Feedback to Greenbank

It may not be new I'm not sure but I noticed tonight there was a wifi signal named IAW Guest but it was locked so hopefully wifi is getting sorted.


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pjj365

Well-Known Member
Edinburgh is a Capital City and their rink sucks, London is the Capital City of the World and they have jack all, so please don't think we are entitled to the Rolls Royce of Rinks because when reality kicks in, we are big time fortunate to have what we have. Our wonderful Capital City when they closed the Empire Pool left our swimmers with Zilch, so please don't go down that road. Our wonderful Capital City Council would have been quite happy to close the doors on ice facilities in Cardiff, as long as John Lewis were coming that was all that mattered, and if the Devils died then diddly squat, who gave a toss. Don't ever underestimate our gaff, it's the best we have ever had.
I cannot argue with this but it does not excuse the lack of basic 21st Century facilities and basic maintenance.
Anyone attending last night notice if rink lights have been fixed - they were not last Sunday. Also if screen is not fixed for this Sunday we will start the season as a laughing stock - just like Sheffield was last season when Simmsey had to give time checks as part of his calling the game
 

Wannabe2

Well-Known Member
Quite right, there's never an excuse for basic maintenance not to be carried out, it comes with the territory. WNIR and the BBT had maintenance people on the books, not sure if that's the case at IAW.
 
Edinburgh is a Capital City and their rink sucks, London is the Capital City of the World and they have jack all, so please don't think we are entitled to the Rolls Royce of Rinks because when reality kicks in, we are big time fortunate to have what we have. Our wonderful Capital City when they closed the Empire Pool left our swimmers with Zilch, so please don't go down that road. Our wonderful Capital City Council would have been quite happy to close the doors on ice facilities in Cardiff, as long as John Lewis were coming that was all that mattered, and if the Devils died then diddly squat, who gave a toss. Don't ever underestimate our gaff, it's the best we have ever had.
Absolutely it's the best we've ever had, just look at the other 2 venue's.
Edinburgh's rink is 40 years old at a rough guess so comparing our facility with theirs is a little unfair, I'm quite sure if Edinburgh decided they needed another newer rink they would get one that was not slightly lmperfect but one that would cater for all ice sports and have facilities to match whatever attendance it would hold and reflect the status of Edinburgh as a Capital City.
Cardiff host many big sporting events such as the Champions League Final, The Super Cup Find, Rugby World Cup games, FA Cup Finals, England Cricket Internationals, World Speedway Finals plus many more that I could mention.
These events take place for many reasons not least the fact we organise these events really well and we're a Capital City with first class venues and the facilities to do so.
Why couldn't our rink be built to the same standards as other facilities in the city? don't get me wrong the view from the seating is first class and you get served quickly in the bar, it's just the niggly little things like catering for a couple of hundred when we have 3000 plus at games, no wi-fi, the half finished scoreboard and plain boring white walls etc etc, with a little more thought and endeaver these problems could've been ironed out.
 

Wannabe2

Well-Known Member
One of the problems we still have though is Hockey is still a minority sport in this country, those other sports you mention are constantly on the tv, getting tons of exposure which obviously leads to huge sponsorships. They have to have awesome facilities because they are major sports over here. We get 3,000 fans at ours, Cardiffs population is somewhere around 360,000, and lots of our fans are from outside Cardiff. I wasn't comparing our facility against theirs, there's no comparison, they still exist because they have that terrible facility, and there's no one queuing up to build a new one believe me.
 

SteveKing

Well-Known Member
Lots of talk here and on Twitter about security and food. It is mandatory in every NHL rink to have every bag checked and to go through metal detectors. Food and beverages have never been allowed in. Sadly a reflection of the world we're living in. I know I don't need to tell anyone that all of these things are out of our control as a hockey club but I would encourage all of you to voice your concerns about arena upkeep, food choices, security, marketing, whatever issues you may have not only to Greenbank but to town counsel as well. We desperately want the best fan experience possible so we tried to buy the arena and couldn't get anywhere. When obvious management problems persisted, we offered to manage the building for a very small fee. Again little to no response from Greenbank. This city and this fan base deserves better and from my observations, that will likely need more pressure being applied by customers and by the town.
 
Lots of talk here and on Twitter about security and food. It is mandatory in every NHL rink to have every bag checked and to go through metal detectors. Food and beverages have never been allowed in. Sadly a reflection of the world we're living in. I know I don't need to tell anyone that all of these things are out of our control as a hockey club but I would encourage all of you to voice your concerns about arena upkeep, food choices, security, marketing, whatever issues you may have not only to Greenbank but to town counsel as well. We desperately want the best fan experience possible so we tried to buy the arena and couldn't get anywhere. When obvious management problems persisted, we offered to manage the building for a very small fee. Again little to no response from Greenbank. This city and this fan base deserves better and from my observations, that will likely need more pressure being applied by customers and by the town.

We can only do our best to work with Greenbank/IAW. You never go to a hockey rink and expect fine dining but the food is poor (though the pies are lovely) but I don't understand how IAW can claim they are losing revenue when the food is always sold out by the second period anyway. I do understand why they think they are losing revenue and as its been pointed out, every other rink does it (I myself was stopped from taking a larger bag into Tampa Bays ground and the bag was full of stuff I bought from the club shop) but the big issue is parking. If morrisons wont allow it then that's their prerogative, same as Toys R Us don't allow it but somebody still owns the land that the BBT was on and that would hold a lot more spaces. Its not the clubs fault as they only deal with what happens on the ice but IAW need to do something regarding parking. With Chris Hartrey no longer there, who is the IAW point of contact on these matters?
 

pjj365

Well-Known Member
I have put council, Senedd and Parliamentary contacts on the parking thread

Interestingly IAW falls within the constituency of Vaughn GethinAM - Cabinet Secretary for Sport
 

pjj365

Well-Known Member
Have the same issue re hand rails and looking over last weekend and tonight I do not think anything more than shoulder height (seated shoulder that is!) is need so sight lines would be preserved
 
Hit IAW where it hurts, they only make money on match nights from bar and food sales, simply boycott all of their machines bars and hot dog stands, a couple of weeks of this should see them changing their attitude to hockey fans pretty rapidly
 

ASHIPP

Well-Known Member
Hit IAW where it hurts, they only make money on match nights from bar and food sales, simply boycott all of their machines bars and hot dog stands, a couple of weeks of this should see them changing their attitude to hockey fans pretty rapidly
And this sort of action works in completely the opposite direction of what the Club and Fan Council have been trying to progress with IAW.

The Club this week has had to organise temporary parking facilities for the fans because it appears that some of the issues with the Morrison's goodwill arrangement were disrespected by some of the fanbase.

Don't think a food and drink boycott is going to help progress the relationship between IAW, the Club and the fans.
Boycotting would never be successful anyway because there will always be a lot of people who want food and drink...and will be prepared to queue.
 

pjj365

Well-Known Member
What is needed is more investment not to reduce their cash flow at the moment.

I understand and sort of agree with the intent of the boycott but unless we can be sure that it would result in them trying to turn things around instead of walking away it is risky.

I have said before that if they go bust the owners might buy for £1 + debts but given IAW is not a stand alone business this might be difficult. Greenbank, despite the message their audited accounts send out, are unlikely to go bust and anyway, if they did, I'm not sure the owners would want the whole business.

I'm not sure what the answer is but maybe it's to make life so difficult that they get fed up and sell. Cutting an income stream should not yet be part of this approach but involving the council might be

IAW does not meet the objectives of the council as set out in its current development plan. Whether meeting these objectives was a formal part of planing consent I know not. Lack of attention to HASW and Environmental health will though be of interest to the council so let them know. Contact details above
 

pjj365

Well-Known Member
And there lies a lot of the problems 'cash flow' rather than income flow far too much opportunity for it to flow to the wrong destinations
Spot on but let's have no illusions, IAW in the grand scheme of things is not a cash cow for Greenbank. Also, in the corporate world the correct/ultimate destination of that income is the investor (Greenbank) not necessarily the individual operation (IAW)

So reducing Greenbank income from one source would remove whatever little incentive Greenbank have to maintain funding or (pipe dream here) to invest to improve the income flow from that source.
 
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