Had an awsome time thanks people! And fletch :-)
Had an awsome time thanks people! And fletch :-)
Perhaps I have left it a bit late to add to the debate, but I would like to make a point that I made after Skegness, which I now think has been endorsed by many; the success of Southport had less to do with anything Jive Addiction did, but moreover the layout of the Southport centre.
Ceroc have proven this weekend that they can provide just as good an event as Jive Addiction at Southport. As far as I can see there were no teething problems and almost nothing that I think could be improved upon. By contrast, Jive Addiction got so many things wrong at Skegness, which to me suggests that they actually aren’t really the great organizer/promoter that perhaps we all thought that they were. Furthermore, Jive Addiction haven’t been able to really establish any other events – the ‘RollerWorld’ fell flat on it’s face and the event at Weston although enjoyable draws the same number as an average freestyle event. I am not trying to undermine Jive Addiction, but my perceptions have dramatically changed.
I also think that seeing Ceroc host an event at a venue that ‘Jive Addiction’ have used formerly, made it easy to draw comparisons between the two operators. Ceroc seemed to offer everything that JA did, but have added a number of extra touches;
• Purpose made temporary flooring
• A DVD that you can away from the weekend (JA still haven’t produced the one from Feb yet)
• Banks of industrial cooling fans (although I would suggest not actually needed in March!)
• Classes on your telly.
• Water coolers that didn’t run out at 2am
• Omnipresent crew and a general feeling of better security.
But perhaps the biggest difference was the general production value in terms of lighting and presentation, which really does make a difference.
Music is always a difficult and subjective issue, but for me the music this weekend was the best that I have ever heard at a weekender, and just when I thought I had found my favourite DJ, someone else would play a blinding set.
Overall, this was the best event that I have been to at Southport, but I don’t pretty much care whether Southport is run by Ceroc or Jive Addiction. I just want a weekender that is value for money and provides teachers and DJs at the top of their game.
What I do resent however is being patronized, and the email that I received from Wes and John after Skegness with the following comments:
“The weekend was an resounding success” (their grammatical error not mine)
“Ran smoothly”
Simply ignores the blatant sentiment of almost everyone at the event. I’m all for JA marketing, but please don’t treat me like a fool. By contrast, the Ceroc Blush booklet stated:
“We don’t expect to get everything right first time and therefore any feedback that you wish to offer will be gratefully received”.
I much prefer humility.
I am really struggling to see any reasons to go back to Skegness, in fact I am really struggling to see any edge Skegness has over Southport apart from the standard of accommodation. The superior accommodation at Skegness is wonderful, and although it’s not that important to me right now, I think as I get older I am going to find it increasingly difficult waking up in the middle of night and putting tokens into electricity meters.
I can’t see how we can go from 3 events up North to 7 in 12 months, so I think interesting times lie ahead, and if these guys were high street retailers we as consumers should be able to look forward to a price war.
Not to take away from Ceroc (I'm not into the world of dance politics as anything other than coffee table banter) but in fairness, Southport was an estabilshed venue, whereas Skegness wasn't, so it's not really a fair comparison.
JA went into "Skeggie" (that one's for you Claire S) without any expeirence of how the venue would work for dancing. Meanwhile all the teething problems that JA experienced when they first did southport (I assume they would have had some) would have been ironed out over the subsequent weekends and pubilcally commented upon.
Yes there would have been some potential for smaller Ceroc teething problems, but the risk of them was much lower than at Skeggness
My goodness... a truly balanced post from someone who actually attended both events. I think I might print it off and frame it!
For me Blush was a sensational event and as always that has more to do with the people attending than the venue and all the other stuff people seem to think are important.
We were truly blessed to have Brent and Kellese stay with us during their trip over and a more fun, humble and talented couple you couldn't find anywhere. They danced with everyone who asked and also asked many people who were complete strangers to them - and in doing so taught us all a lesson. Dancing isn't about what style you dance and about who you are it's about having fun and about connecting with your partner, whatever standard they may be, and in dancing to the music.
They really coudn't understand what the issue was with regard to music or people's style preference. They danced in all the rooms to all the music and if their partners couldn't WCS then they danced a fusion of whatever worked - and they laughed about it! Sometimes we take ourselves too seriously and what they showed us was that two of the best dancers in the World were happy to make mistakes whilst trying to adapt to their partner's style - and the more public it was the funnier and the more endearing it was. And good grief could they party..
These two were a true force of nature and I don't think that there's any doubt in my mind that they contributed to the friendly and approachable feel (something that everyone commented on) of this Southport. They also really enjoyed themselves and I think when Kellese gets over her jet lag she's going to post something herself.
Can't wait to have them back over.
I knew you wouldn't be able to resist, but I'm not biting .
Yes, I agree...for me Skeggie was ruined by the DJ's in the blues room trying to "out-weird" each other & I want to go to Southport purely because I know the music will be better, but that's not the point. Ceroc slotted themselves into a well established site where they already knew everything worked well, JA have started from scratch somewhere else so regardless of the music issue, you still can't compare.
Well, whatever... however what you can compare is a Ceroc Southport against a JA Southport (which was also Scott's point) - and from the feedback we know that given the same venue Ceroc made a much better job of it. The registration was more effecient, the music was way better and the seperation and management of the rooms genres was way better. There were more fans, DVD's available to buy on the Sunday and the lessons piped straight to your TV.
And not only that, everyone commented on how much friendlier the event was than at previous JA Southports.
Sad to see this turned into a 'Ceroc vs JA' discussion instead of about the event itself.
I'm glad both events went well and that those who attended enjoyed themselves. Both are new events and bring different things to the weekender market and most people just want to go and have fun and dance.
Rocky ... Stop ... OK? You of all people should understand the difference between capable management trying to create a new 'product' from scratch after 'competitive' behaviour from a competitor and a management team that just copy a well worn template with a few tweaks ... and that latter product was not perfect musically either .
Skegness has areas to improve saying that bad management is not a helpfull statement. Wait till the year plays out and then see who is where. Hopefully BOTH events will be providing a quality product for punters ...
Gus, that comment was aimed squarely at the management of music. The music played at a weekender makes or breaks it. For the last 2 SP's run by JA there were numerous complaints about this and yet they have not resolved it.
For Blush all the DJ's were given their slots well in advance and were also briefed well in advance of what was expected of them. The rooms were also organized to play specific genres and the DJ's were picked to play to their strengths.
From the DJ's I know who played at SN this was not done and it's therefore no surprise to note that some prominant names will no longer be DJing for JA.
The point is that in a new venture where some things are uncertain good management would dictate that you therefore make damn sure that the things you can control, like the music, are properly organized - and it wasn't. End of story.
Out of curiousity Rocky, is this going to be done for other Ceroc weekenders?
I think that someone mentioned that at Blush the DJ slots were in the brochure (which of course JA used to do) which allowed people to plan a bit more. But they weren't for Storm. If it can be done for Southport weekenders, then presumably this can be done for all of them
I'm not in control of it, but I think that's the idea. It required a different template for the booklet, but I gather that now this has been done that future weekenders will also have the full DJ schedule too. Lets face it, we're more important than the teachers anyway...
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