Glastonbury Festival Market Research

[FestiZebra]

...No not another university survey!

Seeing the "future of" threads has made me wonder if Glastonbury do any consumer research at all? 

We of course all have our opinions and ideas on here, seems a shame that no doubt these go unseen/unheard - I've seen some great ideas on here in terms of how to improve the messaging of "love the farm" for example. 

I know festival officials have been known to scour this forum but alas we are a small percentage/sample of the wider festival attendees 

Very interested to know!

[paulshane]

I suspect the fact it sells out in 40mins most years means they aren't that worried about pleasing everyone.

[Pipine]

I wouldn't be surprised if they looked at this forum sometimes to see what opinion might be about some things. 

[Crazyfool01]

they do look at this forum ... and if anyone meets Michael he is very keen for feedback ... not sure if he acts on it though ... but the festival does evolve and act on hiccups and im sure not all of that will be from responsible people on site .. they will have someone who is responsible for monitoring social media and press im sure 

[eFestivals]

12 hours ago, Pipine said:

I wouldn't be surprised if they looked at this forum sometimes to see what opinion might be about some things. 

Emily's mentioned stuff posted on these forums to me a few times over the years, she definitely has a look now and then. The thing she once said that sticks in my mind was something about very knowledgeable people posting here.

And I know that other (very) senior staff do too. One recently said that when he reads here he almost always finds what he reads interesting.

[Havors]

12 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

Emily's mentioned stuff posted on these forums to me a few times over the years, she definitely has a look now and then. The thing she once said that sticks in my mind was something about very knowledgeable people posting here.

And I know that other (very) senior staff do too. One recently said that when he reads here he almost always finds what he reads interesting.

Have to agree with them... even the complete nonsense is interesting half the time haha! And lets be honest people who post about a festival all year round (even in a fallow year) are obviously committed fans, makes sense the EE and others check it out. 

[gigpusher]

I'm sure they do read these things but I assume a lot does have to be taken with a pinch of salt and a healthy dose of realism. For every person who hates flags there are those who love them, for every person who says not Coldplay again there'll be someone who says Yay! Coldplay again.

Having worked for a company who attempted to use agile development techniques I have to say Glastonbury may be the best real life example of it that I have seen. They respond very quickly to problems which are usually addressed by the next festival. The wins make it through and the fails are revisited again. They are never going to be able to do everything perfectly for everyone because perfection would look different to everyone but they don't half make a decent fist of it. They are also not afraid to go live with half formed ideas and evolve them based on how they work. They genuinely are a really impressive organisation. 

Emily - if you're reading this please give me a job that comes with festival tickets!!  

Edited July 11, 2019 by gigpusher

[Crazyfool01]

45 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

Emily's mentioned stuff posted on these forums to me a few times over the years, she definitely has a look now and then. The thing she once said that sticks in my mind was something about very knowledgeable people posting here.

wonder who she's talking about  .... no wonder it sticks in your mind  

[Quark]

I'll happily put myself in the category of "complete clowns posting here"

[Crazyfool01]

Just now, Quark said:

I'll happily put myself in the category of "complete clowns posting here"

i dont think I can be taken seriously with my username ... im out  

[Crazyfool01]

34 minutes ago, gigpusher said:

I'm sure they do read these things but I assume a lot does have to be taken with a pinch of salt and a healthy dose of realism. For every person who hates flags there are those who love them, for every person who says not Coldplay again there'll be someone who says Yay! Coldplay again.

Having worked for a company who attempted to use agile development techniques I have to say Glastonbury may be the best real life example of it that I have seen. They respond very quickly to problems which are usually addressed by the next festival. The wins make it through and the fails are revisited again. They are never going to be able to do everything perfectly for everyone because perfection would look different to everyone but they don't half make a decent fist of it. They are also not afraid to go live with half formed ideas and evolve them based on how they work. They genuinely are a really impressive organisation. 

Emily - if you're reading this please give me a job that comes with festival tickets!!  

Yep Coldplay still do a very decent job of filling the Pyramid field despite all the negative stuff that seems to surround them ....  Chris if you are reading this and need a hat for next year im your man  ... you do seem to be everywhere  

[maelzoid]

If the festival management read this site, I'm glad. I do find it interesting, but also it is usually fairly civil, especially compared to other dark quarters of the interweb. I think we're a good reflection of the spirit of Glastonbury.

Now, if only other festivals' management read it too. I would love for there to be legitimate alternatives to Glastonbury to ease the pressure on attendance, but the other festivals are just not in the same league.

I enjoyed Download this year, but it boggles the mind that they still get running the bars so very wrong (ie half an hour in the queue). Madcool last year also struggled with efficient bar service, inadequate water points and getting people in. Once you've done a few festivals, these issues become obvious and seem quite easy to solve.

 

[eFestivals]

49 minutes ago, crazyfool1 said:

wonder who she's talking about  .... no wonder it sticks in your mind  

I can remember thinking at the time that at least some of that might have been about Calgon. It was back when he was having deep and serious musical input, before he started on the 'and the lads' thing.

But I might have been completely wrong. It might have been about festival knowledge and not musical knowledge.

[eFestivals]

1 minute ago, maelzoid said:

Now, if only other festivals' management read it too.

I know some definitely do.

[Pipine]

We do tend to analyse the whole festival in great detail every year..  it would make sense that it would be really useful feedback.   

I hope they enjoy reading how much we love and appreciate the festival and how its run.  Are there any other glastonbury forums anymore?  I remember when there used to be TOS boards.. is eFests the only one now?

[stuartbert two hats]

2 hours ago, eFestivals said:

I can remember thinking at the time that at least some of that might have been about Calgon. It was back when he was having deep and serious musical input, before he started on the 'and the lads' thing.

But I might have been completely wrong. It might have been about festival knowledge and not musical knowledge.

I'd glad there's ambiguity, because it allows me to construct a fantasy world in which I'm solely responsible for the repeaters at W Holts, despite at no time having actually recommended repeaters.

[stuartbert two hats]

1 hour ago, Pipine said:

We do tend to analyse the whole festival in great detail every year..  it would make sense that it would be really useful feedback.   

I hope they enjoy reading how much we love and appreciate the festival and how its run.  Are there any other glastonbury forums anymore?  I remember when there used to be TOS boards.. is eFests the only one now?

Twitter and Facebook are the two other places for on-line discussion, but they're not really the same. Facebook is too ephemeral and Twitter isn't as good at details.  All the other forums have died out over the years.

[GoonerRob]

3 hours ago, Pipine said:

We do tend to analyse the whole festival in great detail every year..  it would make sense that it would be really useful feedback.   

I hope they enjoy reading how much we love and appreciate the festival and how its run.  Are there any other glastonbury forums anymore?  I remember when there used to be TOS boards.. is eFests the only one now?

Also, reddit... but no where near as detailed as here... https://reddit.com/r/glastonbury_festival

[dotdash79]

Looking forward to all the statues of grotbags next year

[Quark]

10 hours ago, Pipine said:

I hope they enjoy reading how much we love and appreciate the festival and how its run.  Are there any other glastonbury forums anymore?  I remember when there used to be TOS boards.. is eFests the only one now?

Pretty much. Don't be fooled by the whole left wing facade, Neil's fucking ruthless. Crushed all competition.

EDIT: please don't block my account Neil. I don't got no place else to go...

Edited July 11, 2019 by Quark