The 1977 Dinner
Like it or not, the inquest is now complete, or if not then
you're too late. Actually, there has
been a reasonable response to the dinner questionnaire though compilation of
the results has presented quite a statistical problem in the attempt to
decipher opinion and the majority's recommended action.
First Item, STYLE:
74% of the returns think that our type of dinner is right
for formality and answering thus, saved themselves the bother of questions 2
and 3 of this section. Of the remainder,
the 'more formality' outnumbered the 'less formal' by 2:1.
Second Item, SURROUNDINGS:
This, I resolved had to be a combined answered item because
neither answer to the questions was mutually exclusive. I found that 46% would prefer the plush hotel
but are reasonably happy about some of the recent venues. 30%, (including some of the majority) would
be happy if the dinner were held in Priddy Village Hall whilst 15% dont care
about the surroundings. The rem¬ainder
(9%) think that surroundings are important, would not be happy at the PVH yet
have been satisfied with recent year's surroundings.
Third Item, VENUE:
This item turned out to have 42% in favour of holding the
dinner 'close' to the Belfry whilst a further 42% think that the distance/place
doesn't matter. Only 8% were firm that
the dinner should be in Bristol though 4% stated just as firmly that it should
not. As far as distance is concerned, the
mean distance turned out to be 22 miles radius but the Mode was 10 miles from
the Belfry - so I prefer the latter.
Fourth Item, SIZE:
53% of the responses think that the present size situation
is OK whilst the remaining 37% think-that a limit should be set. Strangely enough, working on some of the
restriction suggestions lead to the conclusion that if invoked and all those
eligible turned up, we would have greater numbers than ever before. Apart from that, the suggested limits varied
from 100 to 200. Again, the Mode was 150
and that is roughly as at present.
Fifth Item, PRICE:
This was clearly a difficult question to try to answer in
these days of inflation and a range of both maximum and realistic prices were
quoted, with the maximum varying from £3.00 to £8.00 the main being
£5.00. The range for realism was from
£4.00 to £7.00 with a mean of £5.00. In
both instances the Mean and the Mods coincided so it seems that our aim should
be for £4.00 but prepared for £5.00.
Sixth Item, FOOD:
Not surprisingly, because the question was asked that way,
96% are in favour of a 'better than average' menu though, surprisingly, the
question of cold fare versus hot fare only produced a weighting of 12% against
from which I gather that a better than average could turn up to be
acceptable.
Seventh Item, SPEECHES:
Once again a problem for analysis as there were really two
questions in one and the need positive or negative answers (each) but we got
many crosses and ticks meaning what (?). Anyway it seems that ½ the responses think that speeches are a waste of
time whilst at the same time 75% think that toasts (which presumably include
speeches) are OK particularly if witty and amusing. They (speeches) should be regarded as part of
the entertainment and presentations (not understood by some) if apt, were OK.
Last Item, ENTERTAINMENT:
There was a total
agreement in this matter; it should definitely be part of the BEC Dinner
scene. 99% thought our entertainment
should be homespun and that the Christmas Barrel and Caving thru the Ages were
our best efforts. 11% thought that we
should have a professional folk singer and all thought that we should have a
system of making the entertainment louder than the audience.
That seems to be the total of the evidence and still it
leaves the committee with the problem of venue and facility. We are asking that establishments such as,
say, The Cave Man, The Cliff, City Arms (Wells) Royal Hotel (Bristol) and Nick
Barringtons quote for 150 persons. However with typical prices we will still continue for the short term to
pursue the private venue and Catering Service in the hope that we can avoid
restaurant prices for Wine and Beer.