UK XOC/Overclocking Events - Statement 01/12/16

[gavbon]

Hello all

 

As may or may not know, the UK overclocking scene has been a bit of a topsy-turvy affair over the last couple of years. With the scene itself having many problems (just like many other countries), I took it upon myself to pick up where HiViZman (legend) left the UK-based overclockers and give them something to keep focused on and even, help push overclocking to the masses.

 

Here is the story and the general gist of it all; take it as you will. I have split it into sections for easy reading.

 

The Venue

 

So where do I start with this? Probably the catalyst to everything since The Big Freeze UK event in Feb 2016 and the reason why I am no longer willing to organise/arrange events like this anymore. The short story is, the venue have done a nice little number on me. The long story is as follows:

 

The Big Freeze UK was held in February this year at The Portal in Sheffield which is run by the lovely pair of Carl and Kay. Following the event end and in which we believed was a big success, myself and the team decided we would hold the other. The problem was that the current building The Portal was running inside of, was scheduled to be demolished.

 

With that bombshell, The Portal were planning and had plans to re-open at another location and had plans afoot to do so. I and the guys decided we would hang fire because, at the end of the day, The Portal was to be the home of UK overclocking events, or so the plan was. Fast forward 6 months and no plans were moving anywhere and I was getting questions/messages from numerous overclockers, people and companies about when the next one was going to be.

 

After essentially explaining to those that had messaged me that we were in fact waiting for The Portal to re-open, most thought that we should do another event in the meantime; we had planned to get one in for the Country Cup 2016 (obviously).

 

When I broached the situation to the venue owners, that's when it went sour. I was guilted into believing that I would be the cause The Portal wouldn't re-open and essentially that I had betrayed them; this obviously wasn't the case. The overclockers in the UK wanted another event to keep the momentum going and as far as I go, I was just helping keep that going.

 

I let all that slide and The Portal provided me with an invoice within 24 hours for venue costs. Obviously I had agreed to pay (why wouldn't I), but as The Portal themselves had agreed, they had took the ticket sales payments and as I had requested months earlier, I needed the final amounts/figures of ticket sales and of course PayPal numbers; most overclockers had paid via PayPal.

 

I hadn't received any figures and then I was given the bombshell that "I had said The Portal could KEEP the money for themselves". This is obviously not true and what I had said was, I didn't want to make money personally on the event because it was for the UK Overclockers, not for me to make money off of. Next, I was told about insurance that had been purchased for the event that I was required to pay for, but upon asking for a receipt of this, proof of the insurance policy, I had gotten nothing in return. All I had gotten was an invoice to pay with The Portal expecting to keep ticket sales and so forth.

 

The other quandary was that I had some gear left at The Portal after the event, which they agreed to keep there until I was ready to collect/until the next event. This included a Dell IPS monitor, a test bench, a 1200w power supply among other things. I had asked previously if I could arrange collection, but I was told it's too difficult to get out as it's in storage with other things. Having asked again, I get ignored at every opportunity and even this weekend, I had asked knowing that the message would be seen, but no reply would be given.

 

My Involvement in Events in the UK Going Forward

 

Having my stuff essentially "stolen" if you look at the grey area I'm in myself with this, I certainly wouldn't be willing to arrange another event in the UK with the current situation on-going. I have no problem with paying invoices, I just don't intend to let people like The Portal rip me off or try and bully me into something that quite frankly, is never going to happen. I have experienced the pros AND cons of hosting an event for the benefit of other people at the cost of myself and I'll be honest, I won't be doing it again.

 

Will I be doing something like this again in the future? Maybe, but it would entirely depend on having fully drawn up contracts as there was nothing but verbal/IM confirmations which are not going to be enforced by any kind of court/solicitor (I had a solicitor go over it with me and was told it isn't worth it).

 

For now, I have an office for my business/job and I would probably be willing to host a smaller event from that, but mainly composed of friends/people I have known for a while within the scene.

 

For those that attended the event in February in the UK, I thank everyone and I also thank everyone for making it happen, including Carl and Kay at The Portal. I just have no plans to trust, deal with or align myself with such things anymore.

 

For now, I thank you for reading and if you have any "serious" questions, feel free to ask!

 

 

Note: I thought it would be best to explain it here so that everyone in the scene can see the types of struggles faced when trying to keep a scene alive. I hope one day that Dagmar finally returns and TeamGB takes back the scene under its awesome wings...one day!

Edited December 1, 2016 by gavbon

[Fasttrack]

Knowing EXACTLY the type of person you are Gavin, I feel extremely sorry for all.

 

It is an unfortunate fact of life, that people putting their chests upfront for the common good, usually ( 95% ) get themselves in trouble.

 

Maybe we should try and revive our abandoned Team ?

Fantastic people there, idealists, no hidden things, no conflicts of interest.

 

Just my 0.02

 

George Kokovinis - aka Fasttrack

[ObscureParadox]

Honestly don't blame you pal, lets not forget they even had the cheek to say that I took money for the event and kept it to myself. I may be many things but a thief certainly isn't one of those things.

[Jumper118]

this is awful to hear. i think its has been a massive setback, but i hope it gets better.

[K404]

That is very sad

 

I don't blame you for not wanting to arrange another event, not after that.

[gavbon]

Knowing EXACTLY the type of person you are Gavin, I feel extremely sorry for all.

 

It is an unfortunate fact of life, that people putting their chests upfront for the common good, usually ( 95% ) get themselves in trouble.

 

Maybe we should try and revive our abandoned Team ?

Fantastic people there, idealists, no hidden things, no conflicts of interest.

 

Just my 0.02

 

George Kokovinis - aka Fasttrack

 

Don't worry, I haven't abandoned anything, it all just requires a different approach than putting myself at risk!

 

Honestly don't blame you pal, lets not forget they even had the cheek to say that I took money for the event and kept it to myself. I may be many things but a thief certainly isn't one of those things.

 

Yeah, when that was thrown at me, I nearly spat my tea out on the screen! You are truely one of the nicest guys and most genuine people, if not the nicest guy I know...and I know a lot of nice guys!

 

this is awful to hear. i think its has been a massive setback, but i hope it gets better.

 

Yeah it's hopefully on its way up!

 

That is very sad

 

I don't blame you for not wanting to arrange another event, not after that.

 

I certainly won't be arranging another event without 100% written contracts to avoid issues with liability. That way, none of the above issues can happen.

 

I had been told from a 3rd party that they were "angry" about me explaining things and that they were considering legal action. I am currently in 2 minds whether to write it all off as an experience, or jump on the front foot and start proceedings myself.

 

I don't believe Carl/Kay to be bad people and I recind any emotional comments I made in the OP (I changed/removed them), but when someone is purposely witholding my property worth over £500 and their invoice is for £300...with ticket money owed to me of around £200 to me...I might get Christmas out of the way and re-open contact and see where things lie.

 

I think my first port of call is obviously speaking to the police as although it's a grey area, refusing to give someone their stuff back is essentially theft.

 

Hopefully it will get sorted out and I'm not doing anything rashly, but I certainly won't be writing off the value of my gear/ticket sales...even if I just pay their invoice and then begin legal proceedings myself.

 

 

NOTE: If anyone who attended the event or paid for a ticket via Eventbrite/Paypal, if you could PM me a screenshot of the transaction with the details, it will go a long way to resolving this issue! Thanks in advance!

[kimandsally]

Honestly don't blame you pal, lets not forget they even had the cheek to say that I took money for the event and kept it to myself. I may be many things but a thief certainly isn't one of those things.

 

They are Bastards, your one person who is absolutely 100% honest, you have done more to help people than many and yet they have the cheek to accuse you of that.