The issue with people talking during the presentation has existed from day one. I managed the banquet for years… This is not about people being rude… It’s about not having good acoustics, or a separate room where people can gather and not distract the speaker. Many times, I was the a-hole who would run around telling people to be quiet while presenters were speaking. When you are a planner/coordinator, you tend to be more aware and concerned on the behalf of the speaker.
However, Saturday I was one of the rude a-holes talking loud. When you give people alcohol, their hearing goes, and they talk louder. This is basic human behavior… On top of that, the place was tight, with an open environment (echo chamber).
I had a hard time hearing Tim Mottes, which usually isn’t a problem.
I am certain nobody was consciously disrepcting our speaker. I hope he didn't take it personally.
"hemichemi" said:
I had a good time at the banquet, and my thanks go to the organizers, who I know worked hard on it. I especially liked the way the raffles gave us a choice of items to take a chance on.However, I think that place is too small; many times I felt packed in like a sardine. I didn't think the food was all that, and wished there was a wider selection of beers. I also missed the larger number of things in the silent auctions that we've had in the last few years.
One thing I was very dismayed about was how badly we treated the speaker. I could hardly hear half his talk because of all the people who were talking loudly during his presentation, and I'm sure he felt disrespected. I'll be amazed if he ever agrees to return in the future.
What's that??? Are you volunteering to run it for next year?? [smilie=biggrin.gif]
I very much encourage the feedback on the event everyone, we strive to make everyone happy. However, no matter how hard you try you simply can't make everyone happy. That's just a fact. We had 112 people at the event and I'm sure that we all have certain things we didn't like and they aren't the same dislikes as the next guy/gal in line.
Let's all try to keep one thing in mind, this event is MMA's big funraiser for the year and we need to make as much money as we can for the Club, that is the NUMER ONE goal and has to be. If that means the food or room size or amount of baits being offered isn't as good as usual so that MMA can save costs and make more money per item, then we need to do that. I'm hoping folks will step back and keep that in mind. It's not about the food, or the booze, or the creature comforts during the four hour event or getting a lure for less than you would pay for it in the store, it is about digging deep to help support a cause we all believe in. Let's not lose sight of that please.
We all agree the venue turned out to be too small. Brookshirte assured us it would work but it was just too tight. My appologies but we tried. We (me) are going back to the drawing board on venues and have another location I will be looking into and we can always fall back on Kellogg. If anyone wants to do some leg work on finding a new place and making a pitch to hold it there next year, please feel free to do so and coordinate with me on that. There seems to be a lot of folks with comments (again, no criticism at all) but a very short line of folks volunteering to do the actual work. This is a very big event that means a lot to the well being of the Club. The event is organized/coordinated by a total of 3 people and it requires attention for the better part of 3/4 of the year to put together. Consider being actively involved, we could sure use the help.
I have heard that the beer selection and wines sucked. Folks, no service is going to give you access to an unlimited, fully stocked bar at a catered reception (you can't even get that at a high end wedding), it just doesn't work that way unless you all want to pay way more than $25 a ticket. Brookshire and Kellogg alike had full bars in the facility and if you did't like what was being served in our room you could always take a walk to the full bar and get what you want—that's what I did and a lot of other folks as well.
The food. For the most part I heard the food was better than Kellogg and folks were generally happier with an all you can eat buffet than a sit down, (rubber chicken) table service dinner. That wasn't the unanimous consensus but, again, that is a personal issue and we are never going to make everyone happy. We certainly can't make everyone happy at $25 (advance tix)/$30 (at the door). We can have much better food and service but the membership needs to pay more for it and I personally don't want to price folks out of buying tickets to increase quality for the smaller group of folks that decide to buy tickets at the higher price. Again, it's not about the food it's about the cause. Other than $150 per ticket black tie events, in my experience the food at fundraisers is usually marginal at best. What I would like some feed back on is whether or not we really need to have a dinner at all. What if we just had a room and a bar?
I feel badly about the speaker and the noise level as well but maybe that should tell us that alot of folks really aren't all that interested in the topic or having a speaker at all. That is something we will need to think about for next year. If we have a speaker then we should probably have them speak while folks are eating and not afterwards. Or, dim the lights, ask everyone to be seated, close the bar and the auction tables—strikes me that isn't a great idea either but that is the only way we can try to solve the problem. Brookshire was a smaller room so the issue was exagerated but as Chad said, this has always been a problem even at Kellogg.
In sum, I really welcome constructive criticism, I really do and I hope folks don't think I'm being defensive. However, if you are going to give the organizing committee feedback it would help if you can keep the overall priority/goal (to make money for MMA) in mind. And, what would be even more helpful, is receiving actual ideas for how to make it better (solve the problem don't just identify them) and still stay within our budget to make money while making it a fun event.
Thanks to all those involved with this year's banquet. I thought the room was a little cozy, however, I don't believe that gives us an excuse to be loud. The room & food were o.k. but a nicer venue & better food means less money raised for the club. I've enjoyed all of the past banquets & have really been impressed with the entire set up, including this year's, especially considering it's a fishing club meeting. I look at every banquet as an opportunity to donate a few bucks towards the MMA, and feel it's my obligation to buy a banquet ticket, some raffle tickets, & a lure(s). I vote we have next year's banquet in the woods next to a bonfire, with some chips & brats, music blasted from someone's stereo, & BYOB so hopefully people would be responsible enough to get home safely. We would have plenty of room, people could talk as loudly as they want, & if we keep the ticket price to $25 we would raise more money for the MMA. That's assuming we get the same turnout & people realize the banquet is our largest fundraiser & a great opportunity to catch up with other members & talk muskies.
I definitely would not like to see the speaker removed for future banquets. That is one of my favorite parts of the banquet this year and last. I may be wierd but that kind of stuff interests the hell out of me and I really cant get enough of it. The background noise was disappointing with all of the people talking but it is true that when you give people some beers they lose their focus, plus you cant assume everyone there is as interested in that kind of stuff as others might be so I guess I understand to some extent. Maybe in the future have the speaker start earlier in the night so people have less time to get boozed up.
I thought the speaker started fairly slowly with general information that most muskie guys see as common knowledge so I think that was what lost many people's attention. But after the opening I thought the presentation as a whole was very informative and very interesting. I was glad that the speakers stuck around to talk and answer questions and I was surprized at how much they actually wanted to know from us (not that I know much myself). It was nice to see people with that type of enthusiasm about stuff like.
A pizza buffet can't possibly cost too much. Thats my vote, Pizza/beer! Another cheapo option could be to get a couple grills going and just make hotdogs/brats/burgers on our own. A wedding style catered dinner is not important to me at least, but I do want food and drinks!
As for the topic of speakers, I think unfortunately it is unrealistic to expect everyone to be quiet and pay attention to a college style lecture lasting 30-60 minutes at an event like this. Perhaps we could shorten the time block and ask them to condense and summarize whatever they are talking about into a shorter presentation (~10-15 minutes) and ask everyone to please stay seated and be quiet during it.
Pizza,Beer, and a big pole barn works for me!
-I would have no problem however if a small increase(5-10 bucks) per ticket was needed to "enhance" OUR banquet. Its been 25 bucks for quite a while and I think for that money its a nice event. More and better food,..more space,..more drinks,..more lures,….costs more money baby !!
I again Thank everyone who has ever had a hand in running these banquets!!
-kid
I would be all for an increase in ticket price if it needed to be done. I also heard several people say that a more casual menu of pizza with beer and pop would be more than enough. IMO, it's the conversation, speakers and auction items that bring people in. I will say that this year's banquet has been the most successful I've been a part of as treasurer. A huge thanks to everyone that helped plan and put together this banquet, I had a blast as some of you know.
So… What if we don't have a guest speaker but instead I (or whoever the pres happens to be) gives an overview of what's happened during the year with management, research, education, projects, etc. Then wrap up with what is on the horizon going forward, basically a primer for getting people to spend money! I think that's why we are all there and we don't run the risk of offending a "special guest"? I've never believed it would be beneficial to have a "name" come talk about catching muskies and giving a seminar that you could hear at a sport show (or have already read the article).
I see no reason to get rid of the speaker. To be honest, the whole point of this group is a conservation minded bunch of anglers who love muskies. The PRE thing can not go to the wayside. I understand that it is pretty easy to pay 35 bucks a year to get pretty good fishing reports, and learn some on how to catch muskies. And I know there are a lot of us who use this club for that, and I see nothing wrong with it… But at the core of this whole thing is still PRE, and how can we say we are dedicated to Preservation unless we give to it… which we do, and how can we say we are for restoration unless we put in the time, which some do… and how can we Educate better unless we know what we are talking about. Yes this speaker was a little over the top in basic science, and its hard to follow if you don't care, but to to ask grown adults to pay attention for 30 minutes out of a 5 hour banquet seems a simple task. After all we are grown adults. I appreciate the guys that don't want to get involved this deeply, your money goes as far as everyone else's, and I see nothing wrong with it… But the two banquets I have been to, the topics that were spoken about were very integral into what this group is trying to accomplish, and gets us one step a year closer to a healthy musky population in Michigan, and especially in some waters that I care deeply about that are teetering on being held at the edge of desecration, and being an excellent fishery for my son (and hopefully I can still cast when I'm that old)…
I mentioned to a few people at the banquet how proud I am of this group for giving to a cause they care about, compared to groups like trout unlimited. I feel like our dollars go 10 times farther than theirs, with their ridiculous restoration projects on places like the Big south branch of the PM… Getting rid of these speakers is kind of a slap in the face to what this group is about…
368
18