Comments on: Big D has earned its sponsorship

By: Anon

Anon — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:38:04 +0000

I’d like to think in hindsight Alex Russell is embarrassed by this article. There are so many errors and misquotes; he makes such an effort to make two events compete that are in no way rivals; and, now the events have take place, we can see what a load of rubbish he was writing. Big D were unfortunate with weather, but how about an article dealing with the fact that they sell more tickets than they have capacity for in derwent and langwith, where the two main acts perform? This means some people, for £18, don’t get to see either! And very few get to see both, i.e. their money’s worth. Woodstock suffered from rain as well but anyone who was there at the end will testify as to how great an event it was. There are an infinite number of reasons why Woodstock cannot advertise as early as Big D; also, as Sam says, Woodstock has never had sponsorship, whoever told you Deloitte normally sponsor the event is talking sh*t. Stop wasting time trying to stir trouble and talking rubbish and get your facts straight.

By: Sam Daunt

Sam Daunt — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 23:02:34 +0000

I agree with Lewis. The two events are entirely different, and I suppose that Deloitte simply made a choice based on their wants. Woodstock’s notoriously difficult to obtain sponsorship for, so hats off to them for even getting interest!

I think it’s a little harsh saying that ‘limited imagination’ has gone into this year’s Woodstock, and implying that Big D is more deserving of sponsorship because they have put more work in. Organising Woodstock last year, I can honestly say that it is a massive amount of work pulling off an all-day, outdoor event involving various societies and bands. I’m sure the organisers of both events have put 100% into the planning, and I look forward to both.

By: Lewis

Lewis — Wed, 28 May 2008 20:55:09 +0000

I think unfortunatly Alex, you’ve missed a lot of the charm of Woodstock. I’m not involved with Big D, although I was involved with Woodstock last year, and although obviously it’s a RAG event, so its for Charity, it also serves as a showcase for all of the things that York students do.

Last year was the first year that an indoor stage was introduced, so the event had 19 hours worth of student performances, with more than 30 different acts with everything from rock bands, improv comedy, pole exercise soc, fire jugglers, and even Doug Soc did a performance!

If you think that its going to be a poor event because ‘there are no attention grabbing headliners’ then you’re missing the point. Whilst I’m in no way denigrating Big D (I’m a Derwent student!), and I’m a gazzilion miles away, so I can’t really comment, I do know that Woodstock is an entirely different show.

I’m sure Chesney Hawkes will be great, but personally I feel a lot prouder that we’re able to run and programme an all day outdoor festival entirely in house, and show off what we can do as students. Big D will be briliant I’m sure, and big props to Chris for making it work, but I think that getting together as a community, everyone working and performing for free, and raising money for charity is a far more significant achievement in the wider sense than sitting down with booking agents and selling tickets (although that’s no mean feat either).

By: David

David — Wed, 28 May 2008 18:26:10 +0000

While I agree that Big D is great and might be bigger than Woodstock this year, to say that “YUSU should have axed Woodstock altogether” goes much too far. Woodstock has been amazing in each of the past couple of years and is a completely different type of event to Big D. Although Alex Russell is correct that advertising for Woodstock has so far been pretty dismal, I still think it will be a success again this year, raise a lot of money for charity and be extremely popular with students.

By: Oliver Lester

Oliver Lester — Wed, 28 May 2008 17:20:52 +0000

Just like to make one thing really, really clear - the crown should firmly sit on Chris Kummelstedt’s head not mine. He is the main organiser of Big D and all credit should be leveled his way. He is the one who has done a fantastic job organising what will be the event of the year, and rightly deserves all praise.