I just wanted to say that I thought this year was a SUPER start to a new venue and a new event. I had a great time and with the inclusion of all the other travelers I thought the event was even more friendly and open.

Others have said it but I think the reason that the HUBB UK events are so different is that they are NOT a bike or 4x4 or whatever show, they are a meeting of like minded people. Coming together to talk, share ideas, stories, tips, tricks, the good and the bad, and most importantly connect as fellow travelers.

I have never met a more open, welcoming, accepting, warm group of people, and I am proud to be a part of it.

And I will be there next year hopefully as a Crew Leader again!

Mike

not long until the next hub to find out

cheers danny and fil

Good Afternoon,

I for one would be interested in seeing the results of the survey that was emailed around as, I will never return to that location.

If you're hard of hearing, or decided to drink enough booze to render you blathered then you may have a chance to get some sleep but our crowd in the Quiet Field (ha that's a bloody great name if I've ever heard it) were kept awake by the aircraft movements. And before anyone thinks I'm an anti-aviation type, I'm a PPL holder!

Many people left early because of the aircraft noise, as a did I. Three days of no sleep is not a joke, especially as we were heading directly from the meeting, for a touring holiday around France.

The food wasn't a patch on that at Ripley, the service was even worse. At least the local taxi company did a roaring trade in moving people over to The Marlborough Arms, who's curry's were a delight

The showers were a joke and failing with three seperate faults, on three days takes some believeing.

What was good was to see the exped type vehicles and the likes of CCM and Pidcocks in attendance.

I've been to 5 of the last 6 main UK HUBB events and it will be my last at that location (unless I win the lotto and can buy a sound proof Uni-Mog!).

Each to their own, I suppose. Personally, I slept rather well (I was in the 'quiet' field as well, although I was glad I'd brought my ear plugs)! For me, the food was much better; being Vegan, it's often rather difficult to eat out! What I had wasn't by any stretch of the imagination exciting, but it was better than Ripley and on a par with other places I've eaten out! That probably says more about where I live, though! The venue overall was MUCH better than before, and I found it very interesting meeting other 'types' of traveller / transport.

My only gripe is that it can't be at the same weekend next year; it was my half term, I could enjoy ALL of HUBB, as opposed to just the Saturday!

Thanks again to Ian and Sam!

Sad to hear you didn't enjoy the event Stuart. HUBB UK 2014 will be at the same location, so I guess we won't have the pleasure of your company. Genuinely sorry if that's the case.

We will indeed be publishing the stats that come out of the survey. As you'll have seen by all the other feedback given in this thread and elsewhere, and as the survey is demonstrating, while there were inevitably imperfections and niggles with holding a big event at a new venue for the first time, on the whole people seemed to a) love the venue despite the aircraft noise; and b) love the event despite the minor teething issues.

Some people did choose to leave early, though I think it would be fairer to characterise them as "a few" rather than "many", which is a shame considering how much there was going on. Also true that some folk chose to go off-site for their evening victuals - and there's nothing wrong with that if it's what best suits individual tastes. Feedback about the venue's food has been mixed. Some people were perfectly happy with it (though even the venue agrees about those sausages) and some weren't. The average rating for food in the survey so far (people are still responding to it) is "Good". We're working with DPFH to make sure lessons are learned about our expectations so that next year can be better.

Showers.... We'd invested in an extra shower block for the main camping field to make sure there was plenty of provision for the number of people attending - and were even able to keep them open all the time despite our original plan to have them as peak time only. Yes, there were some issues with temperature regulation in those ones and with power tripping occasionally with the venue's main shower block. In the latter case, the problems were always swiftly rectified by the venue staff. Some people had problems with the shower token cards not working. In every case that I'm aware of, this was due to folk bending the cards or getting them wet before use.

The aircraft noise is something we can't control. Everything else we did our best to get right and will get "righter" next year

I'll post in this thread when the survey results are online.

Hi Iain,

yeah I'm also sorry to say that I won't be there.

Yes the event had outgrown Ripley and a new location was needed.

The comments about the shower cards were not the case with mine, they were dry and un-creased and I was told by the staff that part of the problem was that if two people tried to use cards at exactly the same time, that this caused the system to crash!

I'll be looking forward to seeing the survey results, as the ony way an organisation can make inprovements is by using such information.

The HUBB is my favourite socail event of the year, so I'll keep an eye on things and see when things move elsewhere.

You can't please all of the people, all of the time eh!

Reagrds

Reggie

I'll make a note to raise the 'crashing' issue with the venue. From what I understand, they plan to replace the current system at some point before we're next there.

We're expecting to be at Donington for the foreseeable - certainly 2014 and 2015. Hope you won't stay away too long.

Just to say that I have to back up the Cameraman with regard to the shower cards.

I had several that worked but over the event I also had 3 dry and un-creased cards that failed, and when you're in the shower with your kit off and ready to go that is just a tadge annoying.

But I will be back as I thought it a splendid affair.

Hi Iain,

well it looks like i'll be away for at least the next two years then.

I hope that things improve for those willing to accept the noise matters. We also tried using earplugs but not even those worked for us.

Ah well, at least I can now be flexible for alternate bookings for these dates.

Regards

Reggie

As promised, we've just published a summary of how people rated the HUBB UK event via the recent online survey. It's on this page, but I'm repeating here for easy reference too....

190 people responded to the survey.

Overall Event Rating:

25.3% said it was Amazing
52.6% said it was Very Good
13.2% said it was Good
4.7% said it was Average
1.6% said it was Below Average
2.1% said it was Poor
0.5% said it was Rubbish

68.9% said the mix of presentations and trade stands was just right, although a third would have liked more trade stands.

All the outdoor activities at the event were rated either Excellent or Good by 71.9 - 95.5% of respondents that attended them.

Excellent or Good was the rating of:
84.1% for the venue overall
83.4% for the presentation rooms
66.1% for the bar & serving areas
83.7% for the real ale bar
78.2% for the campsite and facilities
36.9% for the price of food (42.9% said Average)
47.3% for the quality of food

76.3% of respondents plan to attend HUBB UK 2014 (12.9% are planning to be away on travels).

I just wanted to pop up here to thank everyone who filled in the survey for doing so.

First time at the new venue wasn't only a first time for us. It was for them too. They have already said that they have learnt a lot - we are all a pretty unusual bunch you know They are delighted with the HUBB UK event and the type of people who went and are looking forward to having us back again. We will be working with them on all the points that have been brought up. Your comments are very helpful with regards to us all being able to head in the right direction! Cheers!!

My first HUBB meet was at Ripley last year and I thought Donnington was a far better venue. There was more space, better facilities and a far greater variety of presentations too, thanks in part to the presence of the 4x4's. I'm very pleased that they felt so welcome.
I arrived on Wednesday to help out where I could although there wasn't much this (temporarily) one legged man could do. I didn't sleep too well that night but as much because of the rain as the planes. After that I didn't really notice them. People of my age wake up in the night, planes or no!
However, I won't be there next year as I'll be one of the 12.9% mentioned in the survey. Otherwise I'd be booking it right now.
So very well done to Sam, Birgit, Iain and all the volunteers and presenters for making the 2013 meet such a fantastic event I suggest to those who were put off by the various issues to give it another go next year. It will be even better and too good to miss.

Geoff

PS. I meant to include my grateful thanks to whoever left the Givi topbox base by the lower toilet block. I accepetd the invitation to 'take me home'. I lost mine when my Yamaha got stuffed and taken away. Thanks!!

Agreed, I think the advantage of being in the company of so many interesting like-minded individuals is so valuable.

Minor inconveniences like dodgy showers or noisy planes shouldn't be too much of a worry for an adventure traveller - we're made of tougher stuff!!

Donington must be easier than the Road of Bones !!

And from Thursday it was dry !

Have you thought about doing a presentation at next year's HUBB?? Why not
We need more people doing more presentations on all sorts of things. It makes the weekend EVEN more enjoyable for everyone involved and is a great way to share your knowledge.

I've done a presentation for the last few years and I'm sure people are getting bored of the 'same old names and faces'. Whether you've been on a trip, want to go on a trip or have lots of questions about trips there's a presentation in everyone.

Go on - give it a go!

__________________

It seems I've managed to avoid all 323 chances.
Does that mean I've won ?

But while I'm on, out of interest, are there any official attendance figures for the event ?