NVCF - Alexandra Palace CANCELLED !!!

[murphymad]

It is with significant regret both on my part personally and that of the entire BVWS Committee that I inform you all that the planned NVCF at Alexandra Palace (AP) on the 6th November 2011 is CANCELLED.


Those people who pre-booked tables for this event will be contacted directly very soon.


We have found the whole process of working with the Commercial Company that deals with hall bookings and delivering facilities and services at AP difficult.

The above commercial Company must not in any way be confused with the Charity that runs the Palace or any other body concerned with the Historic television studios. These are completely separate entities.

The Charity has given its full support in our plans to Celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the begining of a public Broadcast television service.
The Television Museum organisation "Alexandra Palace Television Society (APTS) has also been very supportive in making the Studio/Museum available to us.
I would personally and publicly like to thank APTS and the Palace Charity for their support.

The problems have been in connection with the Commercial company.

The initial contact and setting of dates etc. way back in 2010 went as expected and plans were made and prices discussed. Everything seemed fine and affordable.

Later on, we were then informed that another event would be held at AP on the same day, but we were assured that it would not affect our booking.

Further investigation showed that the other event was an Indian Wedding Expo. running for several days with expected attendance numbers of up to 5000 (mostly on Saturday and Sunday). There would also be significant amounts of loud music.

This would have had a huge knock on effect on public transport, road traffic and car parking availablitiy at AP let alone catering etc. on site. We were also asked to give up some of the space allocated to the TV display to this other event.
Minded of the effect on our event we opted to move the date.
In fact to a better date for our purpose, but now to a date that we had originally been told was not available, the 6th November. Hence the date change sticker in the BVWS Bulletin.

At about the same time problems arose with the hire pricing. Negotiated prices stated by the Account manager began to change and we no longer had an affordable event. The price changes (except for the addition of the Restaurant hire, which we added) seemed to be fluid and no two received documents bore any relation.

A draft contract was received, but this differed significantly to what had been discussed and agreed on our visits.

At the BVWS Committee meeting of the 2nd July this matter was discussed and it was agreed that our trust in the commercial Company had been damaged.
It was agreed to send a letter to the account manager of the commercial Company stating terms acceptable to our continuation of the event and requesting an early reply with answers to some questions. After some days, no written response or answers to our questions had been received and so a letter of termination was sent.

I feel this is a great shame and a lost opportunity for the Palace to have celebrated thier own History with us.


Mike...

[Paul Stenning]

I have added this notice to the front page of the NVCF website.

[DavidHunt]

I am sure I am not alone in being so dissapointed, but also not alone in thanking all involved in trying to organise this event. It must have involved a huge amount of time: you must be very frustrated.
David

[ppppenguin]

This is very sad news. The history of Ally Pally has always been one of unfulfilled promise, sometimes disaster. One of the few bright spots in its history was the BBC TV service.

[Steve_P]

One wonders if the old 'rumours' held some truth in them, Jeffrey.

Very sad news.

Cheers,

Steve P.

[Panrock]

Sad news - we at the BHTG had been looking into how we could offer support for this eagerly awaited BVWS event. I know how disappointed Mike and the team must now be... anyway a big thank you for all your efforts chaps!

Steve

[ms660]

As usual..money talks..a real shame.

[af024]

So sorry Mike - especially after all your considerable efforts which are well noted by people here.

My sincere thanks for all your hard grafting in the preparation work and associated negotiations and organising. Personally I think it's their considerable loss.

When things go belly up like this we all feel somewhat deflated, but you must be well gutted.

So many thanks for all your efforts, such a shame. The reasons for the breakdown are noted and under the circumstances I can only but support the decision taken.

All the best Mike,

Andy

[Mikey405]

That is a real shame. It sounds like they are not good people and not nice to do business with.

[Tazman1966]

I agree. It is a great shame and what a lot of hard work and effort wasted by Mike and the rest of the committee.

I wonder if a similar event celebrating 75 years of television could be organised at a different venue.

[Phil G4SPZ]

I'm very sorry to hear that the well-intentioned efforts of volunteers from the BVWS have been wasted by the incompetence of a commercial organisation. I have some professional experience of dealing with the work of outsourced private sector 'partners' and the outcomes have been similarly frustrating. Clearly, their other client is more valuable to them - or more gullible and easily ripped-off - than we are.

As I missed this year's NVCF I was particularly looking forward to the November event, and would support any move to hold it elsewhere.

[Darren-UK]

Originally Posted by Tazman1966

I wonder if a similar event celebrating 75 years of television could be organised at a different venue.

What about the BBC? I understand they've plenty of unused floor space at Television Centre. Perhaps security would be an issue there though.

[Brased]

I too was looking forward to this event. I am very sorry to hear that the efforts of Mike and our hard-working Committee have been thwarted by a commercial organisation which clearly has no respect for the heritage for which it at present has responsibilities.

[murphyv310]

Typical I am afraid!

[Paul Stenning]

Originally Posted by Tazman1966

I wonder if a similar event celebrating 75 years of television could be organised at a different venue.

A couple of alternative suggestions were raised at the committee meeting (neither including an NVCF though) which Mike may be investigating, however time is getting very tight now (these things need booking and planning months or years in advance, not weeks).

Plus he has more immediate issues such as the special auction next month... and earning a living.

[Hunts smoothing bomb]

Very sad news indeed, It really does show how incompetent some buisnesses are!

[brianc]

Originally Posted by Hunts smoothing bomb

Very sad news indeed, It really does show how incompetent some buisnesses are!

It also shows that heritage and commercialism don't fit too well together!

[radiolot]

Don't those people really care about the history of AP? I know they are in debt, but grabbing money off one society is not going to fill that coffer. May they hang their heads in shame for this terrible mistake. That aerial on the tower isn't a fancy bit of decoration, that length of metal is something to be proud of.

I am having a word with the MD this week about our sale view for November. It starts on the 6th, and if there is gallery space at Knightsbridge, there might be a chance of doing something like a display, against the view with the 703, books etc for the public. Obviously it's a small building, so its a case of a public display. I'll see what tools I have to hand and report back.

What about a venue near Crystal Palace? Is suggesting a do at Gerry's inappropriate?

Christ Mike, after the work you and the guys put into this AP event, I too would be totally off as well. I even had my dear mother and wife interested in coming - and that takes some, let me tell you.

Laurence

[Sean Williams]

The joys of dealing with Harringey Council I guess - it's amazing that any events manage to take place at AP.

A shame - I was looking forward to attending this - I guess there is no hope for an alternative this late in the day?

[Andrewausfa]

Originally Posted by radiolot

I even had my dear mother and wife interested in coming - and that takes some, let me tell you.

I had my ten year old on the hook for this one as well. He's shown no interest at all in my radios but I asked if he would like to come and see how television used to be made and he was up for it. It is a big shame and I appreciate the time and effort Mike and the committee must have put into planning this.

Andrew