ECRDA 2015 Six on the Beach Review
On May 16th and 17th we attended the East Coast Research and Discovery Association (ECRDA) 6th Annual Hunt, “Six on the Beach” in Ocean City, NJ. This is a review of the event.
For this hunt, there was no competing Minelab hunt taking place in Atlantic City, so the event organizers expected a larger than normal turnout. In anticipation of the larger crowd, attendance at this event was limited to a maximum of 200 adults, plus kids. The cost for the event was $80 per day if you registered early for both days, $95 if you only signed up for one day and $125 per day if you waited till May 1st to register. Average price per day, $100 per person.
As expected, things were jam-packed on Saturday, but attendance was reduced on Sunday. Estimated crowd on Saturday was clearly at the 200 person limit, on Sunday, perhaps about 125. So let's call the average daily attendance at 165 people, not including kids.
Things started off on the wrong foot right away when the ECRDA failed to provide enough chairs for the event. Despite the fact that the ECRDA event organizers knew this event would be crowded, despite the fact that they capped the participation at 200 per day, they failed to provide enough chairs for people to sit in. No more chairs were provided despite repeated requests by the hunt participants. One ECRDA staffer suggested that we “take it up with the city”.
The ECRDA organizers also declined to provide enough food and water for the event. One staffer told me they would have provided bottles of water in the morning, but then “it would be all gone by lunch time”. Really? All gone? ECRDA could not afford to go out and buy enough cases of water at $7.00 per case to provide water in the morning and cover lunch too?
And when lunch came around, there was pizza, sausage and baked ziti for everyone – but God help you if you took more than one slice of pizza. A particularly nasty old woman in a florescent green shirt yelled at one of our group when he took two slices of pizza at one time (one was for his wife). This same shrew also screamed at my girlfriend when she tried to take a bottle of water (for her friend).
Now, bear in mind the numbers I discussed at the beginning of this review.
165 people per day, times $100 per person = $16,500 per day
Two days in this event = $33,000
ECRDA took in approximately $33,000 at this event, and spent some of that money on prizes. Top prizes were metal detectors worth about $6,500 plus additional smaller value prizes. Let's assume that another $5,500 was spent on other items and smaller prizes, that adds up to $12,000 in prize expenses.
Where did the remaining $21,000 go?
Well, it certainly did not go to provide adequate seating for the crowd. ECRDA told us that there were no more seats available in Ocean City that weekend because of other events taking place. Really? The organizers could not have called up a local party rental store and paid for about 50 chairs to be delivered? How hard would that have been? Or how expensive?
And certainly the money did not go toward providing adequate beverages or food for the crowd. From the scowls and screams of the ECRDA organizers each time a hunt participant took an “unauthorized” bottle of water, soda or slice of pizza, you would have thought it was like Oliver Twist at the children's orphanage, pleading, “Please sir, I want more!”
It was THIS BAD!!!
At the end of the event, I'm sure that all the ECRDA staff were patting themselves on the back for another hunt well done. Well guys, don't uncork the champagne just yet. This event was unorganized, it was sloppy, it could have and should have been done a lot better. When you are expecting a large crowd, be prepared. Have plenty of food and water available. Provide adequate supplies of bottled water from the beginning of the event all the way through to the end. Provide adequate seating. If necessary, get on the phone to a local party rental store and get more seating. If necessary, get on the phone and order more food and more water. And provide some training to your people, so that they smile and act in a friendly manner toward the hobbyists who are paying the bill for this event. If your people cannot put on smiles on their faces and be kind and courteous to their fellow MD'ers for two days, then they should not be working at this event at all.
There were many other people, besides myself, who commented on the overall hostility of the ECRDA staff, particularly regarding the manner in which the food and water were handled. It was disgraceful, unacceptable and made the participants feel unwelcomed.
As to the hunt itself – it was well done. On this score, the ECRDA shined. The rules were clear, the hunts were fun, everyone seemed to have a good time. This year tokens were hidden in the sand, and each token was exchanged for a ticket which went into the drawing for the big prizes. That was fun. The more tokens you found during the hunts, the better your chances of winning a new metal detector. Definitely fun for the whole family. And speaking of the whole family, the ECRDA even gave out shiny new bicycles to some lucky kids who participated in the kids metal detecting hunt. I have to give credit where credit is due, and the actual hunt part of the event was done flawlessly and perfectly.
Would we go back again? Sure. Other than the Atlantic City Minelab hunt, this hunt is really the only game in town on the east coast. And we had fun with our friends while we were there, despite the poor planning and organizing of the event. But hopefully by next year the ECRDA will get its act together and be properly prepared for the crowds. Better management of this event and better organization are needed in order to avoid the problems of this year. And the ECRDA people need to learn to smile and be friendly and positive to the people who paid to enjoy this event. It seemed like some of ECRDA staff actually hated being there. I hope the seating, food and water problems are completely resolved for next year's event, otherwise the participants will be the ones who hate being there, and they won't come back again the following year for another poorly run event.