Stop the noise in quiet Robertson

Elizma

/ #22 The good, the bad, and the opportunities

2013-03-20 10:49

Good morning everyone
I'm typing in English, as I would like to include everyone, but please forgive any spelling or grammar mistakes (Afrikaans is eintlik die taal!)
Reading through the comments this morning, I felt that I should also say something, because the Robertson Wine Valley have also been on the receiving end of complaints regarding Wacky Wine Weekend (as mentioned above as well).
Somebody I look up to once told me (during another rather tricky situation) that no, we won't be able to please everyone 100%...'but let's aim for 90% happiness all around'. And I think this will be a good aim for this as well.
No one can deny that the financial injection is VERY welcome into a town such as ours, so we should be thankful that they came to our town and spent their money at our guest houses, restaurants, petrol stations and grocery stores.
But... with every event that takes place for the first time at a specific place, there will be a few growing pains and criticisms (whether you agree with the manner in which was criticized or not) that can be a wonderful opportunity to better the event and get even more support from locals. This can include suggestions of small gestures to show that they respect the town and its people, via communication, including more of the community, etc. If anyone would like to send me some comments/suggestions via email (elizma@robertsonwinevalley.com), I would gladly take this up with the correct people and see how we can make this event work for everyone.
Please remember that although 'bikers', 'wine drinkers', 'horse buyers' (thanks #11) aren't everyone's cup of tea/target market, they can be someone else's bread and butter. We all share this little piece of earth we call Robertson, and by working together, (and an added pinch of tolerance :)), we can make this town amazing.
Looking forward to hearing from you all!

Kind regards
Elizma Spangenberg Botha