Riverfest

bigpink

Just fixed it

Should be a link for the May weekend in Galway

tommy249

bigpink wrote: »

Yes it is but what would 20 or 30,000 flyers cost for such a big event,get the Local papers print a page for free im sure they would
Flyers could be dropped at the hotels

Id be interested to see what advertising is at the airport/train station

Check out this free music weekend in Galway

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=195035293865235

And where did i get the link?Here on Boards:)

Wouldn't say that the Galway gig is very well advertised as I never heard of it and live with a few Galway people who have never heard of it.

Plus, even if it was very well advertised, its a lot easier when there is a big Multi-national beer company spending the money advertising it.

To be fair, I think everyone in Limerick knows about riverfest, however negative big pink is. None stop talking about it on 95fm. They have a very good facebook page which is updated nearly every hour, Ray D'Aarcy plus Will Leahy talking about it on radio (to be fair to Will Leahy he gave it a huge plug today) Posters up around Dublin...........and to be honest Riverfest can't have a huge budget. Its not a sponsored event ir anything.

Why do we have to be so negative in Limerick about Everything in the City. Was around town earlier and there was a good atmosphere. Over 7000 people signed up for the Great Limerick Run from all over the country, free concerts, water sports etc. Big Pink - just enjoy yourself and stop giving out as usual................

Amazotheamazing

bigpink wrote: »

Just fixed it

Should be a link for the May weekend in Galway

were you not giving out about Arthur's Day and some other beer sponsored thingy before?

tommy249

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

were you not giving out about Arthur's Day and some other beer sponsored thingy before?

Plus she was giving out about the Heineken event which was held in the Market Quarter a couple of months ago. But when a beer Company holds someting in Galway Big Pink is full of praise.............

bigpink

I gave out about the Heineken Greenzone thing which was a nothing event at least this gig by Coors is a free music thing i,e a night time event
Riverfest doesnt seem to have a free music events at night but hopfully they can build on this

Heineken was only advertising boards no events

tommy249

bigpink wrote: »

I gave out about the Heineken Greenzone thing which was a nothing event at least this gig by Coors is a free music thing i,e a night time event
Riverfest doesnt seem to have a free music events at night but hopfully they can build on this

Heineken was only advertising boards no events

Heineken Greenzone, yes was a promotional event for Heineken, the same way this Galway thing is a promotional event for Coors (by the way Coors did the same thing in Limerick on the docks http://limerickleader-onthebeat.blogspot.com/2009/09/coors-light-peak-gig-on-limerick-docks.html) but the Heineken event got people out to the streets and pubs of Limerick, created a party atmosphere, had people spending money, had bars having extra staff on duty paying extra wages, had taxi drivers and local chipper busier. Coors event in Galway is in one venue and benefits one venue only...........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNmRdCZYSLw

Insect Overlord

I remember that Coors gig in Limerick. Down by the Docks it was. Rarely Seen Above Ground, Dark Room Notes, couple of other acts. Would love them to do another one sometime.

Maybe as Riverfest continues to grow it will start attracting sponsorship for bigger acts.

Amazotheamazing

Insect Overlord wrote: »

Maybe as Riverfest continues to grow it will start attracting sponsorship for bigger acts.

This is a big problem. 5 or 6 years ago there was a class Riverfest, the one Eightball ran. Instead of building on it, the next few years were crap. This year is probably the best one in terms of events since.

There's no point having one good year and another bad year, Riverfest needs consistency.

Hopefully the Great Limerick Run will catch on, big crowds doing it this year but they can't afford to make the rookie mistakes they made last year.

Poxyshamrock

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

This is a big problem. 5 or 6 years ago there was a class Riverfest, the one Eightball ran. Instead of building on it, the next few years were crap. This year is probably the best one in terms of events since.

There's no point having one good year and another bad year, Riverfest needs consistency.

Hopefully the Great Limerick Run will catch on, big crowds doing it this year but they can't afford to make the rookie mistakes they made last year.

I agree with you....however, the following years it was run by futureama.
2007, I think it was. It even had a really well designed banner image on all leaflets and the website with the statue on Cruises Street in the middle and a stream of water circulating around her and a number of city landmarks in the image too.
Hard to explain, but it looked well. :P

Edit: found the image courtesy of limerickblogger

zuroph

the twitter account for riverfest is a nice touch too @riverfestLmk

Bigpink, hopefully you'll appreciate what we're trying to line up for outbreak.

Amazotheamazing

Poxyshamrock wrote: »

I agree with you....however, the following years it was run by futureama.
2007, I think it was. It even had a really well designed banner image on all leaflets and the website with the statue on Cruises Street in the middle and a stream of water circulating around her and a number of city landmarks in the image too.
Hard to explain, but it looked well. :P

Edit: found the image courtesy of limerickblogger

Looks great but there wasn't much actually happening, iirc.

Kess73

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

This is a big problem. 5 or 6 years ago there was a class Riverfest, the one Eightball ran. Instead of building on it, the next few years were crap. This year is probably the best one in terms of events since.

There's no point having one good year and another bad year, Riverfest needs consistency.

Hopefully the Great Limerick Run will catch on, big crowds doing it this year but they can't afford to make the rookie mistakes they made last year.

Spot on. That good Riverfest should have been the foundation to improve year on tear, but the very next year they went very cheap and it was an awful Riverfest.

It is almost like it cannot be decided if it is to be a full on festival or just a tiny event.

I agree on the run as well. There were some really poor organisational mistakes made for that last year, and as someone who is a regular marathon runner I could not believe some of the stuff I was seeing and hearing. Plenty of the so called experts and organisers had no idea what they were doing except when I saw them in the papers with direct quotes from them about how good they were, how experienced they were, and about how smooth they had things running.

They really need to take this year's Riverfest as a starting point, and literally start planning the next one as soon as it ends and really push out the boat to make the next one better again.

acalmenvoy

Fire works from last night,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2xpEhB2-sw

Anyone know if the water speed thing on today at 3pm on the river would be worth moseying down to?

Edit: Sorry, don't know how to do the youtube thingy...
Edit2: got it..

Itsdacraic

What were the crowds like the gigs during the day and last night?

RonMexico

Had a great day yesterday at Riverfest. Bands were great in the park, thought there would be a much bigger crowd though. Great atmosphere down at the Locke though the BBQ thing still puzzles me a bit. It doesn't appear to interact much with the crowd. The only bad thing that I really have to say about yesterday was the Locke charging €4.50 for a pint of bud in a plastic cup. Bad form and a rip-off.

zuroph

RonMexico wrote: »

Had a great day yesterday at Riverfest. Bands were great in the park, thought there would be a much bigger crowd though. Great atmosphere down at the Locke though the BBQ thing still puzzles me a bit. It doesn't appear to interact much with the crowd. The only bad thing that I really have to say about yesterday was the Locke charging €4.50 for a pint of bud in a plastic cup. Bad form and a rip-off.

for the BBQ, it was mad to see it from the other side of the fence, we gave out SO much food yesterday, including Quality Venison burgers. Literally get stuck in and ask for grub, i was always too polite, but was taken aback by how forward some people were yesterday.

RonMexico

Thats the thing about the BBQ, I wasn't sure whether it was free or what, it was all a bit chaotic.

Got a lovely free hotdog in Mickey Martins though :cool:

Also the fireworks were brilliant last night.

Kess73

Finished the marathon in a decent enough time today, and would just like to say thanks to those on here who are involved with the charity I ran for, you know who you are.


Well done to everyone who took part today, and a very big well down to a Tony Murphy (hope I got the name right) for his finish today.

Well done to the pacers out there today as well. Passed quite a few that were doing sterling work keeping people motivated.


As for the run, some of the problems from last year were sorted, but the mile markers were not right again this year. Some of them were way off like they were last year.


The layout of traffic cones was quite bad in places again this year as I noticed quite a few having to weave between cones, not an ideal thing for a runner.

There were also some congestion issues again this year when the races merged.

But the worst thing I saw, and I know it happened last year, was poor traffic management which saw a few runners literally get squeezed against slow moving traffic where there was traffic in the lane beside the runners, which is a shocking thing to be happening in a run that has so many of the organisers slapping their own backs at how "great" they are.

I think the organisers still have not figured out who they are trying to appeal to with the races. Be it serious runners, fun runners, casual runners or whatever. They seem to miss the mark totally for the competitive runners in terms of safety, mile markers and so on.

It was an improvement on last year's set up, but still a long long way off the level of organisation in the marathons in the likes of Cork and Dublin.

I think first timers or those with only one or two under their belt may not notice some of the problems, but experienced runners defo did again today.


Safety and mile markers have to be vastly improved upon for next year if they want to keep the competitive runners coming back, imho of course.


But I got marathon number 15 under my belt today, the charity made money, and now I can work on getting to marathon number 19 before this time next year so that number 20 can be ran in Limerick. But a third year of basics being got wrong won't see me trying for number 25 in Limerick I'm afraid.

Amazotheamazing

Kess73 wrote: »

Finished the marathon in a decent enough time today, and would just like to say thanks to those on here who are involved with the charity I ran for, you know who you are.


Well done to everyone who took part today, and a very big well down to a Tony Murphy (hope I got the name right) for his finish today.

Well done to the pacers out there today as well. Passed quite a few that were doing sterling work keeping people motivated.


As for the run, some of the problems from last year were sorted, but the mile markers were not right again this year. Some of them were way off like they were last year.


The layout of traffic cones was quite bad in places again this year as I noticed quite a few having to weave between cones, not an ideal thing for a runner.

There were also some congestion issues again this year when the races merged.

But the worst thing I saw, and I know it happened last year, was poor traffic management which saw a few runners literally get squeezed against slow moving traffic where there was traffic in the lane beside the runners, which is a shocking thing to be happening in a run that has so many of the organisers slapping their own backs at how "great" they are.

I think the organisers still have not figured out who they are trying to appeal to with the races. Be it serious runners, fun runners, casual runners or whatever. They seem to miss the mark totally for the competitive runners in terms of safety, mile markers and so on.

It was an improvement on last year's set up, but still a long long way off the level of organisation in the marathons in the likes of Cork and Dublin.

I think first timers or those with only one or two under their belt may not notice some of the problems, but experienced runners defo did again today.


Safety and mile markers have to be vastly improved upon for next year if they want to keep the competitive runners coming back, imho of course.


But I got marathon number 15 under my belt today, the charity made money, and now I can work on getting to marathon number 19 before this time next year so that number 20 can be ran in Limerick. But a third year of basics being got wrong won't see me trying for number 25 in Limerick I'm afraid.

I was only doing the 6 miles today so I was happy out with the set up but you should bring these concerns to the organisers. Afaik, some of the guys on this thread http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=71979351#post71979351 are in touch with them, as well as emailing your concerns to the organisers directly. I wasn't around last year so i can't compare but today's short run was as good as you're going to get with the constraints imposed by numbers and streets.

Kess73

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

I was only doing the 6 miles today so I was happy out with the set up but you should bring these concerns to the organisers. Afaik, some of the guys on this thread http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=71979351#post71979351 are in touch with them, as well as emailing your concerns to the organisers directly. I wasn't around last year so i can't compare but today's short run was as good as you're going to get with the constraints imposed by numbers and streets.

Have already emailed the organisers on it, but thanks for putting up the link to that thread. Looking through it I can see that others in it saw the same problems last year, and some of what I mentioned about today is touched on in that thread as well.

To be honest I know that I and a number of others contacted the organisers last year as well about some of the problems. It would not affect the Half marathon and 10K runners as much as the marathon runners, especially the competitive runners involved.

I can see a big reduction in the amount of competitve runners who will travel to Limerick next year for it after two years of repeat problems.

The casual runners and local competitive runners will always be there for it (I hope) but the reputation of the Limerick marathon for the competive runner is already in need of repair, and I think the organisers just don't grasp that there is a large number of competive runners, both Irish and from
other countries, that come to Ireland to compete in the various marathons. Lessons could be learned from observing the organisers of the Cork marathon in how they can cater equally well for both the casual and competive runners in one event.


Congrats on finishing your own run. Were you doing it for yourself or were you attached to a charity?

seachto7

not sure if I may have gotten him on a bad day, but the guy going around o connell street in the red "race management" shellsuit was nothing short of an ignorant pr_ _k.....:mad:

Mc Love

Kess you should be involved in the organising it

Kess73

Mc Love wrote: »

Kess you should be involved in the organising it

I know that a far more experienced and more knowledgeable than I in terms of both running and organising runs/routes had his advice totally discounted by someone involved with the run who has no running experience whatsoever, and very little experience with the organisational side of a sporting event either.

There are some great people involved with the organisation, but some of the decision makers have no idea as to what they are doing as they have no background in running, sports or the organisation of such events. I got the impression last year and again this year that certain people got their positions through who they knew or who they were, rather than through having the proper experience for their roles.


If it is decided that it is to be a fun run from here on in and not a proper running event, then fair enough. But some of the basic safety issues would still need to be looked at even for that level.


As I said earlier, it would do the organisers no harm to get in touch with their Cork counterparts and have a look at the detail and planning involved for the Cork marathon with also has shorter races on the same day.

Even things like parking and open routes for motorists get posted well in advance for that run with alternative routes put up on the website and through the media for motorists.

The mile markers are usually spot on, basic safety issues like having cones that force runners to maneuver around them or things like oncoming traffic and runners having to squeeze together when one is passing the other does not happen.

Now the Cork set up is not perfect, but it is far more professional than the Limerick one imho, has a much greater eye for detail, and is far more runner focussed than the Limerick one.

But like I also said earlier, a lot of the problems are things that would be spotted by the competitive runners rather than the casual runner who may not run outside of Limerick or who does not enter other races/competitions on a regular basis.

Would just be a shame if Limerick began to lose those who want to run it but who are competitive runners.


As for me getting involved in the organising, no thanks. But only because I am involved in the organising of the RunLiverpool Marathon later this year, and will be involved with that from this year onwards. Plus even though the Liverpool run takes place months later than the Limerick one, the planning and organising started as early as it did for the Limerick one, and next year will be no different.


Here is the website in case anyone may be interested in coming over for one of the runs, or

http://www.runliverpoolmarathon.co.uk/


It is similar to the Limerick run as it is an event that is returning after an absence. But things like safety, fun events, merchandise, information for the public and runners, vetting of volunteers (and the level of training that they are to get in September), getting local businesses involved through sponsorships and brand placements, accommodation for people travelling to the event etc are all either in place already or waiting for a green light, and the race is still six months away.

Mc Love

Bit like saying Celia Holman Lee is in charge of organising it because she knows someone involved and also its a chance for her to get in the paper.

I havent taken part but would like to, but i think they really need to ramp up interest from serious competitors, and sort out whatever issues Kess and others have mentioned.

Amazotheamazing

Kess73 wrote: »

Congrats on finishing your own run. Were you doing it for yourself or were you attached to a charity?

Just running for myself and my fitness. After a few years of not running much I'm just trying to build up slowly. Been running fairly consistently since Jan and my knees haven't collapsed yet, which makes a welcome change!

Roadend

When are they going to remove those blue lines from the road is what I want to know

Kess73

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

Just running for myself and my fitness. After a few years of not running much I'm just trying to build up slowly. Been running fairly consistently since Jan and my knees haven't collapsed yet, which makes a welcome change!

Fair play to you, and hope you continue with it and see your times and distance capablity improve.

Dumdum McCarthy

Safety first should be the key to any run. Would the gardai and organisers or the event have met and went through what they were supposed to be doing,...or i wonder did it just go like this "garda johnny ur at this junction stand there, paddy u stand at d next one ect?
Or was there an actually risk management breifing for everbody.

What i saw on the mallow st,henry street junction was...runners in the width of about 12 -16 wide people being sqeeezed in to a width of 4-5 people.The gardai moved the bollards in to allow cars down henry street, if that wasnt bad enough a well know sporting garda in the city tryed to get a BUS around that corner??? Remember this is still the first mile of 10k run. It actually took everbody who was standing at that corner watching saying this is dangerous,and ridicolous for the gaurds to pull back in the bollards and stop the cars and made the bus pull in.

I only had to walk 50 metres to see the next totally avoidable problem.The street between Eircom and Garda station you go down hill, a not so wide street, but what was parked on both sides of the street?
Gardai vechicles the whole way up and down the street. It made everyone watch there step again and choked up the race.

I was watching the race i saw and i was told by compeditors that a guy was raoring at them angrily to keep off the foothpath just down from the strand,when really all d compeditors were at breaking point.

Also the water stations were badly managed people told me they picked up used bottles on d road as there was not enough stations...Was there meant to be lucozade also at the water stations?

Its a great event in Limerick but alot of things need to be looked at.
Well done all compeditors and their charities will be totally greatful too im sure.

CiaranMT

Roadend wrote: »

When are they going to remove those blue lines from the road is what I want to know

Why?

bigpink

The people running the run have no interest in the running i guess its to make money,i know someone who got a job working for the run who knows nothing about organising these type of events