We have news about the HUBB UK 2015 - we know that the announcement of plans is eagerly awaited. But first, our thoughts on the HUBB UK 2014. The feedback has been fantastic! So many positive comments about the Presentations, the Demonstrations, the Skills Course, Slow Bike Race, the Trail Rideout, the Competitions and all of the other activities over the weekend. Just about everyone said how excellent it was, and helpful. Attendance was up again but thanks to the size of the Donington venue it never felt overcrowded. We were delighted to see so many long term attendees, and how many people were coming for the first time. That all just goes to show that Overlanding is growing wonderfully and that Horizons Unlimited is successfully continuing its tradition of helping to get enthusiasts together where they can be inspired and informed. We’d like to thank all of the presenters, volunteers, exhibitors, authors and you. You all helped make this all happen.

We’d also like to thank everyone who completed the Feedback Questionnaire or put a slip into the Feedback Box at the HUBB UK. We really value everyone’s thoughts about all the things that went so well, and are grateful for the encouraging feedback about how the event can be further improved. It’s your feedback which has set us to reviewing the event as a whole, and especially the location - there were inevitably comments about the aircraft noise, with a good number of people saying that they wouldn’t be back until a change in venue.

Along with the feedback, we have been reviewing the figures from the HUBB UK. Donington is a very expensive venue for us; in part the site costs, but also the additional equipment required such as the very expensive 400 seat cinema marquee. This year’s event ran smoothly and with lots of things going on, but at a big cost. We did little more than break even, and that’s a problem for us, especially considering the enormous amount of effort from us and especially from Sam and Iain.

For those who don’t know, Horizons Unlimited is just Grant and Susan, we’re not a big corporation. The two of us have invested 17 years of our lives and all our financial assets into this ‘social enterprise’ in support of overlanders / motorcycle travellers. The events are our main source of income, so they need to contribute to paying our rent and food and keeping the website running.

With all this in mind, we started looking for another venue, and have looked at and rejected quite a few possibilities in the last few months. Although we still have some possibles, none of them are available for 2015. Good venues book out over a year in advance.

We've given Donington 2 years and we aren’t enthused about being there for a third year, so we have very reluctantly decided to leave 2015 as a fallow year. We are going to spend the next few months looking for a venue that we can afford and will be happy to settle in for a few years. We also want to refocus the event to ensure that the event is a win for all of us - attendees, presenters, exhibitors, volunteers, and ourselves. We want to keep the event as the best place in the UK that you can go to learn the tips of the overlanding road, to be inspired and to be able to link up with so many like-minded people.

Can you help? While we are looking at a couple of venues already, we are very interested in your suggestions for a new venue. The requirements are here (http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/eve...KVenue-RFP.pdf). If you know of any venues that meet ALL the requirements, please let us know and we'll take it from there.

Meanwhile, for 2015 you can keep the travel bug alive at other HU events in the UK (Ireland, Haggs Bank, the UK Mini-Meets), France, Germany, Montenegro, or further afield in Canada, USA, Australia, South Africa, South America and Asia!

Thank you once again for all the amazing feedback about the HUBB this year. Hope to see you in 2016, if not sooner, and meanwhile, best wishes for a happy, healthy and adventurous 2015!

Grant and Susan
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

Hi Grant and Susan,

this is the best bit of news I've heard since my one and only stay at the Donington Camp Site!

Shame that there won't be a 2015 event but I totally agree that the 'fallow year' is the right thing to do.

There have been many other events that have, shall we say 'encroached' into the HUBB remit but I'm always happier when supporting you guys.

Donington, good riddance.

Roll on 2016 and a different venue.

If I see any suitable locations then I'll pass on my suggestions.

Kindest regards

Reggie.

PS Wherever the event re-locates to in 2016, then just count me in.

Sorry to hear about the 2015 cancellation of the HUBB UK.

The Fire Service training college has been used by various organisations for events, including the BMW Club. They can cater for large numbers, have conference facilities, easy access, central England and large grounds.

I have no connection whatsoever so don't know details of costs.

Fire Service College -

Good Luck!

__________________
Elaine

Striving to live the ordinary life in a non ordinary way

Sorry to hear about not having a HUBB UK event next year. However, I agree Donington wasn't brilliant as a venue.

I live in north Gloucestershire and possible places for HUBB UK could be:
1) Three Counties Show Ground near Great Malvern - current venue for Van Fest (largest VW camper meet). Three Counties Showground
2) Prescott Hill Climb. Prescott Speed Hill Climb

Best of luck

Phil

sorry to hear that.


Easy access. Quite. Plenty room . Excellent B road ride outs and Trail riding On the door step.


Private Hire I Corporate Hospitality I Broughton Hall Estate Yorkshire

Having got a host of t-shirts/videos/DVDs over the years from an assortment of shows, I know exactly where you're coming from. I agree that Donny was good but not ideal - what venue truly is?

However, I can readily see a change was due, so in my role as Event Director of the Adventure Travel & Overland Show at Stratford-upon-Avon Racecourse, and proprietor of 4x4Calendar, you have my support wherever it may end up.

If I can help in any way regarding promotion, publicity, etc. ... just ask, it's how we get by!

We may even be back in the UK for 2016, not promising tho. It's a shame nothing for 2015. But everyone this is a great opportunity for Mini meets.

I truely hope hubb uk goes from on to find a better home.

__________________
http://mudandknobblies.co.uk
http://www.justgiving.com/FMFox

How about river dart country park? Home

Camping, dorm rooms, twin rooms etc. Bar and restaurant area with presentation area.
Large area of woodland useful for bush craft or maybe riding skills? Car park areas in couple of locations on site.

Holne park house in the grounds offering further dining/presentation/ accommodation areas.

Probably have to be out of school holidays!

Harley Davidson guys go there every year for a meet, also couple of big kayak gatherings each year with bar, restaurant, presentation rooms used etc.

Not sure on cost though.......

Richard

Seems like I'm one of the few people that liked Donnington! If it's financially unworkable, then obviously a move is needed. Shame there won't / might not be a 2015 meet, but I'll look forward to 2016!!!

No your not the only one we also liked it , not be easy to find any thing as good apart from the airport that is but we seem to find noise were ever we go so it didn't bother us to much, but as said it has to be workable good luck with the hunt looking forward to 2016 were ever it is

I'm going bet there'll be a mini-ish meet up in mid 2015 probably at Haggs Bank Bunkhouse in Cumbria or near to.
Can't have some 250 hubbers all with moto-meet-withdrawal symptoms at the same time!

We'll be checking out all the suggestions, thanks for the thoughts!

Mini-meets - yes, we've already had an offer or two, and we'll be going ahead with those as best as.

Already announced:
HU Takoda Camping mini-meeting, 24-25 April 2015. Reg details to come, but expect same as 2014.

Details to follow, but get it on your calendar!

__________________
Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
------------------------
Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

Keep a look out in the next couple of weeks we will be announcing a whole new event form june 4/7th if you want to ride a bike and get a whole new experience this will be for you at haggs bank bunkhouse
cheers Danny

There's a great quote from Steve Jobs saying "there's no point doing market research because customers don't know what they want until we've shown them."

Human nature being what it is, many people are inherently negative and only give feedback when they don't like something. Each year there's a fresh bunch of people who are attending HUBBUK for the first time, which means every year there's a bunch of people from the previous year that didn't come back. These are your nay-sayers.

I thought Donnington was great. Everyone I spoke to was very positive. Maybe we should have got off our asses and given positive feedback.

Cost problems with a 400-seat cinema marquee? Then don't have it. I never went into it.

Personally I think giving up on Donnington before identifying a replacement venue is a big mistake and having a fallow year is an even bigger mistake. There's clearly a market for this type of event and in a vacuum someone will move to fill it.

More mini-meets in 2015 might help keep the wolf from the door, but they need to be identified and promoted. And at least some of them need to have travel presentations.

What about holding a 150-200 person mini meet at Ripley?

.

__________________
"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

I find this all rather sad as I thoroughly enjoy Donnington.

I don’t have any actual figures but there must have been around 1,000 people there last year.
Let’s say they paid an average of £50 each so the total take is an awful lot of money.
I’ve no idea of the costs of using Donnington but surely a lot less than £50,000.

Grant’s opening posting on this thread stated that –
“ …. The events are our main source of income, so they need to contribute to paying our rent and food and keeping the website running….. “
So possibly consideration should be given to the Hubb charging a forum subscription in order to fund the above rather than trying to take the money from the Hubb meetings ?

I also agree with Tim Cullis’s comment that giving up on Donnington before identifying a replacement venue is a big mistake and having a fallow year is an even bigger mistake.