this about the process and improvements and NO comments directed at people.
It's about the WHAT not the WHO.
Thank you.

The project manager in me was just about to type the same thing. This post should not be taken as a dig at anyone but as a chance for what some of the people missed so that the next MEGA can be bigger and better.

[oldfella]

I may be old fashioned but every project I have been involved in over the past thirty years or so this post mortem of the achievements outcomes and to think about for future events is usally in committeee format. As there were so many of us there who could probably offer suggestions and comments would not be in a position to attend a committee meeting where this information will be disected. Why not email the committee direct so that they can minute the process for any future committees whether it be their committee or another different committee. By all means use this forum but will these comments be copied and kept with the oficial records at committee level.

[rbirtles]

I believe that as long everything is constructive it is good to discuss such topics here.

What is discussed does not only have to apply to any future Mega Event but to any event people are thinking of organising. You may find that many good suggestions come out of this topic and thus improving any such events in the future.

This topic does not need to be negative and it is very common in a variety of organised events (I am a Government worker) that a summary/meeting of "what can be done to make it better issues" is conducted.

Cheers!
Rob.

[winterdragon]

Why not email the committee direct so that they can minute the process for any future committees whether it be their committee or another different committee.

Err, because part of the dynamic of a group discussion is that it can spawn ideas and suggestions that the individual participants wouldn't have on their own. As you point out, it's unlikely that all 700 odd participants are going to sit in a room and discuss the event, so a forum discussion seems the next best thing. I find it disappointing that this thread immediately attracted such antagonism, particularly when Mundoo obviously tried to start it off in a positive and constructive manner.

[ian-and-penny]

I'm not too keen on the thread title. May I suggest that it be changed to "Suggestions for the Next Mega Event" or something similar. . .

[caughtatwork]

I've edited the thread title to be more in line with what I think the OP meant. Please accept my apologies for doing this arbitrarily, but it will reduce any angst regarding any individuals involved.

[Damo.]

Don't flame me please
I LOVED the Oz Mega

Well if it saves poor mundoo from being lynched, a title change is probably a good thing!

[Richary]

I also have a project management background, and yes the "post mortem" is the final part of a properly done project. It's not a finger pointing excercise, but a way of working out what could be improved or made easier the next time around.

I will add to the thread about the PA. Firstly it was good that it was on FM so you could if you chose listen from the car radio. But unluckily only the background music and announcements were broadcast, not anything happening live from the stage. Because of this the remote speakers were also quiet when things were on stage.

I realise the transmitter was inside the registration hall, but especially on Saturday night as an example we chose to miss some of the early entertainment to cook and eat, and it would have been nice to be able to listen from our camp to make sure we weren't about to start missing any of the presentations etc as well as enjoying the band.

As for the coverage area, the remote speakers were obviously limited to where power was available. To cover the rest of the camp would have required solar and batteries, still it is something that could be considered for future events.

[noikmeister]

1st I didn't go to the event, so can't comment on what was said, so this is just a post of support to Mundoo. Well done on making an effort to say what could have been improved on. Also it would be good to point out what worked fantastically well and what might have been awesome ideas that had a major affect on your enjoyment of the event.

Remember the intent when you digest the content.


EDIT: Oops I gather there is another thread for the positive stuff...

[oldfella]

Thankyou for the topic name change. I have had a rethink since yesterday and agree constructive ideas can be aired here but there still needs to be a link back to the committee other than this forum. This lets others see what everyone replying thinks can be improved upon. I have a list such as pre prepatrations for registration prior to registration day, A lot of things in preparation that could be improved upon are known to very few these all important items need to be made available to the next committee contemplating running an event such as this. I Agree with the contact board idea, The PA system was actually a FM radio station and those camping could have listened on their radios but the general PA coverage area was restricted, this message could not have been heard by the campers and this announcement was made early on the Friday. Another board with all the important announcements could be kept up to date near the registration hall. The cost to attend must be kept low but remember that sponsorship only goes so far and good improvements could cost money, such as Wi-fi, if a sponsor can not be found. Another Idea I have seen at an event not Geocaching was two or three notice boards kept up to date in the actually camp area with important items. This is in lieu of printed news sheets prepared on a lap top and printed out. 350 of these two or three times a day can be expensive. $30.00 this time $50.00 next time or higher. I was one of the many volunteers for the first two important days and apologise for being pro committee wit my support for them with some of my comments.

[mtrax]

perhaps we should also add things we did like so other groups can retain them.
eg Mix and match game was a good idea, ie any thing to help people meet new cachers from other areas .