Along with most of the population I also share the misguided notion of brilliantly clear 20/20 hindsight after The Herald and Times Live broke the news that the MBay Megafest scheduled for 2 June 2012 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium has had the plug pulled and will not be taking place.
See: Plug pulled on Ludacris gig
It pains me that once again Port Elizabeth is the laughing stock of the country as we prove yet again that we are unable to hold a mega concert such as this.
The warning signs were all there:
- Postponed first press announcement
- Second press announcement venue moved at short notice
- Even the security guards at the stadium did not think highly of Zeranza
- The on-off announcements
- The sniping from local artists
- Being told that the tickets were going to be sold and then having that postponed again and again
- Zeranza instructing a certain PR Company to try and BULLY me into removing the artist line up from MyPE as it was supposedly affecting ticket sales
- My offer of a SUPER PRIME advertising spot on MyPE at a SUPER LOW price being ignored – I presume because I only work on the ‘money up front’ principle.
- The veiled bleat of ‘people not supporting the organisers’
- A certain high up at Access being the only one to know what was going on with the Zeranza arrangement
- The emphasis by Zeranza on needing sponsorship in order to hold the Megafest
- No track record of holding such or even much smaller events
- The fancy bling reception area
- 36 000 tickets at an average of R200.00 each gives a R7.2 Million Rand turnover – do the math and estimate what the overseas artists, hire of the venue, marketing and security will cost and you will understand that it will never be enough.
A long long time ago I was involved with a couple of guys in bringing artists to the Eastern Cape and we only brought them here based on sound business principles – if we could make money based on ticket sales ONLY we were happy, any sponsorship or assistance was viewed as JAM.
- I wonder if the NMB Stadium management team ever asked the pertinent questions that would lead them to understanding that the business case for the MBay Megafest was doomed to fail?
- I wonder if 5FM, The Herald and the Lamppost guys will ever see their money for adverts placed?
- I wonder why we continue to believe untried, untested and underwhelming ‘music promoters’?
- I wonder if we can ever gain our pride back?
- I wonder if we will ever learn from this bitter disappointment?
- I wonder if we even have the energy to counter this BAD Publicity for the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropole?
The MyPE Advert mock up for the MBay Megafest is below – as you can see a prime prime spot for any advertiser:
The proposed advert for MBay Megafest on MyPE – Take a leaf out of MyPE’s book and always ask for money upfront.
