ACC Dinner - What Could we do Differently Next Time?

[Dombo]

Venue was great but a little far away and as others have said, £60 for two plus wine and pre/post drinks gets expensive. Especially so close to Christmas/New Year.
Food choice was good.
Some music and a small dance floor might have tempted more non-cycling partners to come.

[Alex P]

I do think that it will be a challenge to get the price down whilst still keep the quality (food and location), you do not get much for your money nowadays

[jon avery]

Location, Location, Location, That was what stopped me going this year.

[quote="Rob Q"][quote="Marcus"]I think in asking the question Snoop wanted to know what would make those that didn't attend this year, attend in the future.

[Dombo]

DOMBO AND MARCO IN AGREEMENT FOR ONCE SHOCK

[Andrew G]

The bus worked very well and was excellent value, however I would prefer somewhere more local to Croydon to allow flexibility in leaving time.

On the cost I agree with Alex that once you have a 3 course meal and coffee in a private room or similar that can cater for the numbers required, and to a respectable standard, then you may struggle to reduce it. It's not a pie and a pint affair and I just look at it as a one off special night. You don't go to a good quality restaurant for a tenner a head do you?

I thought it was a good evening and enjoyed it. I thought the balance was pretty good and it is an awards dinner to celebrate the winners and wouldn't want to see their achievements deminished or reduced.

You can wear jeans and have a drink and a chat with mates anytime, I think it's quite nice to have a celebratory club bash. You don't have to wear a DJ or a cocktail dress to be smart and no-one would be looked down on for not having a bow tie.

[kieran]

Well, I didn't go, why, mainly location - as too far away and too much hassle to get back home. I'm not too worried about trying to attract partners as would then involve the extra cost of a baby sitter anyway. I enjoyed the two events I have gone to, both of which had guest speakers - which I found interesting. I like the idea of Marco - book a gastro-pub or pub/restaurant (like many work parties) with some nice interior design and a good bar selection - lots of places - why not look in central London? They will generally have a good sound system in place already. Easy to get to and back for many, all roads lead to Central London as the saying goes, not Croydon.

[Snoop Doug]

There's some great stuff here folks thanks ever so. Here's a kind of precis which I will share with committee and keep everyone posted with developments. If you think I've missed anything key or you still want to add please feel free

Cheers - Snoop

Location - OK get the picture We did ask people to vote on this mind you and it was a close run thing so we decided in favour of a change. Live and learn for sure.
Bus - works....kinda if you live close to the route, but I doubt v much we'll need one next time
Cost - I think we will struggle to get below £30 and deliver something decent, but we can try
Dress - No one is forced to wear black tie, it's optional and when we tried it 3 yrs ago got a good response. The general feeling is we get to scruff about most of the year - make an effort type thing once every 12 months.....we'll never please everyone but if it is putting folk off....and if we didn't go to a hotel next time well it would drift away methinks
Venue - if we did go in a slightly different direction - either locale (Croydon or London) or perhaps book a restaurant en masse then we could consider all kinds of different ideas.
Music/Dancing - Well you don't have to ask me twice I've never really understood why not before but we'll see if we can manage something and encourage others - but @ the same time this is a cycling club do no?? Dunno - it's all about balance isn't it, and of course fitting it into the proceedings time wise too.
Partners - There were a lot of partners at this year's do - in fact I reckon there were probably around 38 ACC members there out of a group of 60??
Religion - I didn't spot any I musta blinked and missed it.
Cross toasting - I think it worked much better than recent years this time, hell even I had a go. It's a tradition - take it or leave it. I tried to shout out a few inclusive ideas and just had a bit of fun with it, it flies or falls on the night depending on clarity and inclusivity I think. EG if I burbled a cross toast between say me and I dunno, Marco - well who the hell's interested (cept me and Marco and I can cross toast him any time I like )
Timing - tricky this. Before Xmas and we'd just get ripped off - too far after Xmas and it feels to distant to the season we're celebrating. Perhaps we could push back to Feb - but not sure any later would work.

[Marek]

Disco and dancing, yeah sounds great. Now, what about hiring some dancing girls as well, surely my membership fees should cover something like that?

Cheers

Marek....

[Amy]

[quote="Snoop Doug"]Timing - tricky this. Before Xmas and we'd just get ripped off - too far after Xmas and it feels to distant to the season we're celebrating. Perhaps we could push back to Feb - but not sure any later would work.

[Jon H]

Format, type of venue and price for the awards dinner is fine. Timing-wise it should ideally be held shortly after the end of the year's racing season, but that doesn't give much time for all the work involved in collecting and engraving trophies, and if left till later it starts to clash with the Xmas parties (which is why we changed to January). Location should be nearer to Croydon.

We could have a less formal "party" type do as a summer social (with Pole dancing for Marek).

[Snoop Doug]

[quote="Jon Hemming"]We could have a less formal "party" type do as a summer social.

[Elliot M]

I'm late to this thread but what was the takeup on payment by PayPal on the website?

[Snoop Doug]

[quote="Elliot M"]I'm late to this thread but what was the takeup on payment by PayPal on the website?

[Elliot M]

cheers Snoop.